Balin got home last Saturday from San Diego. He had been working for 5 weeks almost 7 days a week, 15 hours a day. Makes me tired just writing it. But one thing I've discovered about Balin is that he actually does better with a long "to do" list and is really good at having multiple projects going on at once. I, on the other hand, freak out with too much to do. Two kids, two dogs, a cat, a house, friends, volunteering, being hospitable, plus any hobbies I can squeeze into the routine is more than enough for me.
My brother flew into San Diego and drove back with Balin on Saturday as we were going through my dad's things on Sunday and my mom asked my brother to be there. The boys had a good 7 hours to chat and bond and the kids all got to see "Uncle Dan". We all enjoyed being together once again. We took a couple of hours to go through my dad's random collection of things. Some things were pretty cool, items or memorabilia that held special meaning to one of us. Some things were just kind of funny - like the 15 pairs of sunglasses or the many, many hats that he collected. We all got a hat or two and I think Sam got Dad's whole collection of baseball hats. Perrin got a china set and a few other trinkets that made her think of Grandpa. All in all it was a lovely experience with laughter and memories in abundance. The one regret I think we all have is that he wasn't in a place to give us these things himself along with the stories that accompanied them. It's nice to have the mementos he did leave us and we will be sure to think of him whenever we use or see the items.
The rest of the week was a mixture of playing and working for Balin. We struggled with his time as he still has projects going on that need his attention - much like a baby - and of course we wanted as much time as he could afford. He was frustrated half the time he was home because he didn't want to be working but he had to. The times we were able to get out of the house and him away from his phone we had a great time. We headed to Wolf Creek, which was flowing and just gorgeous. We took Van the neighbor, my mom, Sophie, our family and the dogs. We packed a picnic and ate and played all afternoon. The next day we went to the lake and went fishing - or Sam went fishing. I took the dogs for a walk and Perrin and Balin just hung out at the lake. Arizona is constantly surprising me with it's beauty which I just don't expect. I don't expect to have waterfalls and swimming holes 10 minutes from our house in the middle of the forest. I don't expect there to be lakes where you can sail and kayak. I think that's why I find it so amazing, it's just unexpected and beautiful.
By Thursday we were thinking it was time to get out of Prescott. The weather had changed and it was getting chilly in town. Meanwhile it was a toasty 85 in Phoenix so we headed out. My mom just bought a house in Sun City West which is just lovely. It's got such a lovely, livable lay out and is perfect for her. She just bought it a couple of weeks ago and so it doesn't have any furniture in it. We asked if we could "camp" there since hotel prices in Phoenix were/are CRAZY expensive. I'm talking what costs me $99 in the summer was well over $300/night. A sleeping bag on the carpet in my mom's house sounded pretty spectacular in comparison. On Friday we headed into Glendale to "Wet-n-Wild" water park for the day. We ended up buying season tickets and spent the day splashin' away on all the slides. Sam is actually tall enough to go on all the slides and Perrin is just shy of being able to go on most of them. The kids had so much fun and so did Balin and I. It was a little chilly and I could picture myself enjoying it much more when the weather was 10 degrees warmer. We were all shivering by 4pm and headed for home. Balin said that was the best 5 hours he had spent in a long time. We just played and hung out with the kids.
Saturday was a funny day as we had to get everyone up at 5:30am so we could get Balin to the airport on time. It's an hour each way from my mom's house - which is crazy since it's only 90 minutes from Prescott. We dropped him off, got 25 minutes down the road and had to turn around because Balin had forgotten to check his "very special SOG" and we needed to take it with us. Perrin started to cry because she was so tired and it would take too long, and it did. It took us almost 3 hours when all was said and done. We got back to my mom's and I went back to bed as I knew I would be too tired to drive. The kids watched cartoons and drew pictures while I slept. I am so thankful to have older kids! When I finally got up, got the house cleaned and we were in the car ready to go we found out that I had left the lights on. The truck was dead. Perrin started to worry about how we were going to get home but I told her we were in the best place in the world to have car trouble as there were a ton of "Grandpas" in Sun City West who would love to help a mom with two young kids. So we literally sat on the tailgate of the truck and waited for an opportunity to ask for help. Help came in the form of my mom's neighbor and her retired Sheriff husband Bob. He fixed us right up and was happy to help.
