Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Got Sand?!

Welcome to the world of Duning. Todd got this addiction eight years ago. And, so most of our winter vacations are held in the sand dunes just by Yuma, AZ. And, it was eight years ago because I remember the first time we went. I was big and pregnant with Zane. We camped in tents. And every time I needed to pee (which was a lot since I was pregnant), I had to go find a bush. Check out those bushes....not much to hide a full moon behind. But, we had fun and so the addiction began. Luckily, we have moved out of a tent and into our motorhome which makes it much more enjoyable. Here are some pics from a couple of trips we had in December. It is "tradition" for us to spend the week between Christmas and New Years at the dunes. Can't get enough of the sand!

If you plan on going to the dunes, be prepared to eat sand. Sand in your eyes, sand in your ears, sand on your teeth, and even sand up your nose....especially when Todd is roosting you (as in the pic above). Gotta love it!
Todd and Lance are getting ready for a guys' ride...aka a very fast ride. No beginners allowed.

All the men lining up to go have some fun!


Here's Lance gearing up!




Ready to go!




You know it's a serious ride when Todd puts on all his gear.





Yea, he's sexy and he's all mine:)



Ready to ride!



Here is Patton Hill. A favorite place to go and climb. The photos just don't do it justice. It's tall and steep. But, if one has a good quad, all you do is get it in 2nd or 3rd, lean forward, and give it gas. It's a blast. I believe that is Lance jumping at the top just as he finished climbing the hill.




Here's a photo that hopefully shows the heighth and steepness a little bit more. The young kids had fun walking/climbing up the hill. It was quite a feat to accomplish. It made me tired and sore just watching them do it.



Then, Sierra just loved to RUN down the hill.




Here's a pic of Todd giving Wes a ride up and down Patton Hill. Yes, I trust Todd that much. He's a good rider. I know he'll take care of my/our baby:).


On of our rides, we found a very good jump. And, so the fun began. Lance taking off.... going...




going, and....




and flying!




Look at the boy soar! Makes his daddy proud:)




So, then I have to get Todd to go....for pics sake, of course. One can see where Lance learned it from. Todd's a natural at it.



Todd got a little confused and thought that with all this sand that we were at the beach....hence, his attire ....actually he was just riding in someone else's rhino this time:). Kicking back with Wes for a family ride.



Weston watching the action.



Sierra takes her turn trying out Patton Hill. The small kids/ small quads can't make it very high up the hill, but they still have fun trying to see how high they can get. It was funny how Sierra and Zane would go WAY back to get a running start. And, I mean....waaayyyyy back. I don't think it increased their speed any, but they sure thought it did.







Here's Zane climbing the hill.




Zane hanging out in the motorhome.




And when one is not riding, what does one do? Play in the biggest sandbox around, of course.




Sierra coming back from a rhino ride with Katie and Stephanie.




Zane taking a break at Patton.




Getting ready to ride.




I think Zane was trying to get as much sand as possible IN his clothes. You should see the sand on the floor of my laundry room after a trip to the dunes.




Sierra dug a hole and put Cash in it...and then started to bury him. Poor dog.



One of our friends found this beautiful necklace at the dollar store...and they thought of Wes. But, Zane liked being a rapper better.



Here's a short video clip of Lance jumping. Todd says that Lance jumps father than his old man. It makes a big difference that the the kid weighs under 100 lbs though!

Lance, Trevor, and Connor race up the hill....oops, I think that's the wrong video.

Here's a little competitive race up to the top of the hill between Todd and I. I was on the Todd's red quad and he is on my white one. At the end of my win, I say "It's not the quad. It's all me".......but in reality, I had switched quads with Todd, just so I COULD beat him:). His bike is "tricked" out "just a little". A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do... to win....even if it's riding her husband's quad.

Sierra and Zane riding the mini dunes. I remember when I first went to the dunes and thought there was no way my quad would stick to the side of that dune. Gravity was going to pull me down! But, if you have the speed going, you can ride that side of the dune as far as you want. It's a lot of fun for everyone in our family.

Wes goes round and round and round and round. He puts more hours on his quad than anyone.

And, last but not least, my sexy husband jumping his quad. What a stud! This is what I really go to the dunes for....to watch my man! :):)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Arizona State Fair

We LOVE the State Fair! Since we couldn't get out of town for fall break (due to Todd's busy season at work), we headed to the fair one afternoon.
Our highlights -
Started off with some good grub including corn dogs, fry bread, sandwiches, and ice cream. YUM!
Then, we headed off for the best part - the rides.


Lance and Todd dared to do the SLINGSHOT! It was amazing. I couldn't believe Lance actually got in it. They loved it!
The Zipper was Sierra's and my favorite ride!

Zane said his favorite was the gravitron ride. Wes' favorite was....well, I think Wes just loved all of his rides.



After our rides, we stopped in to see the chickens. You can't believe all the different kinds of chickens that there are. Catherine was hoping to see the rabbits, but they were already gone. Maybe next year. And then next door, we found this cool lego place. Even the big kids enjoyed stacking the legos. It gave us a nice break from walking.




Wes was throwing a fit about something...this is his "I am angry" face. Watch out!


We ended our night at the Macy's Petting Zoo....a definite favorite. We loved feeing the giraffe and the camel. What a cool place!







We can't wait to go back next year!

Happy October!

With October and Halloween, comes corn mazes and lots of family fun! We started off our fall break with a Saturday afternoon at this local farm. I forgot my camera, but luckily, I had my phone. The quality is not that great, but it's better than nothing. I'm just glad that this made me finally learn how to even get the photos off of my phone in the first place:). Lance was off on a Grandpa and Grandson day so he wasn't with us (will post later about that when I get pics from Gpa). But, the younger three sure had a blast.






We picked out our BIGGEST pumpkin ever. Todd had a great idea. Each member of the family gets to design one feature on the pumpkin. After we carve it, we'll be sure to share our family creation. Woo hoo!




The corn maze was fun, but too big. Zane tried it himself without my knowledge. When I noticed he was missing, I called out to him. He answered "Mom, I'm in the corn maze and I don't know how to get out!" He was a little worried. So, then we went together:).





They had a teeter-totter there that the kids thought was sooo fun. They were just busting up laughing as their Dad played with them. You can barely tell that Wes is in front of Sierra. You should have seen their smiles and heard their giggles. Way too cute!



One can't turn down an ol' cow train ride. Toot, Toot!




The ol' hay bale maze was just the perfect size for Weston...even though the big kids seemed to enjoy it just as much.




They had these pedal cars and a race track. So, whaddya do, but RACE! It was fun. Although, I was sadly surprised at how quickly my thighs started to burn and wanted to stop!



Here is Sierra during our BACKWARDS race. Gotta love it!
Happy Fall!