Chiricahua, Dying Bat Edition

 The Gunters organized a camp trip with us and the Nelsons to Chiricahua in March! We got our favorite group campsite.

There was a lot more water in this creek than last time due to snow melt. The parking area is across the stream from the campsite so we got to cross it many a times. 

Isaac got straight to work playing with rocks.

And throwing rocks into the stream.

Working with the dads to build a tossed rock dam

The Gunters are fun to camp with because they bring a lot of toys with them! They had a laser tag set and a mosquito net enclosure with a portable heater for luxurious board game playing at night. The highlight of our game night was the ever diplomatic Cherise saying "That's a choice!" in response to a truly idiotic move one of us was trying to make. 

A bat randomly fell out of a tree right in the middle of our campsite. It had a big gaping whole in its wing between it's legs and seemed to be paralyzed, stuck with it's wings outstretched. We got some video clips of it- it was super creepy looking! We could see a blue jay up in the tree that the bat fell out of. Our theory was that the blue jay attacked the sleeping bat and mauled it for funsies because blue jays are jerks. 

I told the kids to check to see if they have any magical connections to fire. It turns out that all three of these guys can control the flames if they focus their mental energy and move their hands around. I was highly amused. 

Also, why is the firepit the exact right size and shape to hold a human body?

Me and my little buddy on a chilly morning

It is very typical for Elliot to go around in a t-shirt and shorts while everyone else has jackets on. 

Look at those boulder-holding muscles!

Annie was a bit less convincing 

This one's just adorable

The best family picture we managed to take on the trip.

I always love a good campout, and this one did not disappoint! The kids always seem most alive when they are climbing rocks and building stuff out of sticks and rocks. It's good for the soul. 

Sahuarita Snow! In March!

We had the biggest snow day we have experienced in Arizona! It was doubly crazy because it happened in MARCH when it is usually toasty roasty already. I woke up to this scene out our window:

Gotta love the sprinkler lines in the snow. It didn't stick to roads or sidewalks at all, but the grass was coated and it was still coming down!

Elliot had already left for school. I wish I had gotten up earlier. I would have let him play in the snow and go to school late. He reported back that the kids were playing in the snow at the bus stop, and there was still a little bit of it left at morning recess. He declined Aaron's advice to wear pants so he spent his snow day in his shorts with just his classic black hoodie. 

The rest of us had a fun morning outside! We don't have great snow gear for the kids, because we would hardly ever use it. Annie had had some gloves that weren't water proof, and Isaac had wool socks on his hands. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did!

Our peach tree had already blossomed! Aaron heroically hosed it down to try to keep the buds from freezing. He was successful, and we went on to have a record breaking peach season. 

Our little snowman! It used up all the snow on our little turf patch. It was almost as tall as Isaac!

With our turf snow consumed, we set off into the grassy area behind our houses for further adventures! Annie was so excited, it was just a magical morning. We saw our neighbors the Mittons jumping on their trampoline and had a snowball fight with them over their back wall. Rachel managed to nail me right in the neck to give me a shirt full of slush. Ruthless. 

That weekend we decided to take a long overdue trip to ski Mt. Lemmon! We went up to Flagstaff to ski last year for our 10 year anniversary and remembered how much we love it. It was just too far away to practically do. Mt. Lemmon was close enough (about a 2 hour drive) that we could get a babysitter and spend a half day up on the slopes. My only complaint is that there are no bathrooms, only porta-potties in the parking lot with cracked roofs, so you get snow melt dripping on you when you're in there. We observed several skiers finding outdoor alternatives. Regardless, we should have gone years ago - it was a blast! It is a small resort, but Aaron and I have humble aspirations and were more than satisfied with their runs. We hope to take Elliot and the older cousins next year, it would be fun to teach them. 

Here's the view from the top of the mountain with Tucson below. It was a beautiful day on the mountain! We listed to Hozier's "Blood upon the Snow" on our drive back. It adequately captures the majesty of our skiing. 

Elliot's Baptism

We are proud of Elliot for choosing to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Elliot is an awesome kid with so much potential to do good in the world. 

Elliot in his baptism jumpsuit!

 

The baptizer and the baptizee

The whole crew! We were by default scheduled to baptize him in early January after his December birthday, but we held off a month so that Mimi and Grumpa could be there. We thought about doing it in December in McLean, but then his cousins and friends couldn't be there. This worked out perfectly- his grandparents, the other Bloods, the Andersons, and the Mills were there. It was a small group and perfect for him. 

