Arizona Adventures

SPOILER ALERT: Read all the way to the end for all the surprises!

I am a crazy person. My dad and mom are finally retired from the rat race (that I have another XX years to get to the finish!), so my Dallas sister and I planned on a quick no-kids weekend to celebrate in AZ. She, being closer, was able to get flights during the waking hours. I, being the long distance one, had to manage with the very late Friday and overnight Sunday-Monday. Even better, I got to go to work after landing Monday morning, but not before being able to refresh at home since I got in so early. Things I learned:

• There are very few people in Sky Harbor at 10 PM at night.
• Conversely, there are no concession stands open for a snack.
• I am not as old as I thought, since I could not just sleep anywhere (like on a plane seat!).
• I am still young as I was able to go with only a couple hours of sleep and get through an entire day of work on Monday. Thankfully I take public trans so I was not a driving hazard.
• I love AZ Mexican food, and it just is not worth getting it in Boston.
• I can still do things that surprise the heck out of the family (see below)
• Don't buy suvies while waiting for a plan. But you have to when you don't plan well.

And the last item: this was the weekend that we shared the news with family: The Seven Evans are back! At least, when the fifth child comes in February.

Spartan Ladies

Race two of the summer, a Spartan Sprint. Luann joined Liz and Jill a second time for a more hardcore Obstacle Course Race. Luckily, team members could help one another. Anything you couldn't do required burpies. We finished the five mile race in a little over two hours. It could have been faster if we hadn't stopped to help others a few times. But what is the fun in that?

Pre-race: looking pretty tough!

There was a lot of mud involved, although I failed to get any pictures of it. Mud and cameras really don't mix!

Trekking On a Train

As part of the gift for JW, I had promised to take him and Mr S on the commuter rail and subway to downtown Boston. Now that I have to commute to work in the Seaport District, I am trying out the wonderful public transportation that I hear is third best in the US. We will see how this goes.

Anyway, the commuter rail was surprisingly busy for a Saturday afternoon, but the conductor was really nice, even giving them some old tickets he had previously collected, so the boys had some mementos from the trip.

Once we got downtown, we walked near to where I now work and had our snack. They were very unhappy to just walk around to see things, as they wanted to get right back on the trains and ride some more.

You couldn't ask for better kids!

I Am Four

JW hit the big 4. Some things about him:

• LOVES ninja turles
• Likes trains
• Loves to play with his siblings
• Loves the beach
• Likes to run around like crazy
• Is an American Ninja Warrior (especially on the stair railing)

Kayaking the Lower Mystic Lake

Now that I have some Kayaks to my name, I have to do something with them. Two of them are not enough for the family, so we have to take turns. I took Kiwi out on a trip, and Luann took Gman. The littlest are not old enough to go until we get some smaller life vests, and mom and dad are more comfortable with that. The lakes are deep!

Kiwi totally loved going through the lily pads, and collected a couple to show the little boys. We made a good circle around the edge of the lake, and it was fun to watch her figure out how to work the kayak.

Gman got to put his new-found kayak skills to the test, since he just got the kayak merit badge at scout camp. I hear he did just fine, since he also returned from the minor adventure unharmed.

My First Scout Camp

I don't have many things to post about my first scout camp as a dad, and Gman's as a scout. Just some facts and figures:

1. By the LDS church rules, you must be 12 to attend, otherwise you have to have a male parent or guardian attend with the scout. So, I got to take time off of work (see the story about the kayaks for more details) and attend with Gman. Yay for me!

2. It was very hot and humid. It probably was in the 70's and 80's the entire time. Doesn't sound hot, but when you have to walk and hike everywhere, it got tiring for this old man (see post in June on the birthday for more details)

3. This old man had a hard time passing the swimming test, which requires a 100 yard swim in a variety of strokes; note that it was definitely short of that yardage, so yay for me! But I was glad I did pass, since that was the only way to get cool on the hot days. This was the only camp I have been to that only had HOT for a shower temperature.

4. Gman was a real trooper. He was not able to pass the swim test the first time, the second time, nor the third time. The swim area lead worked with him to practice the strokes, and much to his surprise, he took down that test! I did have to walk away, as I did not want to be caught crying with pride or anything.

5. I have no pictures from the camp, since they really frowned on the electronics, both for the kids, and the leaders. The above is good enough; just imagine a bit more tiredness in the eyes and dirt in the nails.

The Summer Crazy Begins!

We like to do some big events in the summer. Our biggest had to be the trip to Martha's vineyard. We drove an hour with bikes in tow down to the ferry that would carry us to the island. We were joined by another family of four plus a friend and a dad with his teenage daughter. That made 10 kids and five adults.

Once at the ferry, we parked our cars and loaded bikes and people onto the ferry. That's right. We were doing Martha's vineyard by bike. And half the kids weren't strong bike riders. It was an adventure! We biked 7 miles to a lighthouse and 7 miles back. There were stops along the way for lunch, swimming, carousel-ing, and pizza. I don't know if I'll do it again soon, but definitely an adventure worth having at least once every few years.

On the Bus to the Ferry. Lots of smiles all around. If they only knew.

Taking the ferry across.

The crew about ready to go. I think we're in for quite the day.

Having lunch before the bike ride.

Chad did the bulk of the hauling. The is the first half of the 13 mile ride.

Halfway there

On the way back we stopped to jump off a bridge. And play in the ocean. This was a much needed break.

The day ended with a carousel ride and pizza.

The sunset on the way home. So beautiful.