After a week of preparing...we packed up the car and boy was it packed! We barely had enough room for the 5 humans among all the stuff!! We then had a 3.5 hour car drive to northern arizona. It was a beautiful, scenic drive. Here is Ryder, all set up with a DVD and his "monkey" headphones:
The area of Pinetop-Lakeside was BEAUTIFUL and cooler. We left 110+ sunny Phoenix for 80 degree, partially cloudy weather with big pine trees everywhere! The only bad thing was we were a little disappointed with our actual campsite. It sat about 100 yards from a major 6 lane road. So much for "wilderness"! But we made the most of it and we scoped out a new site that was much nicer for our next camping trip. We spent most days fishing...or should I say trying to fish! We did catch a few small fish quite a few times. Ryder LOVED it!! He thought fishing was quite possibly the best thing ever! After him nearly destroying a real pole, we eventually we bought him a 30" Spiderman kids pole and he had even more fun with that. It had a little plastic red fish on the end and he caught that one again and again, and was just as amused as the first time! Everytime he reeled it in, he would say "I caught one!". He also kept saying it was a baby fish and he would take it for a walk looking for its mama! Too cute!!
Throwing rocks was another fun time. Ryder would count "ooooonnnnneeeee.....two.....three...TEN"! And huck the rock as far as he could. This probably had a little to do with why he couldn't catch many fish! He scared them all away.
One evening we hiked to the backside of a lake and made a campfire next to the shore. Mindy taught Ryder the a-b-c's of campfire building and he really did help! He gathered lots of wood and then Mindy showed how to stack them in a tee-pee formation:
Of course, every night was dinners made on the campfire (yum yum), and then plenty of S'mores (YUM YUM
After three nights and 4 days with no showers, we were soooo ready to get home and get clean! It was a great fourth of July weekend!
After three nights and 4 days with no showers, we were soooo ready to get home and get clean! It was a great fourth of July weekend!
For Father's Day, I told my dad to pick a restaurant and we all met up for lunch at BJ's. My mom, Dyan, and Jordan joined me and Ryder! It was a great Buskohl lunch! 
I love you Dad! Happy Father's Day!! XOXOXO
Welcome to the family Allison!! Its a crazy but wonderful one.
After the wedding we had some BIG limos take us to the nicest restaurant where we had a private reception in the basement next to the wine cellar. It was so intimate and fun. Thank you Allison for putting that all together. When it came time for the bouquet toss, four ladies got ready to catch it (Michelle, myself, Ashley, and Karina). Just in time my great-aunt Janie JUMPED into the action and caught it herself. One of the best parts of the trip was getting to spend so much time with Uncle Ken. You just never really know how much you truely care for a person until cancer puts their life on the line.
I have been so bad about taking pictures lately... let's not even talk about video! I blame it partly on my now-old-camera. The lens was dirty and scratched and made for blurry pictures. So today my dad and I went shopping for a new camera for me. I wanted one with a better zoom! Anyways, here are just a few of the pictures I took today playing with my new toy. My mid-year's resolution is to take more pictures and blog more! Enjoy!
Ryder on the phone:
Ryder wearing my shoes and carrying his "puse" (aka Purse, just has a silent "r" in Ryder-speak).
Toes (sorry, I was getting desperate):
Ryder has had ENOUGH! Time to put away the camera for the night!
Loves to wear my shoes. At least I can get him to cover up for pictures!
Nakey Sports:
