I heart Arizona

We popped in Raising Arizona for our last night in Phoenix, and every time I watch that movie I fall in love with Holly Hunter.

She is just so hysterical in that scene when Hi finally gets her a baby and she breaks down crying so hard choking on the words "I love him so much!"

Before we came here, that movie was all I knew about Arizona.

These were the clouds as we left.

It looks like a heart to me.

We actually found quite a few rocks that look like hearts, too. So I am guessing it was a theme to look for the love in people and places and things.

I got no love for this guy.
He gave me the heebs and I just had to share him with you.
I am pretty sure he shoots lasers and we could have seen one at any time.
Apparently also quite the sting.
Bleagh.



And I have seen Zeus run right into a tree while tracking a frisbee so we didn't throw it around these guys.

I think this is where toothpicks come from.


We are now in Oceanside for the weekend, which is awesome because the girls feel quite at home here. We just pulled right up and plugged in to the house so it is pretty awesome that now when we come visit we bring our own room.

Since we are parked on the street we can't slide the sides out, so it is a tight squeeze.

Of course we are just so happy to be able to hang out in a house that we don't need to go in there for much anyway.

Scenes from the RV.

One Last Sunset

There is still so much we could do around here, but tomorrow we go back to Cali. Points of interest we enjoyed while here?

1. Makutu's Island
2. McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park
3. Some random park in Tempe


4. The Brick's
5. Usery Mountain Regional Park


6. Famous Nails (Killer pedicure!)


7. Outdoor World (Madee loved the carvings!)


8. Kid to Kid Consignment (Ida got a new walky!)


Tomorrow we think we will stop by the kid's museum while Dad has the oil changed in the RV.

While we were here, Madee got scratched, bumped and bruised, fell off of numerous playground equipment, was dragged through the streets by the dogs, and drove her Dora bus out of the RV door and down the stairs.

And for the most part landed it.

Ono got locked in the car, Zeus got stuck by a cactus while trying to pee on a jumping cholla.

Ida fell off the sofa for the first time, (thud) and has been battling the teeth and gums.

So it has been pretty exciting around here, even on the boring days...

Next, Newport Beach, possibly Mom in Anaheim, and Thanksgiving with family in Oceanside... All of which is sounding pretty awesome to me!

And one last sunset.

The Brighter Side of Phoenix

Of course now I have grown slightly find of Arizona. My new favorite thing? Saguaro Cactus nubs. They look like little sea urchins, and they are just so cute!


Sea Urchins

May favorite nub cluster.



Charlie has a buddy he has known since he was 5 that lives not too far away in Scottsdale. He and his wife have an adorable little Logan, and she is turning 1 today. She and Eden were pretty much the same size.

Only Eden is heavier...

The Italian Greyhound is Lola. She is a good kisser.

What a cute group of girls! They got along quite well!

Madee enjoyed being the oldest and helping the other babies. She was so sweet and you could just see her confidence being boosted as she realized that she had lots of skills compared to the other two.

She even got all crazy and was leaping off of the ottomans...

That bruise on her cheek is from an unfortunate header into the cockpit of the RV from the living area last week, and she has scabs and scrapes all over from the gravel and rocks in the desert.

I have asked Charlie on more than one occasion if he thought she had a cactus spine in her, she has been so moody and cranky.

Then today she reared her head back laughing and i could see her 2 year molars have been coming in.

Mother.

I'll be glad when that is over.

Madee knows her way to the playground and we go several times a day since it is just so close to our site. She has learned how to big girl swing, and she can land her slides and comes off of them running. We do lots of high fives.


So we have been really focusing on running, jumping and playing skills. Guess who gets to fall down all the time to convince her it is cool?

The other parents think I am nuts.

The other kids are nuts about me.

We had our first campfire and Dad made awesome burgers on it. Then the girls freaked out in the dark (it is REALLY dark here when it is dark) and Madee wasn't even convinced we were eating until we came inside and she could see her food.

Note to self. Purchase lantern.

Madee and I spent a lot of today sifting through the rocks together, Ida loves to sit in her bumbo and play with her fingers in the sand. We have been doing our best to slow down and try to enjoy ourselves in the simplest kind of way. And "pway" a lot.


It isn't easy with all these teeth and Dad's tedious and demanding job that literally has him so busy that I don't get break from whenever they get up in the morning until Ida's teeth stop bothering her at night.


Tomorrow night is our last night here, then we pack up and head to Tucson for a couple of days. I can't believe I will kind of hate to leave.

