Speed racer

 Monsoon season in Tucson!  Mason loves the rain, especially running in the rain.  He still doesn't want to get his good clothes wet or dirty, so I suggested he run in just his undies and he agreed.  It was faster than putting on a swimsuit (Dada's idea).  The rains can be so short we would miss it if Mason had to change.

 There may be hope for him to be a good runner, look at that form!

He ran out only 3 or 4 times, then was cold and wanted to go in.

Madera Canyon

 We had hoped that after the monsoons, there would be water in the creek in Madera Canyon, hence the swimsuits.  Sadly, there was none, so we just went on a short hike.  The kids did great, though, seemed to have fun.  Even Kevin maintained good spirits ;)

Cool rock.

Cool tree.

Millipede season again

 Come monsoon season, the rains drive the millipedes out of the ground so they can be caught by tiny little curious hands.  The kids love collecting millipedes.

 Pushing her babies.

 Crazy millipede dancing.

Just put the kid to bed!

Little kids need sleep.  This is the advice all new parents should have beaten into their heads so they may never forget or stop trying.  Fortunately for us Camryn has still been very good about taking a nap every day.  Even in Sedona, we would let her fall asleep in the car.  Otherwise there would be hell to pay.

The other day she woke up exceptionally early, and we took off to go to the park.  It was very early and not even close to nap time, but she fell asleep in the car.  Everyone knows what happens when a child gets even five minutes of sleep - that's it!  So there wasn't a chance of putting her down for a nap later.  Around 4pm, she was having a snack, and the rest is history.  She actually slept on the table, right in front of her cereal, in the noisy great room, for an hour.  That was a tired girl!

Sedona

We packed up the car (fully) and headed to Sedona for a family weekend-getaway.  It was awesome, with beautiful red rock, hiking, swimming, and a break from the Tucson heat.  We stayed at the Sky Ranch Lodge and would highly recommend it.

The kids just let loose and thought the grass was the greatest thing ever.  They played, ran, laughed. 

Sunset.

Mason practicing Taekwondo.

 

 On a short sunset walk.

 

Silliness.

Eager little hiker!  Both kids insisted on carrying their own waters, cute.

This is a sink hole.

This area is so neat because it's half desert, with rocks and cacti, and half evergreen forest.  It's usually cooler than Tucson.

My gorgeous one.

Stopping for a rest and snack on the hike.  It wasn't a long hike, but the kids get so tired so quickly and so easily bored.  That is when the whining starts.

But we got to go back to the hotel and relax at the pool as our reward. They spent a lot of time in the hot tub, but liked going back and forth.  Camryn had her routine:  enter the big pool at one end, swim to the other, then walk back to the hot tub, soak for a minute, then go back to the pool to repeat.  Too funny.

Relaxing at dinner.

Mason and Giselle were busy coloring.  We traveled with Giselle and her family.  We had some scheduling mix-ups, so our family were by ourselves more than we wanted.  We had counted on the kids entertaining each other on the hikes.  We'll do better next time.

Willow, Giselle's baby sister.

Camryn picking berries in the garden.  Our hotel room opened to a large, beautiful garden with a man-made stream that provided excellent entertainment for the kids.  They played in the grass, "fished", and ran around, all while we had the luxury of staying in the room, or sitting and relaxing.

Mason looking at the coys and lillypads.

Playing "monster" at the park.

Jumping the stream at the garden.

On our last day we went to Slide Rock state park, where swimming was permitted in Oak Creek and there was a natural water slide formation.  It was very popular, very busy, but very fun to slide down.  The kids were scared of the slide.  No worries, more time for the adults to go down!

Mason and the others had fun playing in the small puddles.

This is Eden, a 7-year-old girl who played mother to Camryn, although most moments Cami still did not want Mama to leave her sight.  Check out that hottie in the background....

Can't wait to go back!