Sundial Hot Springs Trail

The only thing worth reporting about for the month of May this year (other than our Pie Day) was our day hike down to the San Francisco Hot Springs. We weren't necessarily interested in the actual hot springs, we just wanted to get down on the river bottom and see what we could see.

 The trail is only about a mile and a half, so we figured we'd let the kids walk as much as the were able and willing, and if we had to carry them some of the way we'd manage. The first mile or so is fairly easy. There's not much shade, but no big inclines to deal with. Erik walked the entire way down the river on his own, but Sharli needed a bit of help.

 Things are starting to warm up around here in May, so we took advantage of the few shady spots we found to cool off and pick wildflowers (the flowers being Sharli's favorite part of the entire day).

 The last part of the trail is pretty steep. I didn't get a picture that really showed the elevation change you're dealing with at that point, but it was a pretty good climb down into the canyon.

 We made it to the river, and no time was lost shedding clothing and jumping in. There was a nice shallow sandy spot right where the trial meets the river, so Erik was able to really have some fun. We had to watch him though, because there was also a deep channel that might have been too much for him. In fact, we didn't even try to cross it to see the hot springs, we'll have to go back another day for that.

 We enjoyed a picnic of PB&J's and played and explored along the river bottom for a while.

 By the time we started hiking out things were getting pretty warm. We took lots of shade breaks and helped the kids out as much as they needed it. Erik ended up walking all the way to the river and half the way back before needing a piggy back ride. I was amazed to see him just about running back up the switch-backs out of the canyon.

 By the time we hit the car at the trail head we were all wiped out. It didn't take too long before the kids were passed out, even though the ride home was only a few minutes.

 Don't worry though, they both bounced right back again as soon as we got home! It's so fun to live in such a beautiful place!

April

April wasn't spent gallivanting all over the place like we did in March, but we still stayed busy and learned lots. For example, Sharli learned that she loves to eat oranges, and that she doesn't even need a grown-up to peel it for her. All you have to do is eat through the peel and you're good to go. So what if it's a bit messy?!

She also learned that there are loopholes in mom's rules. Things like mom's attempt to keep everyone locked in the house by telling them they have to have shoes to go outside are easily circumvented. Note mom never said who's shoes you had to be wearing!

Erik learned a bit too. He learned that when mom ruins all the fun by telling him not to climb the fence, she may have had a motive other than being mean.

Also, he learned that buckets make better seats when they're up-side-down.

Ethan learned that when mom says things like "parents don't get to sleep in", she wasn't just being pessimistic and cranky. Maybe there is some truth to what she said.

He also learned that Nebraska is a LONG drive from Glenwood. Especially when you're going there and back almost without stopping.

At least his route took him past the biggest rail yard in the country. That was a pretty interesting stop!

Diedre learned that the only way Sharli is willing to get anywhere near a horse is if Mom gets on the thing first.

She also learned that all you need to have a custom tile back-splash in your kitchen is some tape, some paint, and a lot of patience.

Maybe our favorite lesson of the month was that we LOVE the playground at the Glenwood School. It's only available when the kids aren't in school, but it's a ton of fun!

We also learned that when you live somewhere like Glenwood, you have to take advantage of every opportunity to find adventure. We found out what day the Tour of the Gila bike race would be going through town and made an event out of it. With all the bikes and police escorts and sag wagons it was as good as any parade...

...even if the cyclists don't wave back.

March

I don't know if we were trying to make up for how boring we were in February, but March was sure a busy month for us!

It started with Erik and Sharli supervising while Ethan fixed our front steps. It's so nice to walk in and out of the house with getting bucked off the steps!

 We did a fun Pirates themed date night, but we let the kids get in on the fun for dinner. After they went to bed we had a Pirates of the Caribbean movie party without them, poor things.

 Since spending an evening playing pirates wasn't enough adventure for us, we decided to head over to Tucson and see what we could find to do. The first day we tried to focus on free activities. One of our stops was the (free) Transportation Museum. They have a huge steam locomotive outside that you can go into, as well as some interesting displays about the history of Tucson and its transportation. And a train table for the the little guys, SCORE!

Outside the museum was this statue of Wyatt Earp (and somebody, Doc Holiday?). Erik did his best to look as tough as these two, do you think he was successful? 

 Right outside the museum, we hopped onto the Turquoise Trail, a walking path through downtown Tucson that takes you past many of the important historic features of the oldest part of town. You can pick up guide brochures at the museum, which we did, and read about the places you're walking past. By the time we got started it was late enough in the afternoon that most places were closed, someday we'll have to go back and see the insides of all these neat places.

 You can see the turquoise colored line on the sidewalk here. This marks the entire walking path so you don't have to think about navigating and can just enjoy the sights.

 The weather was pretty nice, but even in March Tucson still gets hot in the afternoons. We took advantage of the cool shade around this fountain to take a break for a while. We were mostly dry still when we moved on. :)

 Tucson has a neat monument to the Mormon Battalion, who stopped here and peacefully occupied the Spanish-owned fort for a short time.

 Day two of our Tucson trip found us at the Pima Air and Space Museum. Not free, or even cheap, but a lot of fun!

 "Flying" the different display models they had set up was a lot of fun!

 Erik's main focus was finding all the planes from the Pixar Planes movies. This is Dipper, just one of many beloved characters.

 We got to meet up with Kate, Blaine, and Neil for a few hours at the museum and afterwords for lunch. It's so fun to live somewhat close to them again!

 We also got to enjoy some of our other extended family this month as well. Sharli and Darrow are best buds...

 ...as are Uncle Heber and Erik.

 Somewhere in all that craziness, Ethan and I got to enjoy two trips to Phoenix, without kids! It was really fun to get to see some new things and have some time to ourselves. Here we are at the Japanese Memorial Garden in downtown Phoenix.