Strange Arizona

Oh, Internet.

I cannot even begin to tell you how hard this is. I am sure that you are wondering why we would do something like this to ourselves, and that maybe we are just gluttons for severe punishment, what, with having the 2 kids so fast and then moving into this RV with them like life wasn't stressful enough.

I mean, we weren't getting great sleep before, and I thought we had really reached a low on that one. But we had far further to travel.

I don't even try to sleep during the day anymore.

I can't handle the disappointment.

This is our front yard.

I know there will come a breaking point. Some crazy thing will happen and we will start to work together as a team and it will be incredible.

But right now we are incredibly moody and I am learning to take "fake it til you make it" to a new level, I mean somebody has to be the head cheerleader in these situations and Madee isn't looking to fill that position anytime soon.

Yesterday was a pretty good morning because we went to the train museum park and met a nice mommy with two little girls. Her 2 year old was named Zoie, her 7 month old's middle name was Charlotte and her mom's middle name is Ida.

Each of us had somebody to play with and it ruled.

The other night the clouds were incredible, and although I do not quite understand how people can live here with the hostility of the landscape, (I am convinced that the Saguaro Cacti are Arizona's way of giving me the finger) the sky is certainly another thing.


These are all shots of the same sky.

Giving me the finger.

The flash makes a huge diff..


Later that night, long after the sun went down, I was walking Ida to put her to sleep. The mountains surround the campsite so that at night they rise like dark teeth on the horizon. The clouds that night sat between the mountains and the moon creating this illuminated frame around more clouds in the sky. I was insane, and I can't show you because there isn't a wide angle lens like that in my bag, but let me tell you, it was as though the sky had opened up with a picture window, perfectly framed with the clouds and then the earth outside of it so that it looked kind of like nature's huge big screen television in the sky. A sky movie.

And I wasn't even drinking or anything, although I am working on very little sleep, but I can tell you if I was some old school Native American Medicine Man and I had some peyote, I could have told you that story and a few more, I am sure.

The coyotes were crazy that night.

This was the sunrise.


I guess what I am trying to say is, I know now why the Native Americans would come and live here, even if more hospitable lands were available.

Anyway.

We are trying to make the best of things. And it isn't easy.

Painted Arizona

Madee and I did some painting yesterday, and it is all she can talk about. "Peening Peening Peening!"

Local plant. A Native American dude came by the camp yesterday and told me to watch my babies close or the coyotes would come snatch them.

I told him he better watch his coyotes close or my babies will....


Rock I found in shape of a heart on left.
The little Bhudda is to help me remember to breathe.

So, a couple of hours we crossed the Bay Bridge last week, a cable snapped and hit 4 cars. A couple minutes before we crossed the Bay Bridge I got a ticket. He pulled me over because he thought I was driving in the carpool lane alone. He gave me a ticket for some other stupid thing.

Point is, he gave me a ticket. When i texted Charlie that I was pulled over, I told him I wish I had put on my make up. When he gave me the ticket, I told the officer, "Well I must be getting old." He assured me that wasn't the case.
Whatever, whippersnapper. Just shut up and give me my ticket so I can go cry.

Charlie was in the UPS Store later when he found this card.

Painted Arizona Sunset

It looks like a bird.

Unpainted Arizona

I wasn't very optimistic about this. When we pulled up to our proposed campground, I was just cranky, and hot and tired, and all I could see was desert and cacti and, well, basically danger. Every direction Madee may run in, she could fall on cactus spikes.

There is just so much sun here it blinds you. There is not enough sunscreen in the world.

But the hosts here at Usery Mountain are SO nice.

And this is our back yard.
Other than the weird weiner looking cactus on the path to the playground, we are set.

This is our other back yard.

The sunsets here are fast and furious and beautiful. I hope to capture some to share with you.

Things that Suck:

1. It's hot
2. cactus spikes everywhere
3. dust and dirt everywhere
4. Oh yeah the jack knife couch is still so hard

Things that Rule:

1. We get to see Heath and Nicole
2. yoga in the nature center
3. gaining appreciation for the desert
4. super nice free showers that fit the whole family
5. clean babies
6. plugging in - we get to make our own coffee

Every campsite brings a new round of things we have to adjust and adapt to, and once that adjustment is made, everything is quite nice and relaxing. It takes me 2 minutes to clean up the house, and the rest of the time is available for reading and snuggling and being with the kids.

Today MAdee and I are going to paint the landscape and cactus friends here in Arizona...