Some moments to remember: 

I made resurrection rolls for refreshments and worked them into my talk. I showed them how the inside of the roll is empty, representing Christ's empty tomb. Baptism is symbolic of us spiritually dying and being reborn. Isaac ran up to the front and grabbed the sticky marshmallow roll and spent the rest of my talk eating it while hanging onto my leg. 

Mimi conducted the music and had an absolute allergy attack where she couldn't stop coughing while she was trying to sing "I'm trying to be like Jesus."

It was special having Aaron be in the bishopric to welcome Elliot into the ward. He asked his buddy Kelton who is just a bit older and actually capable of being solemn to give the closing prayer. 

I attempted to have a photoshoot of my handsome boy afterwards.

We gave him a set of scriptures and a journal as baptism gifts. A very large portion of his first journal entry was about these skittles that the primary presidency gave him. 

This was the only serious shot I got.

Naturally, he turned it into this. 

Mimi & Grumpa at the Gem Show

Mimi and Grumpa planned their visit so that they would be in town when the gem and mineral show was going on! It really is the perfect activity for all of us. Mimi loves all things beautiful, and Grumpa loves fossils and geology. 

 

The gem and mineral show! All of us were having a great time, except perhaps Isaac who was upset to be in the stroller but also flops on the ground whenever we try to get him to walk.

Tiger eyes!

Elliot brought the Rock & Gem reference guide that cousin Aaron gave him for his birthday. He would excitedly look up the minerals on display in his book. "Malachite! That's on page 67!" He scored a lot of awesome free rocks by impressing the vendors with his earnestness. 

He was feeling the crystal energy.

We actually went on two days to two of the many events all over Tucson. We spent a couple of hours at each and weren't able to see everything. These events are HUGE. My favorite thing was a guy who made knife handles out of petrified dinosaur bone. 

Annie: "Mom, take a picture of me! I'm going to look SO impressed!"

Back to the house! Mimi was all over the science experiments. Annie was her most enthusiastic participant this time around. Here's their volcano. They also made rock candy.

Book snuggles

More book snuggles

We went to Ace hardware to buy staples for reupholstering our kitchen chairs. A kind guy at the checkout counter bought the kids popsicles from the cooler for being well behaved! There are so many good people in the world. Also, our chairs look great with black vinyl on the seats once more. Our foray into supposedly waterproof/spillproof fabric chair seats was an utter failure. 

Isaac's Truck Obsession

It all started when Breezy showed Issac some YouTube videos of construction vehicles over Christmas break.

It hasn't ended yet.

The lad is completely obsessed with all forms of trucks and tractors. It sure makes driving around more fun- he is THRILLED whenever we encounter road construction. 

 

Studying up on backhoes

There was a period of time where maybe 50% of his vocabulary was names of trucks. 

Two books and some monster trucks all lined up for a perfect afternoon. Those crossed ankles are just too cute. 

Imagine his pleasure when he got invited to a construction vehicle birthday party! The Nelsons had built this cool wrecking ball to go over the kids and knock down box towers. And there were dump trucks. It was perfect. 

There is a mine that has a little museum about 5 minutes away from our house. Somehow we haven't been to see it since Elliot was a baby. We had forgotten that there were retired mining vehicles outside of the museum! The tour costs money but it is free to see the museum and walk around the mining vehicles. There's even picnic tables there. Dump truck picnics have become an Isaac favorite activity. 

SO BIG. 

Isaac driving the old bulldozer. Dreams really do come true

Other Isaac updates: He was briefly on a soccer team. I laughed out loud when my friend asked if he wanted to participate- he could hardly talk, let alone be expected to participate in organized activities! It turns out that he was in good company. The Nelsons invited all the 2-3 year olds in the ward (of which there are MANY) to come to a weekly evening soccer practice. It was pure chaos, but quite amusing for all of us parents hanging out on the sidelines. "Baby soccer practice" was a great excuse to get outside if nothing else. 

He learned how to ride his strider bike! Kind of. He is excruciatingly slow and gives up after short distances. We are working on it. He's got the "motorcycle sound effect" portion down!

Brother buddies

Isaac DEFINITELY likes hanging out with the big kids. Luckily, most of Annie's friends are fine with him tagging along. 

A little super guy hugging a neighborhood cat. 

Isaac is the snuggliest of our children. He is so good at curling his whole body up against me. It's delightful.