It's beginning to feel a lot like...fall

The temps in Arizona have dipped to a crisp, fall-like temperature this past week. I've celebrated by finally completing my Thanksgiving decorating, drinking lots of tea and baking muffins.

These are organic, cinnamon apple muffins just from a box, but they are delicious. Bought for Aliyah for breakfast, it seems she may have to eat these quickly, or they'll be gone. I've already had three. And I just baked them 20 minutes ago.

Being that this is our first time experiencing Arizona's seasons, I have no idea if this weather is typical or unusually cool, but I will welcome the slight change of seasons any way I can get. The best part, in my opinion? Enjoying the cool, autumn temps, while knowing that I don't have to anticipate freezing temperatures for the next four months. :)

Happy Birthday Bastian!

Happy 29th birthday to the one of the most amazing men I know. This guy is a beautiful, sweet and caring husband, a phenomenal Daddy to Aliyah, and a true and dear friend to many people around the world. Here's to another year of great memories and becoming a little bit wiser, Sebastian. Your family loves you!

Singh Farms

I was perusing around yelp a few nights ago to find a good farmers markets in Tempe or the surrounding area and stumbled upon Singh Farms. It had phenomenal reviews, (check them out for yourself here) and decided to ask Sebastian if he wanted to go. Sebastian is all in for anything thing with a good yelp review. (Perhaps because he works for the company? Yes, probably.) So I had no trouble convincing him.

Like any place new, we weren't sure what to expect, but once we turned into the driveway, we immediately felt like we were transported to someplace other than Arizona. It had this quaint garden/farm feel, with lush trees and moist, black dirt--just like something out of a Steinbeck novel. From the little I read about this place, a guy started it on his own and the entire property is made of compost, which is why they are able to grow so many hearty veggies. 

We were a little unsure of what to do first, since most of the things I read said it was a Farmer's Market, but really, it's a vegetable farm that you can walk through on paths. We explored a bit on the trails and Aliyah approved. She pretty much approves any activity if it includes being outside. I love that she is so happy to be outdoors. I hope she keeps that mentality for the rest of her life. 

Aliyah had fun capturing the attention of each passerby that she could make eye contact with, as well as chasing Sebastian around the soft, dirt paths. Yup, just like a Steinbeck novel. Minus all that depression era and heavy decision making theme stuff.

If you know Aliyah, then you know that she has these moments of utter independence. In those moments she knows what she wants (well, I she thinks she know what she wants), and like most parents of a toddler, if I can, I ride it out if it doesn't coincide with what I want.

And then there are moments like this, where she takes my hand and all her mannerisms show me that she knows the comfort and safety that Sebastian and I provide her every day. 

These moments, are by far some of the best. 

After we walked the paths, we made our way back to the little lodge that held the produce and baked goods. Sebastian found some herbs to cook with, we grabbed some honey and bought a bag of the sweetest apples I've tasted in a long time. They reminded me of my Grandpa & Grandma Kramer's apple tree outside of their house in Adrian, Minnesota. 

Aliyah bit into the apple with no reservation and loved it. This girl loves a good piece of fruit, and this Momma is glad. So far, she's been an easy child to feed healthy food to, with her favorite foods being mostly fruits. Now if only I can keep this going as she gets older. Not likely (how can I expect her to eat this healthy for the rest of her life when I don't eat nearly as well as I should). But for now, I relish in seeing her little hands hold her prize, and the delight on her face when she bites into something sweet and nutritious. 

All in all it was a fun little trip and we're excited to go back soon and see what other seasonal surprises we can find. 

Traces of Aliyah

Aliyah is at the sweet, new age now where she's able to entertain herself for a few minutes at a time. This is an enormous help to Mom and Dad, since it allows us to get chores done around the house --albeit quickly. And every so often, Aliyah lets us know that she's made an appearance in certain places during the day. Today, among the carrots, beets and leftover dinner in the fridge, I found these...and had to smile.

Breathtaking Sedona Day Trip

I remember growing up in Minnesota and having this sense of wonder and awe during the summer months. I loved the green corn fields and the lush landscape. I loved laying in the grass in our backyard at dusk and soaking it all in. I have my Dad to thank for this appreciation of the the earth, specifically the Minnesota farmland. His passion for agriculture is something I admire and I often sought to love the land as much as he did. Interestingly enough, no matter how beautiful the scenery was in California, and trust me, there are some breathtaking sights there, in the five years I lived there I could never get that complete feeling of wonder and awe back the way I did in Minnesota. I sometimes wondered if I was becoming stagnant in my ability to see the beauty around me, and this is something that bothered me from time to time.

