Tourists at Large

The Mister and I are in Washington DC at the moment in the run up to our niece's wedding, and we are acting like tourists for a couple of days. It was a little bonus to discover that the Diamondbacks are staying at our hotel for their games over the weekend against the Nationals. The Mister, of course, walked up to Luis Gonzalez and shook his hand and chatted for a few moments. He's not really shy that way.

The first, most important visit had to be to the National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport to look at various aircraft, including the space shuttle. One of the highlights was a plane similar to the one the older brother flew in the navy. This is an RF-8, with the older brother and The Mister enjoying the view:



The Mister and I brought our kids here about 10 years ago in the fall (before Gilbert Public Schools instituted a fall break, and boy were we ever in trouble for letting our eldest miss some school - not by her academic teachers, who thought it was a great learning opportunity,but by her choir and band teachers, who were incensed that she would miss music rehearsals) and spent an entire week on the mall. There were several things we missed, of course, and so today we returned to see a couple of more places. But my favorite place ten years ago and still today is the Lincoln Memorial:



There is something very comforting about Abe sitting resolutely in his chair, surrounded by his great oratory.

There are plenty of problems in the world and with various people in politics; but we were in awe and humbled to walk around the seat of our government, reminded what a privilege it is to live in America, and that our freedoms came at great cost to a great number of people.

Rain in the Ranch - Totals

The Water Expert sent an email with some interesting statistics for the year, so I thought I would pass it on:

I was curious about the rain total for the year so I did a little historical research on our Rain Bird Maxicom Weather Station. Since January 1^st Morrison Ranch has accumulated 6.18 inches of rain. Most of that rain came down in March 2.21”, July 1.66” and August 2.31”. We might get a little more rain this week, then it should clear up and construction should be able to continue uninterrupted?? Of course, last year's rain total just for Aug.05 was 3.33 inches and the beginning of Sept. had only .40 inches, then it was dry for the rest of the year.

Well see how this year ends up.

Proud Aunt Alert

Bias For Action's eldest is now officially a part of the corps at Texas A&M as he begins his freshman year. No more hair, for the time being!

Time to Play Nice

Today's AZ Republic has a lengthy article about the relationship between home-builders and real estate agents. You can read the whole thing at your leisure, but the gist of it is summarized in the beginning paragraphs:

Home builders are spending big bucks and dishing out heaping helpings of hospitality during what has become the summer of love in the Phoenix new-home market.

The objects of their affection? The real estate agents they spurned during last year's housing boom.

The wooing has agents sipping wine and tossing down hors d'oeuvres in Buckeye, networking to live music in Chandler, munching free sandwiches in Florence and cashing fat commission checks.

It was a different world in Phoenix housing last year at the peak of the boom. With buyers camping out at subdivisions, builders didn't need agents to bring them prospects. Builders, looking to maximize their profits, cut agents' commissions or started paying flat fees, if they paid any fees at all.

That angered a lot of agents, who felt that builders were abusing the long-standing relationship between the people who sell homes and those who build them.

But the tables have turned. Demand has evaporated, and builders are trying to get cozy with agents again, throwing parties and offering big fees - commissions of 4 to 5 percent - for selling houses fast. The typical commission is 3 percent.

In the normal ebb and flow of the real estate market - and everyone agrees that the market has been anything but normal for the past few years - agents and builders work together to sell homes, each making a profit on the sale. Last year in particular, the real estate scene was fairly scary in its meteoric rise, and we experienced the insane demand in Morrison Ranch along with other locations in the valley. This year, the market has corrected itself a bit, the investors that drove prices up are leaving, and the homes are being bought by folks who intend to live in them rather than turn them for a quick profit. This is good, for our economy, for the homebuilders, and for the home buyers. In the meantime, the agents and the homebuilders need to kiss and make up, which will help both of them in their goal of making income.

