I'm back!
And I can't believe we're already a week into April! I know for sure that this spring is going to fly by.
Last week was Ben's spring break (perks of teaching=free vacation!) and we spent it in warm and sunny Sun City, Arizona. It was a fun trip but the purpose was kind of emotional and sad. We met up with Ben's mom, sister, and her boyfriend to clear out his grandparents' house since his grandmother has passed away and his 96 year old grandpa recently moved into assisted living. I'm really glad I got a chance to see their house, because Ben spent most of his childhood spring breaks there and it's full of memories.
Hello, palm trees!
Sun City is a retirement community, so we all (including my mother in law) felt conspicuously young everywhere we went. There are serious golf cart crossing signs and people drive their golf carts on the main roads and to the shopping centers. It's kind of hilarious but you really have to watch out for them!
We spent most of the trip going through cupboards and sorting out family heirlooms, but made sure to take a break everyday to hit the pool or go for a hike. The majority of my pictures are of flowers in the desert from our short hike into the nearby White Tank Mountains because my camera battery died soon afterwards!
I was sooo happy to see some mountains again!
Spring in the desert is gorgeous, even in a drought.
Flowers are rare, but extra bright to compensate!
Ancient petroglyphs
Gorgeous spring!
This is a "waterfall" we ended up at which of course the boys had to climb. The white granite rocks form canyons and hold water when it rains, give the White Tank Mountains their name.
Group shot!
It was so nice to see some GREEN after this endless winter we've been having in the Midwest!
After several days of dry, sunny 85 degree weather, it's pretty difficult and disorienting to try and settle back into the normal routine here. Even though we had tough work to accomplish I think we all had a good trip, and I feel like I know that side of Ben's family a lot better now after spending more time with his grandpa and sorting through all their old photos and family artifacts! His grandparents traveled all over the world and we ended up inheriting some pretty awesome things, including silver serving utensils, cookbooks, some furniture, tons of sewing thread (exciting for me) and a granite cheese slicer (exciting for Ben). Now it's back to school for him and back to field trips at the Arboretum this week for me.
I hope your week is off to a great start!