Olive mill and ballpark

After out out of town adventure to Sedona and Jerome last Thursday we decided to stay a little closer to home on Friday. 

After we got Spencer off the school we drove out to Queen Creek to have breakfast at and take a tour of the Olive Mill.  Here's the "visit Phoenix" description:

"Tour, Shop, Eat, Repeat at Queen Creek Olive Mill - Arizona's only working olive farm and mill. Family owned and operated, our 100-acre farm with over 7,000 olive trees is a true blossom to bottle experience. Visitors are able to learn first-hand how olives are pressed into fresh extra virgin olive oil on our educational Olive Oil 101 tour conducted daily. Guests can taste their way through our gourmet marketplace and shop for locally made extra virgin olive oils, Balsamic vinegars, olives and other local treasures. Our Italian inspired Eatery features old world family recipes. We use local and garden-sourced ingredients to create our healthy and delicious cuisine and showcase how extra virgin olive oil can be used best in your kitchen."

OK.  Description over.

I have been to the Olive Mill for lunch and for dinner but never for breakfast and never for the tour.

My breakfast.  It was good.  Not the best ever, but I'd eat it again. 

Shockingly this place has a kid's menu for lunch and dinner, but not breakfast so Elliott got a yogurt parfait. 

We ate first and then took the tour. 

The tour was about half outside and half inside.  The inside part was in the actual room where they do all the pressing and actual oil making. 

Pictures for blogging and facebooking and instagraming purposes. 

This is garlic for their garlic oil. 

After the tour we all had a treat.  I got a refill on my coffee and a blood orange olive oil cupcake.  It was up there in the top five of cupcakes. 

We took Elliott straight to school after we came back from Queen Creek.  Mike and Cathy spent the afternoon just hanging out (by the pool and the TV) while I did some work for my new part part time job.  

When Elliott got home we did a mini photo shoot to recreate some pictures from Cathy's trip in 2013.  I'll post the new picture first and then the corresponding comparison. 

Look at that chunker baby.

It took Elliott about four days to warm up to Cathy in 2013.  This time was instantaneous. I had to give lots and lots and lots of reminders that not everybody loves to be grabbed and touched all the live long day. 

Four years later.  I think we're aging well!

It's just not the same when it's posed versus spontaneous. 

And for a very special bonus- here is a triple comparison from all three trips of Cathy visiting Ginger.  

2010, 2013 and 2017. 

As soon as Michael got home from work we went out to dinner at Joe's BBQ in Gilbert and then we drove to Mesa so we could take the light rail to downtown Phoenix.  It was Elliott's first time on the light rail.  He was pretty terrified until we did about two stops and then he loved it. 

The baseball game was a baseball game.  It was boring. 

But at least I had a friend to keep me company. 

And at least I had a friend that I could drink with. 

Cathy, Elliott and I ended up leaving the game early because Elliott could not handle one more second of it.  He was fine as soon as we were out of there and back on the light rail.  He could probably ride the light rail all day and be fine.  The rest of the boys stayed until the end of the game and then had to fight the crowds back home.  

Up next:  We go back to Chase Field for a tour!