There are a couple of sentences in the article above that cause me some offense, and I feel compelled to point them out. The first is the sentence, "Builders, looking to maximize their profits, cut agents' commissions or started paying flat fees, if they paid any fees at all." Somehow this implies that builders would be wrong to try to maximize their profits. Of course they are going to maximize their profits! That's why they are in business. That's why some shoppers use coupons, to maximize their grocery dollars; why would anyone pay more than they need to for something? If people are camping outside the door to buy a home, why would the builders feel the need to pay the agents to bring more people? In fact, the agents now are maximizing their profits by steering customers to the homebuilders that pay the highest commissions. There are some ugly (and illegal) stories floating around the real estate circles about some agents going to customers who are under contract with one homebuilder and offering to give up some of the agent's higher commission to the buyer if they will switch to a different homebuilder in the same subdivision (who just happens to be paying the higher commission). The Mister has heard of some homebuilders offering up to 10 percent commissions; I don't fault any agent for attempting to collect that commission, if it serves her clients, and if it is legal. I suppose my thinking is, thankfully, forever influenced by The Mister's philosophy that there can be a win-win situation. In the real estate industry, there will always be ebbs and flows; it is the nature of the industry, and sometimes it is quite profitable, and sometimes not so much, and sometimes it can be ruinous if people position themselves poorly, but that's a different topic for a different day.

The other sentence is the one that indicates the memo all reporters must have received about the "tanking housing market," and it is this: "Demand has evaporated..." Really? Evaporated? As in nothing, nada, no more? Is it possible that there is still demand, but that it is reverting back to sustainable levels? Is it possible that the demand of investors has evaporated, but that there are still folks moving into the valley that need a place to live? This seems like an extreme statement, and frankly, misleading.

The point is that in the Phoenix area, the housing market is still quite vibrant. The builders want to maximize their profits by selling more houses, and the agents want to maximize theirs by doing the same. I think they are mostly all adults who will figure out how to work together. Win-win.

And Speaking of Storms...

To do justice to this picture, you need to click your cursor on it and enlarge it; to do justice to seeing the storm, you would have had to have been there. This was taken last Monday evening over Oatman mountain by The First Cousin's daughter-in-law. They are farming in Gila Bend, and watched this storm develop from their house. What a magnificent sight!

I see that Arizona made the front page of Fox News with our flash flooding. So the weather is really the topic of conversation today. Our office took a field trip around the storm drainage areas along Guadalupe, Sossaman and Recker Roads; everything is running or overflowing the ditch banks. We don't usually get one and a half inches of rain in under two hours, so we have to expect a little flooding. All the retention basins we passed in Morrison Ranch had more than a little standing water. They are working as intended.

Rain in the Ranch

As of 11:30 am this morning, the last storm dropped 1.55 inches of rain on Morrison Ranch!

Highland Groves Happenings

A recent addition to Highland Groves is the quarter-circle of palms on the corner of Elliot and Recker Road. This follows a theme for our corners; you can see the first circle at Higley and Elliot. The lighting, of course, will be the last thing to happen.

Elliot Road is scheduled to finish its paving and striping this week; of course, the monsoon activity may slow that down a bit, but the last time we had a storm they proceeded on schedule with the paving, so you never know.

In the ongoing quest for electricity and thus turf, SRP had promised a meter on Tuesday for the controllers along Sabino Road. The sod was ordered, all was ready, and then SRP didn't power up the meter. Sigh. The turf order was cancelled, and the process will start over. The current plan is to install the turf as each meter is installed and powered up; the idea of running the irrigation using batteries seemed too risky, so we are back to waiting for SRP to be available.

The midge fly population has decreased but not disappeared, from all reports. The pesticide company fogged last Saturday and the fish in the lake are poised to eat any new larva.

I saw sales trailers for U.S. Homes, the third builder that was somewhat behind the other two in getting their models up; so it looks like they are getting closer to having models.

We are still waiting for the replacement fountain in the south lake.

There is an axiom I've heard The Mister use that says that things will go 40% slower than you plan them to, even if you factor in the 40% when you're planning... Of course, I'm a member of the McDonald's generation, raised with the expectation of getting my chicken nuggets within 2 minutes of the time that I order them, so it's difficult to be patient. In reality, things at Highland Groves are coming along swimmingly (literally, today) and there is every indication that they will continue to do so.