Today, as we approached Sedona, I got that feeling back fully and it was wonderful. The beauty there is amazing. Gorgeous. Breathtaking. Awe inspiring.



Sebastian and I agreed. Today was pretty much perfect.

Since we were just going for the day and we had a toddler in tow, we decided to go up and explore with no set plans. I think at times that's the best way to explore an area. The day's activities started out promising. We saw signs for an Oktober Fest. Free to the Community! We thought, why not? A glass of beer, maybe some brats for lunch. Let's kick off this trip with some goodies.

We followed about three homemade signs, which probably should have been our first clue that something was amiss. We then missed the actual sign for the entrance and were out in the Arizona wilderness (okay not really). Perfect opportunity for Aliyah to stretch her legs and for Mom and Dad to get some photos.



We finally made it to destination Oktoberfest. And made a loop and were on our way again. Why, the short appearance, you ask? It might have been the fact that the main demographic included the over seventy crowd. Or it may have been the one (and only), oddly placed science fair board, with just a couple of lone-kids manning it. But the final clue that maybe this Oktoberfest was something different than we had envisioned was the sign outside the entrance.



I'm sure it was a nice event, just not exactly what we were envisioning. And so we were on our way again. No biggie. That's the best part of not having plans. When something doesn't work out it, it's not that big of a deal because it wasn't even on the schedule to begin with.

With that mini-adventure behind us, we drove through town and found a place to park and eat our picnic lunch that Sebastian so sweetly packed for us. As we ate, we agreed that we need to eat more picnic lunches. (Good thing there were no brats at our first stop, right?) Every time we do we love it. I'm also pretty sure that we eat much healthier and save a lot more money, than when we go out to on the weekends. Plus, Aliyah loves to be outside and she loves to eat. So she is basically in heaven when we have picnic lunches.



After lunch we let our little explorer loose and she was all smiles. Rocks to throw, bushes to swat at, dirt to fall down in and people's attention to grab. Oh and did I mentioned my nerves to fry? If I could put this girl in a metal suite of armor, I think I might. She's right in that phase of toddlerhood where she wants to walk everywhere and is pretty good at it, but still hasn't grasped the concept of realizing that ground is a tricky surface to tackle sometimes. The path was like any good hiking trail: uneven and rocky. So for the first few meters I was basically making a circle around her just in case she fell. (I can totally admit that I have first-time mom written all over me.)

Eventually the path evened out a bit and I could instead concentrate on taking photos that make my heart melt like this one.



That's a keeper, for sure.

We didn't walk too far on the trail. Just enough to get Aliyah's cheeks red and our feet dirty since both Sebastian and I wore flip flops. I'm excited to go back with the intention of actually hiking , maybe even buying Aliyah one of those hiking carriers, and going much farther in.



After our mini-walk, we got a bit of rest and breeze in the visitors shelter, where we also discovered Aliyah's modeling skills. Or rather, her ability to stare people down, with the breeze conveniently blowing through her locks to make her look like she was trying to model.



Next we hopped into the car and made our way to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Wow. The views were absolutely stunning. Another breathtaking moment. Two in one day. Arizona you are growing on me sooner than I expected.



We drove home and Sebastian, in all his trivial knowledge, let me know that a sea of clouds miles ahead of us on the road were rain clouds and that the streaks coming down that looked like fog, were in fact, rain. I disagreed, but figured he might be on to something when I saw this...



It was ca-razy. Loads of rain pouring down. So much that we actually pulled off to the side of the road, along with a few other cars. It didn't last long, and we were back on the road shortly. Alright, Sebastian, I'll admit it now. You were right. :)

Aliyah did wonderful the entire trip. Understandably, she sometimes gets fussy being confined to the carseat, but she was completely content babbling to her stuffed elephant and "reading" books. I always know when she's had a fun time because for the next few hours she is in this completely content stage. As a mother, it's a great feeling to know she's happy.

We had such a good time that when we got back we decided to go to a park and let Aliyah run around a bit. A perfect end to the evening. Sebastian got to kick the soccer ball around, Aliyah got to run around, and I got to sit in the grass once again in awe of my surroundings and my beautiful little family. Maybe Arizona won't be so bad after all.