BeBa

I don’t know why life suddenly seems so much more busy! Events ramped up over the holidays and just haven’t slowed down since.

• We spent the second half of our trip in Pueblo visiting with family, particularly Scott’s grandparents, who got to meet Jake for the first time. Scott and I had a blast digging through old photographs and learning more of his family history. We also found this amazing photo of Scott’s dad when he was three months old. Look familiar??

• Jake is five months old now and nearly crawling. Noooooooooo – it’s too soon! He is a happy little man. He knows and loves his siblings. It’s so cute the way his face lights up when they pay any kind of attention to him. He was WONDERFUL on the plane. Our flights were fairly short and he slept most of the time. Getting though security with a baby, a stroller, a carseat plus the diaper bag was no joy, however. Not to mention all the other kids. Oy.

• I am ever more dissatisfied with my shape. I got a Garmin Forerunner in my stocking (I asked for it lol) and augmented that with a jogging stroller this past week. I need to get off my duff. Even if I don’t lose a pound (and I’m not likely to until little one is getting most of his nutrition from solids when he is 12+ months old), exercise will help me feel better about myself. I would be a lot more despairing if I hadn’t been through this before. I had a similar weight gain pattern after Mira was born – and I successfully lost the weight and got fit after her first birthday. I want to start with healthier habits NOW though – at least in the exercise department. I don’t know HOW I can curb these insane carb cravings when I’m nursing.

In fact, I’m going to upload my pictures, post this entry, dress the baby, gather up my gear and GET WALKING. Today. (Edited to update: Or maybe I will AFTER the baby wakes up from his nap. )

Early last week we made a somewhat last-minute decision to getaway in the mountains with the kids for their spring break weekend. We found really great accommodations at this quaint little cabin resort in Strawberry, AZ (Is that not the CUTEST town name ever??) – a teensy little wide spot in the road bordering Tonto National Forest (part of the breathtaking Mogollon Rim country). Plus it's only a little over an hour away! We arrived rather late Friday evening and went straight to bed.

Got up early on Saturday for some hiking and geocache adventuring. Before we met, Scott had logged some 40 caches (some of them with A), but this was a first for the girls and me. They were pretty excited by the idea of hunting for a goodie box in the middle of a wilderness hike. (Not that they whined any less about having to hike, of course.)

We chose the Fossil Creek (Lover's) Leap cache, thinking that it looked like a pretty easy hike. Well, it was… kinda. The trail/road that was supposed to be there was basically nonexistent, so the terrain was rather rougher than we were expecting – rocky and lots of fallen limbs/trees to navigate. Normally? NO big deal. For a pregnant lady used to an elevation of around 1200 feet? Well, this elevation was 6600 feet and that combined with pregnancy made the whole thing a little more strenuous than I was planning.

HM was SO solicitous during this hike. She insisted on hanging
back with me and if I faltered at all, she would pat my arm encouragingly. It was incredibly sweet. I'm really enjoying this golden mama-adoration stage she's going through right now. May it never end. She DID make me very nervous at the Rim, however. That girl was all about scrambling as close to the edge of an 800 foot drop (my heart, omg) as she possibly could.

Anyway, the hike was only 3 miles round trip, the weather was GORGEOUS and the view was completely amazing, amazing amazing and so completely worth the hassle of finding it.

In all, that adventure took several hours, after which we had a nice lunch at a local restaurant, visited the oldest standing schoolhouse in AZ as well as the Pine-Strawberry museum in Pine, AZ… before heading back to the cabin to crash (if you were 14 or older) and run shrieking wild outside with kids from the other cabins (if you were 11 or younger).

Then we had a simple sloppy joe dinner and an evening of board games before we called it a night. (I was completely wiped out by this time.)

Today we slept in a little, packed up and visited a neat ancient Indian ruin site (Shoo Fly Village) on the way home. We tried to log a geocache here, but it appeared the cache involved trudging for 3 miles roundtrip through some very high grass. Meh. Not interested, not this day. The site itself was fascinating, though, and – again – the views were just gorgeous.

Shoofly Village (managed by the U.S. Forest Service) was occupiedbetween A.D. 1000 and 1250 and consists of 79 surface rooms.  Itis thought the occupants were an "autonomous variant of theHohokam." 

We had a great time and in being there I discovered there's lots more I want to explore in the area: various trails and lakes, hot springs and swimming holes, the Tonto Natural Bridge (when I'm stronger and more fit again!).