Monsoon Activity

The storm on Monday night was a very typical monsoon storm, hitting some places hard and skipping over others, dropping a lot of water in one locale and barely any in another, and packing some walloping winds. There were a lot of trees down - big ones - in the east valley; and there were more damaged planes out at Williams Gateway:



The Mister and First Cousin and I were in California that night, having met with our partners that will help develop the industrial property; so our pride and joy was parked far from the menacing winds. But it hurts The Mister's heart to see any aircraft dinged up; he says these will likely not ever fly again.

In Morrison Ranch, besides some trees that are down, the irrigation computers were down for a bit. The Water Expert has everything back on line, and if memory serves, we received .37 inches of rain that night.

For The AZ Republic's take on the storm, you can check out their article here.

Stumping For My Candidate

I'd like you to meet the Older Brother; this is a picture taken last Easter at the homestead, where we have gathered for years to have breakfast and an egg hunt together. And I'd like you to vote for him in the upcoming election in November.

He isn't running for one of the high profile positions like governor or senator, though he is eminently qualifed for those positions. He is running to be on the board of directors for the Central Arizona Project (CAP); there are five seats to be filled in the election, and I can say unequivocally that he is probably the most qualifed to be on the board, without even knowing who else is running. In our office resides The Water Expert; he is the guy who builds lakes and oversees the irrigation systems setup in Morrison Ranch. Richard is The High Mucky Muck Water Expert, influencing water law throughout all of Arizona. He is an attorney who has worked in the water negotiations with the Indian tribes, spent time in Washington DC explaining the arcane details to folks, and when he says he knows water, he means it.

That's the doting sister-in-law's commendation. For the official scoop and more details (and better pictures), check out his website; and then vote for him in November. This is just the sort of ballot item that we all encounter and wonder what the heck is that position, and who the heck are these people running.... Well, this is one time I can pass on a good recommendation; so you can pass it on to your family and friends as well. We'll take some of the mystery out of the voting process, together.

Good Pressure

There are two different kinds of pressure; one is the type that gives you ulcers, and that's the bad kind. The good kind of pressure is the one that puts the fire out at your house if, God forbid, you ever were to have one. It looks like there is good pressure at Highland Groves, where the fire department was testing the hydrants and doing a little training as well. That's easier to do when no houses or landscaping exist.

Restaurant Choices

Those of us who have lived in Gilbert for a long time remember when "eating out" meant leaving town. There were just too few restaurants in Gilbert to provide some options, the one exception being Mexican food. The Mister and I love Mexican food, and are almost always content with that choice; but not all of our out-of-town guests concur and sometimes you just need someplace a little bit different.

This is no longer the case; with our explosive growth, the restaurants have followed, and the options continue to increase. Today's East Valley Tribune informs us of another change around the corner:

Gilbert’s historic Liberty Market is closed — for now. In about 18 months, the owner of Joe’s Real BBQ plans to open a posh new market and restaurant there.

Joe Johnston, whose barbecue restaurant is known for pulling crowds into an often desolate downtown Heritage District, purchased the market at 503 N. Gilbert Road and has begun renovations.

“I’ve always liked that building,” Johnston said of the 1918 structure. “I’d like it to be the kind of urban marketplace you find in San Francisco.”

It will be a sit-down restaurant, with pizza, panini sandwiches, soup and salad, but will also house a bakery and a speciality food market.

“There will be a lot of interesting stuff you can’t just buy anywhere,” he said. “Local and natural meats fed on good quality feed. Organic food. We could sell you ingredients, and tell you how to make a unique meal yourself.”

Prepared food, such as pork loin, will be sold either cooked or ready to take home to cook, he said, helping busy families make new or fancier dishes.

There won’t be any barbecue, and the eatery will be different from other downtown restaurants, including homestyle meals at the Farmhouse or Italian cuisine planned at the nearby Oregano’s.

I'm still waiting for his restaurant and coffee shop to open at Agritopia, which I believe is supposed to happen fairly soon. Joe knows restaurants; this will be a great addition.

Friendly Fish

These small creatures (that don't really look that much like fish to me) are the new best friends of Highland Groves residents. They were added to the lake yesterday in the ongoing effort to get rid of the midge flies. Over 500 of these Isreali Carp are now swimming around, munching on midge fly larva. Combine that with the fogging I mentioned a couple of days ago, and we hope for a winning combination in the eradication of the pests.

