Our (hopefully!) annual trip with the Burg and Werbow families took place this summer in Flagstaff, AZ. Rob, Romi and I set out early on Sunday morning to make the trek to greener and cooler pastures. We made a few stops on the way, including the outlets in Casa Grande and a great lunch with Mike, Kristen and Connor in Phoenix (where I ran into someone for the synagogue. What are the odds? Oh yeah, even money.) The drive was long but beautiful, and Rob and I enjoyed watching the truly stunning change in environment as we climbed out of the hot desert and into the forested areas of Flag. We had very little trouble finding the house, a large Victorian on a corner within walking distance of downtown. We stayed home only long enough to turn on some fans and to touch base with the others, who were a few hours behind us in a van. Rob strapped on Romi and we headed to town for some food.
Flagstaff is an adorable college town with bars and restaurants and bars and shops and trains. The railroad is alive and well in this corner of Arizona, and for safety's sake, the trains blow their whistles as they go through town, which is every 10 minutes. (It's either for safety or because they really hate the residents of Flagstaff.) In any case, we found a pizza place and enjoyed walking around, looking at the people and the dogs and listening to the free concert in the plaza.
Shortly after we got home the troops arrived and it was hugs and kisses all around, especially for Romi who had yet to meet the Werbows or Daniel. We claimed our respective spaces and relaxed until bed. We had an easy day on Monday, all of us recovering from our respective days of travel. We walked into town and enjoyed lunch at a tasty albeit slow vegetarian restaurant. We had homemade Mexican food for dinner, although I forgot the tamales, and everyone slept a bit better on night two.
Tuesday, Elle's birthday, we all headed to Slide Rock, a beautiful area in a mountainous area. The kids loved the natural water slide, although Romi proved a bit too young for the adventure. The rock formations and water were beautiful, although you definitely need to wear shoes for this outing. It was crowded, but everyone was having a wonderful time and no one got hurt, so we call it a successful day. We headed into Sedona for lunch, admiring the rightly famous red rock and all headed home for a relaxing evening of birthday dinner and rainbow cake.
Wednesday was the big day--we all got in the van and drove up to the Grand Canyon. It had only been one year since we had been there, but your mind just can't retain the majestic wonder of it. I honestly think I could go once a year and still be completely in awe. We enjoyed our picnic lunch, walking along the rim, various performances and, of course, some ice cream. Melissa chose to forgo the sugary treat and opted for pretzels, which Romi decided he wanted. Melissa gave him a pretzel of his own, but he clearly indicated how we felt about that and threw it on the ground, continuing to insist through words and gestures that what he really wanted was Melissa's pretzel. 
She eventually gave in, because as we know, the force is strong with this one. But what we didn't know is that he would throw that pretzel on the ground too, look Melissa straight in the eye and then laugh at her. 
She claims it was the first time she ever got laughed at by a 15-month old.
After locating the wandering Shamir, we made our way back to the van, back to Flagstaff and back home.
That night began Tisha B'Av and Daniel and Mike took turns chanting Eicha by firelight. It was wonderful. Rob, Romi and I stayed home for a quiet morning, breaking our fast at a local Mexican restaurant that got a bit of monsoon. After meeting up with the rest of the gang, we again piled into the car and headed to Sunset Crater, which turned out to be even cooler than it sounded. Only pictures can really do it justice.
Friday we cooked for Shabbat and then headed to the Aquaplex, where Romi was in his absolute glory. The city's pool is indoors and has fountains, wading pools, slides, a lazy river, a vortex and lots of lifeguards, which came in handy when Shamir fell, hit his head, shut down the pool and went to the hospital. Luckily he was just fine. In the meantime, Romi had the time of his life, and even though he cried whenever we took him out of the water, we decided when he turned a dark enough shade of blue that enough was enough.
It was a wonderful Shabbat together, with great food, good friends, and loads of laughing. On Saturday we schlepped to a park where I mistook Miriam's Burt's Bees diaper ointment for Melissa's Burt's Bees sunscreen, lathering Romi up in a thick white coat. Rob, Romi and I headed home late Saturday night, physically and emotionally rested but sad to say goodbye to such good friends.
Flagstaff is an adorable college town with bars and restaurants and bars and shops and trains. The railroad is alive and well in this corner of Arizona, and for safety's sake, the trains blow their whistles as they go through town, which is every 10 minutes. (It's either for safety or because they really hate the residents of Flagstaff.) In any case, we found a pizza place and enjoyed walking around, looking at the people and the dogs and listening to the free concert in the plaza.
Shortly after we got home the troops arrived and it was hugs and kisses all around, especially for Romi who had yet to meet the Werbows or Daniel. We claimed our respective spaces and relaxed until bed. We had an easy day on Monday, all of us recovering from our respective days of travel. We walked into town and enjoyed lunch at a tasty albeit slow vegetarian restaurant. We had homemade Mexican food for dinner, although I forgot the tamales, and everyone slept a bit better on night two.
Tuesday, Elle's birthday, we all headed to Slide Rock, a beautiful area in a mountainous area. The kids loved the natural water slide, although Romi proved a bit too young for the adventure. The rock formations and water were beautiful, although you definitely need to wear shoes for this outing. It was crowded, but everyone was having a wonderful time and no one got hurt, so we call it a successful day. We headed into Sedona for lunch, admiring the rightly famous red rock and all headed home for a relaxing evening of birthday dinner and rainbow cake.
She eventually gave in, because as we know, the force is strong with this one. But what we didn't know is that he would throw that pretzel on the ground too, look Melissa straight in the eye and then laugh at her. 
She claims it was the first time she ever got laughed at by a 15-month old. 
After locating the wandering Shamir, we made our way back to the van, back to Flagstaff and back home.
That night began Tisha B'Av and Daniel and Mike took turns chanting Eicha by firelight. It was wonderful. Rob, Romi and I stayed home for a quiet morning, breaking our fast at a local Mexican restaurant that got a bit of monsoon. After meeting up with the rest of the gang, we again piled into the car and headed to Sunset Crater, which turned out to be even cooler than it sounded. Only pictures can really do it justice.
Friday we cooked for Shabbat and then headed to the Aquaplex, where Romi was in his absolute glory. The city's pool is indoors and has fountains, wading pools, slides, a lazy river, a vortex and lots of lifeguards, which came in handy when Shamir fell, hit his head, shut down the pool and went to the hospital. Luckily he was just fine. In the meantime, Romi had the time of his life, and even though he cried whenever we took him out of the water, we decided when he turned a dark enough shade of blue that enough was enough.It was a wonderful Shabbat together, with great food, good friends, and loads of laughing. On Saturday we schlepped to a park where I mistook Miriam's Burt's Bees diaper ointment for Melissa's Burt's Bees sunscreen, lathering Romi up in a thick white coat. Rob, Romi and I headed home late Saturday night, physically and emotionally rested but sad to say goodbye to such good friends.
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