Both girls stay with their regular routines; school for Willa and all-day daycare for Hazel. A couple of snow days and late starts give us a little extra time with Willa. 
We used one of those bonus times for her to bake a beautiful three tier cake. Wonderful, delicious and beautiful. We built an indoor obstacle course, great fun for everyone.
Weekends offer up some fun times. Hazel and Granpa go to gymnastics where Granpa gets an opportunity to work on his pre-school gymnastic support. We head for the Wooden Wheel Roller Skating Rink. Still a little practice needed but skills are improving. With skating, bounce house and some yummy ice cream, a good time is had by all.
Mike prepares a delicious going away dinner, mushroom wellington and mashed pots with a fantastic gravy (actually Ravigote-that I remember the name only because it morphed to rabid goat in my brain). The meal rounds out with a bubbly prosecco toast to a great visit and black raspberry shortcake. Lovely.
All too soon it is time for Granpa and Nana to get back to Tennessee and search for the elusive log cabin home. With a slightly delayed start for goodbyes, arrival at the motorhome is well after dark (723 miles in 12 1/2 hours on the road). We find all well and settle in for the night. De-winterizing will wait till tomorrow.
Harlow for quite some time so on the long MLK weekend school lets out on Friday we pick up Willa and trek to PA. The trip goes well and they have “the best meal ever” at a Burger King along the way. It is off to bed in anticipation of Saturday’s visitors.
All have great visits Saturday and Sunday then it is back to NY on Monday for Tuesday’s school. A couple of RR breaks along the highway lengthen the trip home but another “best meal ever” included another Impossible whopper at Burger King.
Willa, Hazel and I in one tandem, Kent and Brian in a second and Mike and Tracy the third. We cruise a loop around Curry Hammock State Park through a curly mangrove tunnel and a stop on a quiet beach to build sand castles. By midday the sun is really blazing down and the cool ocean feels nice. Hazel just loves the beach. Willa takes to the deeper water with Mom. It is a fun, full day. We get back home just in time for dinner.
have the best day. She was a real trooper and napped much of the day on Granpa between mummers of “it hurts” and “ouchee” because of what must have been really painful diaper rash. Back home, it was pool time in the afternoon. Willa learned to swim. Granpa picked up some super Butt cream at the grocery. Hazel started feeling better within just minutes. 
We posed for family Christmas pics on the beach. Played whipped cream games and toasted the Holidays with a bit of bubbly.
the Aquarium with the girls. Touch tanks were a hit. Hazel touched a stingray and Willa a star fish. We watched spiney lobsters gobble down calamari rings, fed fish tails to the rays, and food pellets to bright blue colored fish and pelicans. There was time for a little cookie baking. Willa did the rolling and both the cutting out and later icing. Fun and delicious. We close out our trip with dinner out at Sparky’s Landing. Food was delicious. We tried another version of key lime pie. Seating was out along the water (jackets required tonight) and there was even live entertainment. We discovered another Hazel favorite, cocktail cherries. Once home, Willa checked the pool temperature. She’d been pleading to swim just one more time before we left. Her call, its warm enough. Granpa, Tracy and Willa don suits and head on out. Hazel askes for a bubble bath and had just gotten in when they return. It had been fewer than 10 minutes. It is tooooo cold. They just barely got wet. Warm bathes and they are both off to bed.
Willa setting up in bed looking out at sunrise this morning. She never really said anything just watched in amazement out the open window from her bed. She is feeling well and seemingly mesmerized by the changing light. Hazel is up soon after and in equally good mood. It is a lazy travel recovery day so there is sleeping late and napping. We open a care package from Aunt Carol, fantastic cookies and tooters.