School Daze

Don't these two guys look like rock stars posing for an album cover? They are actually both off to college this year; the shaggy one in front is our number one son, and the guy with his arms folded is Bias For Action's number one son. Bias For Action is in Texas at this very moment getting him checked into Texas A&M, and The Mister and I will travel the short distance to ASU to help our guy get situated this morning. It's a time of mixed emotions for all of us; new beginnings, and Change with a capital "C" - and you remember that all humans are resistant to change. They are both very good kids and should do well in this new chapter of life.

Even though we don't have any kids attending elementary or high school, lots of our neighbors do; and so I'll remind all residents of Morrison Ranch that the school zone speed limits are now in full effect. It seems especially difficult to slow down on Elliot, but that school zone actually begins right before the canal and extends through the light at Greenfield. We've also had some calls from residents in Higley Estates about speeding, especially on Prairie as folks rush to Elliot. The HOA is in the process of replacing the stolen signs reminding drivers that children are at play and they need to drive slowly. It's an important message.

Re-entering the Fray

The Mister and I cleared our minds and charged our batteries last week, and now it's time to apply our new-found vigor to the various tasks at hand. There were a few things that happened in our absence, and several things that did not.

I see that my weeklong absence sent Krispy Kreme into a tailspin financially, and they've closed all their Arizona stores. I'm back now; if you're reading this, you can re-open!

You may remember that one builder abandoned ship on closing day for Lakeview Trails North; a new home-builder has stepped into the gap and we entered escrow with them last week. David Weekley Homes will be building on 81 lots in Lakeview Trails North; this is a homebuilder that is new to the valley, and we are excited about their product. You can check out their website here, but I must caution you that the homes they build for us will be different from what you see in Texas, Colorado and the east coast. Lakeview Trails North is already going strong, with the earthwork in full swing; so when we close at the end of this year with Weekley Homes, they should be able to jump in and not miss too many beats as the models start going up for the various homebuilders.

The Mister posted in July about the midge fly issue in Highland Groves; there seemed to be less of them after the corn was cut across the street, but then they returned. As he mentioned in that post, we have treated the lake twice, but he isn't sure that the lake is the source, as this didn't seem to have any effect. Our HOA has been doing the bureaucratic ballroom dance with various officials to figure out how a private institution might fog; the county won't fog because their emphasis is on mosquitoes which can carry disease. The good news is that midge flies don't carry disease; the bad news is that they are irritating as all-get-out. But fogging will happen thanks to the HOA, between August 18 and 20, depending on weather conditions, and notices to homeowners will be delivered tomorrow. The fogging will not harm animals, landscaping, or paint, but we're hoping it proves to be very deadly for the midge flies.

Some things that didn't happen while we were gone: no word on Albertson's or their plans... No grass on the parkway at Highland Groves, though there are some words being bandied about like "batteries" and "temporary" and "homebuilders sharing costs?" The lights on the tanks are not yet lit; one electrical part is in, but another necessary electrical part will take two weeks. And I'm sure there are other items as well. I'll be looking into them as we re-enter the fray of normal life.

Home Soon

I had intended to post a few times this week even though we are out of town, but that didn't happen, obviously. We return early Monday morning, and normal posting should resume Tuesday. See ya then...

And So It Begins

The Mister and I are out of town this week, so posting will be light. But The Water Expert is on the spot, and he sent some pictures and commentary from the groundbreaking ceremonies this morning of Big League Dreams:

These are the pictures I took this morning from the Ceremony at Big League Dreams going in off Elliot between Recker and Power next to our Highland Groves. It was a pretty good turnout as you will see. I got to meet Bill Russell from the LA Dodgers and had him sign a baseball for our office. He will be doing a lot of promoting for the company. He said he is in charge of the fund raising, camps, clinics, coordinating sports stars to come to the facility, father and son games etc...

They said the park should be open in about a year; we know how that goes (always takes longer). The park will recreate 8 major league fields those being: our very own Chase Field, Wrigley Field, Sportsman's Field, Ebbets Field, Fenway Park, Polo Grounds, Angels Stadium and Yankee Stadium. They will have 2 indoor Stadium Clubs, 8 Station batting cages, Indoor Multi-Sport Pavilion, Playground and a Corporate Events Area.