Upon our return home to Prescott we all went our separate ways and enjoyed being home. It doesn't matter where this Strickler family roams to, we are always happy to come home. We all decided that there are lots of beautiful places to live, but for now and the near future, 420 Park is where we want to call home.
My brother flew into San Diego and drove back with Balin on Saturday as we were going through my dad's things on Sunday and my mom asked my brother to be there. The boys had a good 7 hours to chat and bond and the kids all got to see "Uncle Dan". We all enjoyed being together once again. We took a couple of hours to go through my dad's random collection of things. Some things were pretty cool, items or memorabilia that held special meaning to one of us. Some things were just kind of funny - like the 15 pairs of sunglasses or the many, many hats that he collected. We all got a hat or two and I think Sam got Dad's whole collection of baseball hats. Perrin got a china set and a few other trinkets that made her think of Grandpa. All in all it was a lovely experience with laughter and memories in abundance. The one regret I think we all have is that he wasn't in a place to give us these things himself along with the stories that accompanied them. It's nice to have the mementos he did leave us and we will be sure to think of him whenever we use or see the items.
The rest of the week was a mixture of playing and working for Balin. We struggled with his time as he still has projects going on that need his attention - much like a baby - and of course we wanted as much time as he could afford. He was frustrated half the time he was home because he didn't want to be working but he had to. The times we were able to get out of the house and him away from his phone we had a great time. We headed to Wolf Creek, which was flowing and just gorgeous. We took Van the neighbor, my mom, Sophie, our family and the dogs. We packed a picnic and ate and played all afternoon. The next day we went to the lake and went fishing - or Sam went fishing. I took the dogs for a walk and Perrin and Balin just hung out at the lake. Arizona is constantly surprising me with it's beauty which I just don't expect. I don't expect to have waterfalls and swimming holes 10 minutes from our house in the middle of the forest. I don't expect there to be lakes where you can sail and kayak. I think that's why I find it so amazing, it's just unexpected and beautiful.
By Thursday we were thinking it was time to get out of Prescott. The weather had changed and it was getting chilly in town. Meanwhile it was a toasty 85 in Phoenix so we headed out. My mom just bought a house in Sun City West which is just lovely. It's got such a lovely, livable lay out and is perfect for her. She just bought it a couple of weeks ago and so it doesn't have any furniture in it. We asked if we could "camp" there since hotel prices in Phoenix were/are CRAZY expensive. I'm talking what costs me $99 in the summer was well over $300/night. A sleeping bag on the carpet in my mom's house sounded pretty spectacular in comparison. On Friday we headed into Glendale to "Wet-n-Wild" water park for the day. We ended up buying season tickets and spent the day splashin' away on all the slides. Sam is actually tall enough to go on all the slides and Perrin is just shy of being able to go on most of them. The kids had so much fun and so did Balin and I. It was a little chilly and I could picture myself enjoying it much more when the weather was 10 degrees warmer. We were all shivering by 4pm and headed for home. Balin said that was the best 5 hours he had spent in a long time. We just played and hung out with the kids.
Saturday was a funny day as we had to get everyone up at 5:30am so we could get Balin to the airport on time. It's an hour each way from my mom's house - which is crazy since it's only 90 minutes from Prescott. We dropped him off, got 25 minutes down the road and had to turn around because Balin had forgotten to check his "very special SOG" and we needed to take it with us. Perrin started to cry because she was so tired and it would take too long, and it did. It took us almost 3 hours when all was said and done. We got back to my mom's and I went back to bed as I knew I would be too tired to drive. The kids watched cartoons and drew pictures while I slept. I am so thankful to have older kids! When I finally got up, got the house cleaned and we were in the car ready to go we found out that I had left the lights on. The truck was dead. Perrin started to worry about how we were going to get home but I told her we were in the best place in the world to have car trouble as there were a ton of "Grandpas" in Sun City West who would love to help a mom with two young kids. So we literally sat on the tailgate of the truck and waited for an opportunity to ask for help. Help came in the form of my mom's neighbor and her retired Sheriff husband Bob. He fixed us right up and was happy to help.
Upon our return home to Prescott we all went our separate ways and enjoyed being home. It doesn't matter where this Strickler family roams to, we are always happy to come home. We all decided that there are lots of beautiful places to live, but for now and the near future, 420 Park is where we want to call home.
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