What a nice weekend!

So, I know you all are waiting with baited breath to find out how jury duty went. Well, hold on for just a bit more while mom imparts some jury wisdom. It was a very interesting process but boy, does justice take a looong time. She was in court for 3 days for what boiled down to a DUI case. The last day, she didn't have to report until 10:30 and all that was left was closing arguments and deliberation. Mom figured to be out of there by noon at the latest. Well, silly mom! Closing arguments didn't end until 11:45 (gaaack!) and then the very nice judge had to read 39, yes, 39 pages of directions. The jury recessed finally at 12:30 and voted to take lunch until 2. They got back and deliberated for all of 20 minutes- drum roll here- guilty on DUI, guilty on drug possession, not guilty on assault. So they finally ended about 3 but then the judge comes in to answer any questions etc. Mom is glad she did it and glad to see how the wheels of justice turn, but please no more for a while!

Soooo- she picked me up from school and we headed home to start packing for our weekend in Flagstaff. She asked me to start packing my bag with a few things I wanted to take with me. If any of you have seen the movie "The Jerk" with Steve Martin, it will give you a good idea of how my packing went. "I'm just going to take Animal. And Animal's mom. And Animal's dad. And my cars. And my baby. And this book. And this book. And my airplane. And my Barbie 'puter. And my pillow." We had about 12 bags of just my stuff- but I played with almost all of it!

On Friday we got on the road and headed north to cold country. It was beautiful when we arrived, so we unpacked at our hotel and then headed out for a walk. We went to the train station, walked around the college campus (Northern Arizona U) and to the bike shop to pick up dad's registration for his bike race. We had a great pre-race dinner of pizza and beer.

We got up bright and early Saturday (it was 31 degrees!) and drove dad to the start of the hill climb portion of the race. After dropping him off, we drove the 6 miles uphill to wait for him at the top. We did a little hiking to keep warm and he made it up a little bit later. We hung out at the top for a bit to wait for some of his teammates and then high tailed home to get warm.

After showers and breakfast, we headed off for a day at the Grand Canyon. I was SOOOOO excited and I didn't even know what the Grand Canyon was. I just wanted to get there!
Mom and dad kept telling me it was a really big hole in the ground. Well, this wasn't like any hole I had ever seen but I sure did like it. I kept asking to down into the hole but I think I have to wait until I'm a wee bit more coordinated and I listen better. We walked and walked for about 2 hours all along the rim.
The Canyon is one of mom and dad's favorite places and I can see why!

We happened to find the mules that take people and supplies down to the bottom and back up. I think some had just come up because they were pretty sweaty and smelly, but I liked them anyway. Mom says I'll never get to ride to the bottom- we only get down the hard way!
After wandering around the rim, we headed over to our favorite lodge. The Maswik isn't as flashy and doesn't have the views but it also doesn't have the hordes and hordes of tourists either. We had lunch there and dad found me a great book to read as poop is my latest fascination. They are sooo proud!

On Sunday, dad had a final 50 mile road race ( he won!) and mom and hung back at the hotel. We found a school playground but it was all locked up and no way to get in. What a let down! I kept thinking of ways we could get in- we could jump really, really high with my magic boots was my best idea- but in the end, we ended up walking to a bookstore to play for awhile.

We packed up and left about 1 and got home around 5. I was in bed an hour later. It's amazing what no naps and tons of walking can do to wear a girl out!

Have a great week, see you Wednesday!