Doing and not doing

As Sierra and I prepare to head home tomorrow (well, as I prepare; Sierra just goes along with whatever at this point), I think our trip to Phoenix has been a good balance of "doing" and "not doing". While we've gotten out to see friends and have fun, we've also had plenty of time to just relax.

The last couple days I had to add the afternoons to the "not doing" category, but not by choice. It's been raining! In the desert! Who knew?! I suppose I'm glad it's raining for the sake of the people who live here, but I had hoped to visit one more park, Estrella Mountain, and do some more hiking before we went back to Virginia, but it just wasn't in the cards. Yesterday, it rained most of the day. I thought it was letting up in the afternoon, so I loaded Sierra up and headed toward the park. On the ride there, it started raining pretty hard again, so I just turned around and headed back to Mark and Monica's place. I thought that we might try again today, but even though the morning was pretty nice, there's been a steady rain since Sierra got up from her afternoon nap.

And why didn't we just go to the park in the morning? Sierra and I had a "date" with Kristi and Sydney. Kristi and I ran cross country together in college and Sydney is just 2 months older than Sierra. The last time they were together, they were just 3 and 5 months old, so needless to say, they were a lot more fun this time around.

We met at the Children's Museum of Phoenix. Kristi and her family are members there and they had a couple extra passes for Sierra and I, so we were happy to join them and grateful for the treat. The Children's Museum was such a fun place! Right after we entered, we spent some time shoving cloth balls into a series of tubes with suction through them so the balls get pulled through the tubes and flung out the top. Then the girls rode through a little play carwash and Kristi had a turn too, which was hilarious. Kristi is due with her second baby in just a couple weeks so it was really funny to see her riding a bike that was way too small for her pulling two toddlers. I offered to take over, but Sydney would have none of it!

There was a little play room with a short, fast slide, a tiny kitchen, stairs and bridges and little boxes at toddler height with fun objects in them like a bell or a bumpy ball. Then we headed to the store where there were tiny shopping carts and check out lines and shelves filled with items for the kids to "buy." Sierra wasn't into all that, but the store also had a big bin filled with lentils that had two scales above. Sierra and Sydney had a grand time scooping beans and spreading them around.

The next place we visited at all different types of ball mazes. Sort of like a marble run, but on a larger scale. There was a place to climb up and then you could put a ball in the top of the run and it would go all the way around the room. Next we spent some time in the noodles. No, not pasta. Those big, foam "pool noodles". There were tons of them suspended from the ceiling that the kids could walk through. On the other side was a big slab of rock and some pans of water so they could paint with water. Phew! Fun times!

We headed outside for lunch, and I actually think that is where Sierra and Sydney had the most fun of all. Yes, they definately enjoyed all the fun stuff in the museum, but it seems Sydney is as much of an outdoor baby as Sierra and they were running around, chasing pigeons and having a grand time.

Sierra fell asleep almost as soon as she was strapped into her carseat and since she slept for the 30 minutes drive back, I didn't think she would take a nap. I'm glad I was so wrong. She slept for another hour and I even got a nap myself. Hooray!