We have been and enjoyed this place several times but it is a bit different every time. Well worth another visit. The last 5 miles or so of the drive is dusty and bumpy, like always. But wow, when we get there, we find the place nearly doubled in size. There are official restaurants, in buildings not food trucks. Lots more seating surrounding new stages and a huge new bar being built. They have added restrooms, necessary of course but very boring and mundane compared to the original rustic ones. There is live music and the band is pretty good – country and oldies rock. Our first trip to the bar is a bit odd. What we assume was a stand-in barkeep makes Kent a Margaretta, sort of. Tequilla and soda water, yuck. We climb around on the grounds to check out desert views and to scope out the place. Food is pretty good and the atmosphere fun but I think too developed and the rustic charm is really diluted. Probably won’t be back this way again.
our way home to show Brian that “Yes, the London Bridge is really here”. We stroll, gaze at the lake a bit, shop a little and have dinner out at Burgers By the Bridge. It is all lovely at twilight as holiday and city lights come on.
t here, Oatman AZ. Burros are plentiful today and of course we have to feed them. We cruise all the shops then take in the gunfight. It is a little underwhelming. Just two guys show up and it feels a little unorganized but it is fun all the same. The mics aren’t working so well making it hard to catch all the silly quips and repartee. We enjoy lunch at the hotel restaurant…still love those burros ears potatoes, then head on home.
to see the petroglyphs.
The resident desert tortoise makes an 
appearance as do a number of large tarantulas. We explore a bit more of the area while we are out. It is a fun outing.
town in search of the aforementioned labyrinth(es). After a little stumbling around with directions we come a long a flat spot in the desert to our left, a little parking area, and a tiny sign announcing we have arrived. We stroll the area to find a half dozen or so elaborate rock paths. It is all wonderfully done and pretty impressive. Brian and I cannot resist walking several of them. Ok, that was fun.
dinner in the motorhome since our first year (2010). Today we have roast turkey – just the breast and carefully chosen so it fits in the 6 ½ clearance of my oven! Homemade cranberry – thanks Kent for the suggestion, it is delicious. Mashed potatoes and gravy (thanks Kinder bone broth gravy mix) of course, stuffing – bummed that can’t make any in the bird, and asparagus for our low carb guest. It is all delicious. I search out a keto friendly dessert, baked marscapone with blueberries. That is a disaster – it separates into a water-logged spongey layer topped with congealed grease. Awful!
and we are in town tomorrow so we celebrate early with delicious grilled steaks and of course a cake. Keto makes cake baking a challenge so I go with a mix this time, Duncan Heinz low carb brownie and premade keto icing. It looks great and is actually pretty good. Whew, not another dessert disaster.
First just the structure, then the AI robots the crowd chats with, plus demos of the technology while we all wait in the atrium. Crowds are too thick and lines too long to get scanned for our avatars…. Brian is the only one of us who actually regrets that! We find our seats, section 405 isn’t bad, and anxiously await the show. It is visually spectacular as the screen seems to wrap around us bringing creatures close and seemingly alive (spoiler alert, the spider does jump at you) and soaring mountain views are breath taking. Sound plus theatre hepatics pull us further into the experience. I do recommend it. I am not certain how this all augments live music performances, perhaps?
only two or three of these threatened fellows we have ever seen in the wild. Very cool.
I don a spider hat and Kent a Jafar-guard sword and face paint and off we go with Mom, Dad and a couple of the girls’ friends joyfully collecting candy across the neighborhood. It is a great evening.
red rock formations. Dixie National Forest Powell ranger District includes a large red rock canyon and they have developed a nice network of trails to explore it. It is kind of a mini version of the Utah National Parks, beautiful and amazing to look at and with maybe 1/10th the visitor traffic. We walk about 8 miles total along a loop following Cassidy, Rich and ledge point trails passing through shaded side canyons, out on rocky points, among rock formations and winding through forested sections. There are more trails but we are feeling done for the day. If you are passing through on UT 12 heading for Bryce or Zion, it is worth at least a quick stop.
Mother Nature works on an absolutely amazing scale! Here, we look down into a 3 mile across, 2000-foot-deep bowl with multiple radial ridges like spokes of a wheel all adorned with multicolor hoodoos. Like Bryce but different.