It should be a nice addition to the Town of Gilbert. If you want more information about it check out their website at www.bigleaguedreams.com.

An Accounting Moment

If you were to ask any of my kids about their training in economics, they would likely laugh and politely respond that their mom is a CPA, and that they are well-trained. To all CPAs everywhere, I would like to apologize for tarnishing the title, at least to my children.

The truth is that their training began at a very early age (about 5 years old, which I still believe is a good time to start), and progressed so that they were responsible for buying their own clothing by age 8, balancing their own checkbooks (and entering the data into a computer finance program) by age 12, running their personal budgets thereafter, setting up IRA accounts the moment they had earned income, and stepping into the dangerous waters of credit card use at 18. I was over their shoulder (or breathing down their neck, depending on your point of view) the entire time, teaching, repeating, cajoling and enticing, all with the end view of helping them leave my nest with some good solid principles in areas of finance.

That's why I solidly support the theme of today's AZ Republic article on the topic:

While other high school students spent their summer vacation sleeping in late and lounging around a swimming pool, Carlos Soto and Hawk Kitcheyan were up early and heading to work at Merrill Lynch.

The soon-to-be seniors at Central High School in Phoenix will finish a six-week internship at the financial brokerage's Phoenix headquarters today. Soto and Kitcheyan represent a nationwide push to improve financial literacy among young people. Educators and policymakers point to increased consumer spending and Americans' negative savings rate as reasons students need to learn about economics and personal finance at a younger age.

Some states, including Arizona, have debated making these subjects graduation requirements.

The amount of total U.S. consumer credit grew about $4.4 billion in May to a record $2.174 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. At the same time, the national savings rate has dropped below zero.

"The facts are pretty obvious that people do not do a good job of managing their personal money," said Mike Sullivan, director of education for Take Charge America, a debt-counseling program in Phoenix, and president of the Arizona JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

Read the rest of the article for some of the ways that these kids grew over the summer. The Gilbert schools have long had some classes that emphasized basic financial training, including the stock market game, and for that, I am grateful. And now some banks are beginning to see the merits of helping youngsters learn to manage their money. When I tried to open a checking account for my first daughter, no bank would allow it; their beginning date was age 16. I found a credit union that would open a checking account; but even that credit union won't let them have a credit card in their own name until age 18. When we went back-to-school clothes shopping, my girls were mortified at pulling out their checkbooks to pay for their clothes (on which they had added up all costs carefully in the dressing room); most clerks looked at and spoke only to me, even as the girls made the payments. So it would be helpful if institutions other than the schools were encouraging kids to have good financial habits.

One thing I've learned in my journey; not everyone can use the same method of budgeting successfully. In that way, my kids have taught me, as we came up with different ways of successfully managing their dollars. (Not everyone gets as thrilled as I do when a checkbook balances to the penny.)

Back to my apology. CPAs really are very helpful and kind; not all of them crack the whip over a Quicken program. It's an honorable profession.

Which reminds me; I still haven't taught them how to get their free credit reports online...

Around Town

There are a couple of interesting articles in the newspapers today about Gilbert issues that touch on or near the Morrison Ranch community. The first has to do with Sawyer Estates, the county island that abuts Higley Estates to the west. We've seen the yellow signs along Elliot Road, and assumed they were joining the stampede to annexation along with several other county islands, in order to preserve emergency fire service. The AZ Republic says that the annexation isn't happening, at least for now:

The council also voted unanimously, and without discussion, to repeal the annexation of Sawyer Estates, a county island neighborhood near Elliot Road and the Eastern Canal in north Gilbert.

About three dozen people filed a lawsuit against the town in mid-July to stop the neighborhood's annexation.

In a July 20 ruling, Superior Court Judge Robert C. Houser issued a temporary restraining order to halt the annexation.

Town officials, while researching for the lawsuit, said they discovered that the residents suing Gilbert comprised more than 50 percent of the county island's assessed value. According to state law, a majority of property owners and the assessed value is required for annexation.

