Finally, after WEEKS in the US, we made time for a nice hike in the desert! Between jet lag and sicknesses, we haven’t had any time to just go out and enjoy nature on a hike (sitting on the beach watching the waves and sitting in my parent’s back yard was about all we could handle of nature). So, the other day, Matthias and I finally drove down to south mountain and went for a bit of a hike. It was WONDERFUL!

Interestingly, once we arrived to go for a hike, I remembered all of the desert safety lessons I had as a kid and realized that we were completely inappropriately dressed for a hike in the desert! Well, at least in December, a lot of the little things that could bite through my thin, little shoes are hiding underground. The trails were pretty clear too, and we stayed on them.

It was a lovely hike, and nothing bit us or busted through the little shoes I was wearing. I did sit on a cactus thorn, but it was at an obtuse angle to my back side, so it didn’t do any damage.

(note: no needle in my backside)

Downtown Phoenix from South Mountain

So, after our hike, we though, we thought how nice it would be to bring Clair on a little hike. So, the next day, we went to a park nearby with Clair to take her hiking.

She cried the entire way from the car to the trail head! As we tried to get her to walk with us, she started yelling, “My legs hurt! Hold me!!” I don’t know what was up with her (aside from being 3). So, Matthias put her up on his shoulders and walked about half way up the hill. Eventually, she figured out that hiking is really walking, and then he was able to put her down. She walked with us as happy as can be up the hill.

She did really well until we were about half a mile from the car, but by then, it was flat and Matthias could carrier her a lot easier to the car. We had to bribe her with ice cream some time along the way, so we had to stop by for ice cream on the way home.

This is her refusing to walk.

Now, she has realized that hiking is really just walking

Enjoying water at the summit

Not enjoying the bees flying around on the summit

She even posed for a photo with a cactus

Giving Daddy a good workout in the last half mile

And, of course, the ice cream treat for not screaming on the hike

After our first hike up South Mountain, Matthias and I got lunch at Whole Foods. God, I miss Whole Foods!! I am with ‘my people’ there I love the smell of lavender as you walk in, and the fact that one of the guys working there asked me how I like my Vibrams (the brand of crazy finger shoes I where). The coffee at their little bar is the best coffee we have had here so far. It may be worth another trip just to get another espresso.

Here are a few random videos from us! Of course, all of them are of the kids (I know that is what Oma and Opa are interested in seeing).

This is another California Beach video, Laguna beach. I plan on playing this on a constant loop through most of January and February during cold, grey days.

I wanted to post one from the Children’s Museum in Phoenix, which is an awesome place to bring small kids! We didn’t really get too many nice videos there because we were a big occupied with the energy of the place. If you are ever in Phoenix with small kids, I really recommend a day there.

We also went to Encanto Park. I really wanted to take Clair there, but I only had a very vague memory of the place. I just remember loving it. When we got there, I was reminded that they have amusement rides! That was why I loved it. I remember the roller coaster being much bigger than it is. it was cool to see Clair riding on the coaster that I remember from my childhood. The park is 75 years old, but they have added a lot more rides since I last went there. They also have a great set of canals for paddle boats, which were unfortunately, not running on the day we went. Here are a few photos:

We are planning a trip to the zoo this week, and Matthias and I are actually trying to organize a few outings with just the two of us. Clair is COMPLETELY happy to hang out with grandma and grandpa without us. We are a bit at a loss at what to do with ourselves. I forget what we used to do when it was just us! We need to practice that again. We are thinking of a hike tomorrow. Wonder what that will be like.

Aside from that, there is a bit of Christmas preparations. We don’t really have much shopping to do, but we are helping mom get her traditions ready. Clair has been helping her bake cookies. We are starting the meal planning. Since she has been sick this week, Matthias and I are ready to take over as chefs if we need to. I spoke with Santa this week, and he promised to stop over and say hi on Christmas morning. That should be fun! We have been able to avoid malls and shopping on the weekends and pretty much most of the week. The nice thing about people shopping a lot is that they aren’t at the other non-shopping places (where I prefer to be).

This trip, I am being reminded that I still do not like shopping. I don’t have anything against shopping, but unless I have something specific to buy, I get really impatient being in stores. I just don’t think as shopping as a form of entertainment. Clair, on the other hand, is starting to enjoy shopping – her grandma is training her. The other day was the first time she came up with the idea that she could ask me to bring something that she liked home. I could see the lightbulb go off in her head as she turned to me and said, “Can we take it home?!” Since it wasn’t a toy she had ever asked about or wanted before the moment she saw it on the shelf, she got shot down, and luckily for me, she was fine when I told her no. I doubt that equanimity toward not getting stuff will last, but a mom can hope.

OK, some videos…

One for Oma!

And, finally, Clair is showing some signs of her red neck heritage. She just needs a bottle of beer to complete the red neck Christmas look.

So, the original travel plan didn’t work out quite as expected. We had planned to head up to San Francisco for a few days while in California, but I saw that plan quickly fading as Clair got a fever last week….. then some diarrhea …. then vomiting. Luckily, only one bout of vomiting, but not-so-lucky was that is happened ON me while I was eating some lovely soup prepared by my friend. There are five kids and four adults in the house, in the past week, two kids have gone on antibiotics, and four kids and two adults have had some kind of stomach virus (so far). It has been a rough week.

So, San Francisco was definitely out of the picture. Plan B was to do some nice day trips in southern California (maybe some boat rides, attractions, etc), but plan B even became too ambitious. Nothing is very much fun with a three year old who keeps crying and holding her butt several times a day. I think we may be on Plan X at this point. That involves driving back to my parents place several days earlier than expected and sleeping.

I can’t complain though (mostly because I was not one of the sick people this week….yet). California is still the place my heart believes is home. It is just freakin’ awesome even with the sick kids and exhaustion. The few times I was alone driving in the car to a Yoga class completely confused my brain. It feels so ‘normal’ to be driving around here doing stuff. How is it that I don’t live here and feel so much like I belong?

If nothing else, the short visit gave me the chance to spend some quality time with important people. Clair has really blossomed on this part of the trip because she has been spending a lot of time with her new friends here. She still doesn’t talk to the adults, but she does talk to the kids (when the adults aren’t too close). It is progress! Her tolerance level for stimulation and new people is growing in a really positive way. She even runs into the ocean and jumps in the waves without fear. When Matthias warned her that a wave was coming the one time, she said, “It’s OK daddy!” That seems to be her motto at the moment when something potentially stressful happens. My brave girl!

While here, I have even gotten to be the student again in Yoga classes with the best Yoga teacher in SoCal! I am going to try to squeeze in one more class on our last day because it is such a blessing to share the space with the person who actually opened my eyes to these amazing teachings. Whenever I teach, I still hear his voice coming out of me. His style of teaching very heavily influences my own, and I always learn something about teaching when I listen to him interact with students.

OK, so one more day here, and then we retreat from the kiddie germs into the desert. Hopefully, they die off there and stay gone for the rest of the trip.

Here is a slideshow with some of the photos from the California portion of the trip so far. I have more to post, but they are on Matthias’ devices at the moment, and we haven’t had much time to sort things out.