A Walk About

 Auntie Avy--this is especially for you that I'm continuing the story :)  

 Our second full day in the desert we wanted to get a little "hiking" in.  The big draw around Palm Springs is the Joshua Tree State Park.  That would had been fun to visit.  But we knew that would take more time than the kids were willing to sacrifice from the pools.  So we drove a short 15 minutes away to the Morango Canyon Wildlife Preserve.  Free parking and no entrance fee were a nice bonus.  There are dozens of hikes and walks available--many of them featuring a boardwalk for strollers and easier walking.  We cut off the boardwalk a few times--but didn't choose anything over a couple miles.  The weather was perfect and I wished that we could take the Canyon Trail--but it was more like 8 miles. 

 

Some of us were having fun.  Others were very frightened after seeing these warnings:

And these ones as well:

Eventually we were all able to relax and have a good time.  Except that by the time the nervous one relaxed, one of the previously happy ones was tired, hot and cranky.  Eh, we pretty much knew that it would be impossible to keep everyone happy at once.

 We found this cool old car and wondered why they would allow it to stay on a nature preserve?  Maybe it was Bonnie and Clyde's?  Look at all those bullet holes!  But maybe they are just rust holes.  The only thing I could find when I googled it was this.

 Ezra is always careful to watch out for Henry.  I love watching their relationship develop.  On a side note, today (the day I'm writing, not the hiking day) Henry started saying Ezra's name. 

 When we got back to the parking lot the kids looked at the board to find all the birds they had seen.

 And to point out what they were happy not to have seen as well.

 Can't say I missed seeing any snakes!

 These next pictures were all taken by Caroline with her camera.  I loved seeing these after she put them on the computer.  I think she got some really beautiful composition shots!

Photo credit:  Caroline

Photo Credit:  Caroline

Photo Credit:  Caroline

 That was the only "cougar" we saw that morning, Praise the Lord!

Photo Credit:  Caroline

 This little blue bird followed us for quite a ways.  Henry was screaming his head off the whole time--the bird must have found that attractive.

Photo Credit:  Caroline

 This last picture here is my favorite. 

Photo Credit:  Caroline

Finally we got back to the hotel and had another picnic lunch by the pool.  The kids swam away the next six hours.  This day Tadd chased Henry around the grounds for an hour or so while I got to splash and jump and rocket the kids around the pool. 

I had lots of fun using my point and shoot underwater.  I took a video as well--but forgetting how much memory it eats up, I filled up the memory card way too fast. 



 We planned to head out for dinner again, but Henry--never having napped--fell asleep in my arms on the bed.  Tadd went for a carry out pizza and we enjoyed the cable tv at the hotel--a several hour marathon of "Alaskan Bush People".  Seriously riveting stuff here, people.  They are missing lots of teeth!  Tadd took the big kids back out at 9 pm for a star-swimming-session.  I pried my eyes off the Bush People long enough to do a few loads of hotel-laundry mat laundry and organized the suit cases.  We had decided to pack up and head out as quick as possible the next morning because--we were headed to see the cousins and no one could wait one single second more!  We stopped  briefly to attempt some pictures.

 Nothing perfect--but a better representation of who we are than perfection would be!

 Then we kicked up our heels for San Diego!