"We'll just wait and see how the town responds to undoing what was done," Les Love, a Sawyer Estates resident who fought the annexation effort, said Wednesday afternoon in response to the council's action.

Love said he and other neighbors were frustrated by the town's process, particularly after several residents took their names off the original annexation petition. Now, they must contend with getting back some lost services, he said.

Meanwhile, Gilbert officials said the window is closing for people who want to annex into Gilbert and not have their fire service interrupted.

The Mister opined that his understanding is that annexation is based upon having residents with more than 50% of the acreage, rather than the assessed values as stated above, in favor. We wonder if the folks who are in favor of annexing will now sue; in any case, it appears that Sawyer Estates will most definitely have their fire service interrupted.

On a less contentious note, the new elementary school next to Higley Groves is getting ready to open next week. The East Valley Tribune tells us that they are working hard to be ready:

Gilbert Unified School District starts school Aug. 9. Teachers at the district’s new Highland Park Elementary School, 230 N. Cole Drive, were just able to begin moving in on Monday.

On Tuesday, they were painting and setting up their rooms while Eagle Scouts and parent volunteers sorted books and helped paint the library.

Principal Jason Martin said all of the school’s playground equipment is in, but the cafeteria equipment needs to be tested and cleaned, and the music room needs cabinets. Pallets are still arriving from the district’s warehouse with furniture, curriculum materials, music stands, computers and PE equipment to be set up throughout the 75,000-square-foot building.

With 60 contractor employees, more than 30 district personnel, school staff and volunteers at work, Martin is confident the classrooms will be ready for Meet the Teacher Night at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Highland Park will serve about 600 preschool through sixth-grade students this year. The school cost more than $7 million and was funded through a bond approved by voters.

This is a very attractive school, as most of Gilbert's schools are, and will be easily accessible to the nearby students.

And the third topic around town (and the state, and the country) has to do with the housing market. I pass several houses for sale in Higley Groves West on my way to our office; some have had signs out front all summer, which was not the case a year ago, when houses were selling as fast as they went on the market. A radio talk-show yesterday was urging folks to call in with their disaster stories of home-selling, while simultaneously pointing out that people's expectations were to make between $20,000 and $50,000 on flipping houses. There are articles almost every day, sometimes 3 or 4 articles, about the slowdown in the housing market, the uptick in the mortgage rates, and the smaller numbers of housing permits each month. This East Valley Tribune article has the somewhat dour headline "Valley Home Market Slides in June..." but the reporter is more balanced in the opening paragraph:

New home permits and closings as well as the sale of existing homes in the Valley continued their slide in June when compared with the record levels of last year, according to a recently released housing report compiled by RL Brown.

June permits decreased nearly 26 percent and sales of existing homes were down 34 percent compared with June 2005. New home closings were off 11 percent in June compared with the same month in 2005, Brown said.

Year-to-date numbers showed permits down nearly 19 percent and existing home sales off by more than 25 percent compared with 2005. Year-to-date new home closings are down more than 7 percent from last year, Brown said.

“Builders have seen significant cancellations across the region as resale homes owned by buyers of new homes have failed to sell in time to have funds to close,” the report says.

“This weakness in the resale market, along with the over aggressive price increases and seasonal pressures have seemingly created ‘The Perfect Storm.’ ”

I am not pretending that there is no slowdown in the housing market. But how could it look anything but dire when compared to the out of control escalation of the market last year? Chatting with the builders around the valley, it becomes apparent that everyone is actually relieved (except for the folks who can't sell their homes quickly enough) that the market is correcting itself. It would be impossible to sustain the price increases, the buying frenzies, or the lotteries to buy those highly priced houses; and indeed, everyone would prefer the correction of the market to the crash of same. So I give more weight to the words following the "perfect storm" phrase:

Brown predicted the downturn will be short, saying the market bottomed out in February. When compared with the last five years, 2006 has remained relatively consistent in the number of permits counted each month, he said.

Housing starts will remain lower until new homes already built are sold. To do so, builders will lower the prices of floor plans in existing communities and the market will level off, Brown said.

The most recent statistics indicate 74 percent of the current 4,276 floor plans offered in new home subdivisions had no price increase in June compared with May.

