Spring Break 2021 - Phoenix

Since Costa Rica was off the table, we improvised as best we could.  Things were pretty locked down, so none of the usual options (hotels, theme parks, crowded beaches) were open.  We were still technically supposed to stay home, but we thought if we drove our very own car down to somewhere warm, and stayed in our own place that no one could be mad at us.  

As we drove out of Salt Lake City, those big electronic signs over the road said things like "STAY HOME STAY SAFE," which made me feel a little guilty, but off we went anyway.  It is a long drive down to Phoenix, but the kids (and the dog) did pretty well.  It was fairly uneventful and normal, except when we stopped for gas I would use half a bottle of hand sanitizer afterwards.  It was exciting for the kids, and for us, when we saw our first cactuses:

We rented a house in a suburb of Phoenix, mainly for one reason:

Our.  Own.  Pool.  We got there kind of in the evening, and we definitely enjoyed the sunset over the palm trees and the pool.  It's not Costa Rica, but it does not suck.

The weather was pretty perfect, still cool in the evenings and mornings, but nice and warm during the days.  We spent most of the days like this (swimming around and asking Dad to throw you even though you are now way to big to throw).  

You can't really tell, but that tree at the end of the pool was an orange tree.  There were orange blossoms on it that smelled like heaven.  And there were also lots of oranges, which we picked and ate.  Fresh oranges from a tree are four times as good as oranges from the store for some reason!  Best oranges I have ever eaten. 

Usually Dax was the first one up, and he would just hang out in the living room and watch TV until Cora woke up and then we would head out to the pool and swim until lunchtime.  

Usually around lunchtime I would go in search of Arden, who would be dead asleep in her dark bedroom.  She would pull one of those "WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?" moments for a while, and I would have to do a lot of convincing and begging to get her up and out of bed, but usually by the afternoon she would have regained her sunny self:

We sent Preston out into the scary world to the grocery store to get us groceries, and then we would usually send him back out again to find us some takeout for dinner.  He was a good sport, and probably didn't mind the alone time.  

I looked around the area for a place to go running, and there was a nature preserve kind of thing nearby, which unfortunately I can't remember the name of.  But, guys.  The desert was blooming and It. Was. Breathtaking.  Forgive my picture overload, but know that this is only a very small sample:

The flowers on the cactuses were amazing!

So many colors!

There was an old rusted truck down in a gulley in the middle of nowhere.  It made me wonder what the story behind it was.

They were really some of my favorite runs...the sun felt so good in March, and the colors looked amazing to my winter-weary eyes.  I never expected to find so much color in the desert:

They weren't my fastest runs because I kept stopping to take pictures:

And I really love those Saguaro cactuses.  

Like, wow?

There are seriously dozens more where those came from but you get the idea.  It was so, so pretty.  I convinced Preston to come along one morning, and he walked while I ran.

He agreed that it was beautiful, so I became determined to get the kids out of the house and take them on a hike.  They were a little bit less than enthusiastic, but they came, and I even got them to smile a little bit:

The coolest thing we saw was this owl, who had built a huge net in the middle of a cactus, and had some cute fluffy babies in there!  

The day had gotten cloudy so I didn't take many pictures, but it was still really pretty.  The kids were impressed for about 10 minutes but after that they wanted to know how much further until we could turn around and go back to the pool.  Oh well.

In the evenings it was a little too chilly to stay swimming.  We would watch TV ("Nailed It" from Netflix was a favorite).  The house we stayed in had a "game room," and it had a chess table, and surprisingly the kids all wanted to learn how to play chess!

They all picked it up pretty fast.  Arden and Dax were the most into it, and it was fun to watch.  We ended up getting a chess set when we got home.  

We brought Olive down with us, and since she loves swimming in Bear Lake we thought she would enjoy the pool.  She got in on the first day and couldn't figure out a way to get out on the side, and it freaked her out a little so she wouldn't get back in.  She enjoyed herself lounging around though:

And she of course accompanied me on my runs.  

Everything touristy was pretty much closed, so we didn't have a lot of options, but we did a pretty good job of keeping ourselves "busy" i.e. being lazy and relaxing and playing.

We played lots of games in house and in the yard between swimming sessions.

One day, Preston got sent to Target to buy a rash guard for Cora, who had gotten pretty sunburned after a few days.  He came back with....a rash guard and an electric scooter.  What?

The kids had a fun time riding it up and down the road, and it was nice to have another activity.  The house we stayed it is in the background of the picture above, and here is a picture of the cute little courtyard where we sometimes ate.  

We had a lovely, relaxing week in the sunshine, and it was nice to feel the sun again.   Another beautiful sunset on our last night: 

Goodbye Phoenix!