The general consensus of the folks in the building industry is that the bottoming out has already happened. Things are stabilizing, and returning to normal; prices are still higher than they were two years ago, but they are not ascending like a 4th of July rocket, and that is good, for everyone.

Now if only we could see some bottoming out on the price of cement...

Dog Days of August

I'm not talking about temperatures, but about the new dog park, Cosmo Park, that had its grand opening last Saturday night. Click on the picture above to get a larger image, and note the paw prints on the lights; this is just one example of the attention to detail in this park. They had about 6,000 people and 1,500 dogs show up for the opening, according to the AZ Republic:

They flocked to Gilbert's new dog park in every size, color and breed imaginable - and had a doggone good time.

From Chihuahuas to Great Danes, Cosmo Park's grand opening Saturday was packed with at least 1,500 dogs and 6,000 people, town spokesman Greg Svelund estimated.

More than two hours before the event's start, hundreds of dogs were playing in the park on the northeastern corner of Ray and Greenfield roads, Svelund said.

And by 6:30 p.m., the park's parking lot was packed, which sent people scurrying elsewhere to park their vehicles, he said.

"There was just an amazing amount of people," Svelund said. And dogs.

The Labrador retrievers packed the swimming area, the cattle and sheep dogs herded mutts in the off leash area and tiny posh pups perched safely on their owners' laps.

The Mister and I don't have a dog at the moment, but we stopped by to have a peek at the festivities, and it looked like folks (and dogs) were very excited. We took this picture from the porch of some friends who live in Agritopia right next to the park. The newspaper has a slideshow (I can't figure out how to link the slideshow, but you can get there by going to the newspaper's print edition of the Gilbert section) with some closeups of the dogs, mostly.

I've actually been waiting to post on this since Sunday; I know that the Republic doesn't update its Gilbert online newspages on Monday, but this didn't even make the cut on Tuesday. I suppose I'm being a little harsh; but in the online era where information is instant, this seems a bit tardy. In any case, if you have a dog, you'll definitely want to check this place out.

Big League Dreams Dirt Will Fly

We have been watching the construction trailers setting up next to Highland Groves, and hearing about their preparations to start the grading process for construction of Big League Dreams; and I think it will begin very soon this month. If you need a recap of what the park will involve, the Gilbert Independent has its article detailing that this week:

Play ball!

That's the call for baseball and softball enthusiasts by the Gilbert Town Council, with its Jan. 11 approval of $33.5 million for the construction of a Big League Dreams ballpark complex at Elliot District Park, Elliot and Power roads.

A 55-acre chunk of Elliot Park will accommodate the eight ball fields, built as scaled-down replicas of famous baseball stadiums like Yankee Stadium in New York and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Additional field replicas may also include Boston's Fenway Park and the New York Polo Grounds.

There will be two stadium clubs, stadium seating, a pizza restaurant with a view of the baseball fields and batting cages at the park.

The stadium's outside walls will also be painted to simulate famous stadium exteriors and room will be left on the property to build two soccer fields in the future.

The fields will use grass rather than artificial turf, because artificial turf becomes too hot during the summer to play on during the day.

The M.S. Mortinson Co. will construct the facility, widen Elliot Road, improve infrastructure and install traffic lights around the facility.

Once construction begins in late August, it will take 12-15 months to complete, according to town officials.

I didn't know that they were getting a traffic light at their entrance, but that seems reasonable. The Mister has been in conversations with the Big League folks to encourage them to put their best face toward the residents of Highland Groves. These will be lighted fields, with really good shielding on the lights that point the light directly at the fields; and they have fairly high outfield walls. We think it will be a great addition to the area.

Milestone Events

Something is missing from this picture, and that something signals one of those memorable milestones. No training wheels! This is one of my neighbors taking a spin around the lake, sans training wheels, and I don't think she even needs the knee pads. There are certain events in everyone's life that seem to stand out in the memory, and learning to ride a bike is generally one of those events. We all have stories of triumph or trauma associated with balancing a two-wheeler; I think it's grand that this little sweetheart will associate riding around the Town Center Lake with her milestone event.

Come to think of it, MY little sweetheart also has a milestone memory at this lake. What a great lake...