No Easy Ride

March 15th, 2012
Another otherworldly morning poolside. Phoenix appears to be in a heat wave. I'm riding it. Toasting both sides on a lounge chair. A good-looking pool boy drops by near lunch time. He delivers taco chips, fresh salsa and water. He looks vaguely familiar. In fact, I think he is the same pool boy that has been following me around for the last 30 years. I think I will take him home with me.

Bootcamp begins in the mid-afternoon. I really want a nap. No chance. We head for the Papago Park in search of The Hole in the Rock in the red rock buttes. The kids hike up. We climb through the holes. This is like a walk in Stanley Park. It will not do. We head to another section of the park for "easy" mountain biking. A least, the pool-boy husband says it will be easy. Ha, he's not riding it! If it is mountain biking with my 16 year old as a guide, we are in trouble. We lose the trail and the oldest son conveniently takes me off-trail, up and down steep embankments. This was not the "easy" trail we planned on. My 8 year old is plum tuckered out. The temperature is 29 degrees. He's pushing his mountain bike repeatedly up washes. I'm pushing mine, too. We finally get back on the right trail and my oldest apologizes. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm really sorry." "That's okay, hon'," I reply, "we all get lost." I can see right behind his eyes and know he feels bad. We finally make it back to the van 45 minutes later. The 8 year old is as red as the rocks and he is done. Now, however, it is time to do the loop again. Yes, again. We have been trading bikes. Only three of us can go at a time. It is the 13 year old's turn to join his mom. I offer the bike to my pool-boy husband but he declines. "No, honey, he wants to ride with you." This is true. He has waited for his turn with mom. This time we ride the trail in reverse so we don't get lost. We finish in 15 minutes. It is hot but not gruelling like the first time.
Before we leave, we drive to the Desert Botanical Gardens to walk among the cacti in the fading light. I change out of my short shorts into respectable shorts but I'm still covered in red dust, sweaty and have helmet hair. My 16 year old says, "Mom, fifty percent of the people here are dressed better than you. They don't look so shabby." This is good. He takes me off trail in the Phoenix heat wave and now compliments me on my attire. Son #2 says, "That's not nice." "Hold it," says my beloved pool-boy. "Look around you. He's telling the truth." I love my family but I may not take my pool-boy husband home with me after all. And to punish my 16 year old, I make him do weights with me in the evening. If this is bootcamp, I'm making the minutes count. Serves him right.

Hole In The Roof

Thursday, March 15th.
Today, we went to the continental breakfast again. Then, I went down to the pool to play with Ellis. Until my Mom took him away. After swimming in the pool we had hot dogs on hamburger buns. Then we left to go on a hike. Ummm... More like a walk. Anyways, after walking 200 meters we arrived at a hole in a rock. Right above us there was a hole in the top of the rock. So, my Dad and me, (my older brother was too scared) climbed up. We had to hide so my 8 year old brother wouldn't see us and want to climb up. We were pretty much crawling among the face of the rock. We got to the top and Elliott took a picture of us peering through the hole.

Then we went down. As we were leaving the park we noticed some people who had gone up ahead of us were having trouble getting down. *shrugs* After, we went for a bike ride, first my Mom, Elliott and Elijah who got lost then Mom, Elliott and me who didn't get lost. Finally, we went to a garden. We walked around and looked at desert plants. I wouldn't exactly say it was interesting. However, the fragrance was really nice.

Ethan

Frank Lloyd Wright

March 17, 2012 (Friday)
I had 42 minutes in the morning at the pool. That was all I was allowed. Pool boy said I could have an hour but he was ready sooner. We had things to do today.

We had been waiting to go to Taliesen West, the summer camp of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The oldest son joined me for a 90 minute tour. (The oldest likes design. He dreams of being a car designer or an architect.) The guide gave a fascinating narrative of both Wright and the complex itself. Did you know Wright was the first to use lights embedded in the floors? Did you know he drew the architectural plans for the first drive-in bank but the bank decided not to use them? Wright's contemporary style was an extreme contrast to the Victoria architecture of his time. He was determined not to replicate any previous architectural style (from Victorian to Greek or Roman) in his design. He wanted the look to be open and free. He brought nature into the living spaces of homes. He even designed his own furniture in the house. Sumptuous living spaces, clean angles, unobstructed windows, natural rock, and lines designed to flow with the desert floor. I could live there.
Then I was unceremoniously dropped off at the largest shopping mall in the Phoenix area. It was large and anchored in all four corners by big department stores--ones I'd never even heard of. I had 90 minutes to cover the ground. The five guys went to the food fair to keep themselves entertained. When you cruise through a major mall that fast there is only time to window shop. Pool boy was happy.
Although I had walked a lot we hadn't worked out. Walking in a mall is not quite the same as hiking or mountain biking. I dragged 16 year old out in the 31 degree heat for a run. We ran on the sweltering pavement and cantilevered boulevards near the motel while the rest of the family frolicked in the pool.
Then the guys went shopping again. Yes, I got dumped while they hit the Lego store. This is how this family works. Where are the women when I need them?

Suntan Lotion

Friday, March 16th.

Today, we we went to the continental breakfast again. I think I see a pattern. Then, my Mom and my older brother went to Taliesen West, the rest of us to a nearby playground. When we were there it occured to me we could have had this trip sponsored. The amount of suntan lotion my Dad applies daily to us is preposterous. We must go through a bottle daily. I think I know why we're in debt... However, this time, I applied the sunscreen. Then, my Dad decided to go to a different park. There, he reapplied all the suncreen. I guess he doesn't trust me... After applying loads of sunscreen we picked up Mom and Elliott from their 90 minute tour. Then, we went shopping. For clothes. Women clothes. At a women's store. How did the minority get their way? And she wouldn't even let us go into the store. She said we were "dressed too shabby." Did she get the idea from the man in a tuxedo walking by? After she finished at the store she wanted to go to ANOTHER store, this time for 90 minutes. We the majority, left and went and ate Japanese food. We returned to the hotel. My mom and Elliott went for a run (he complained a minute into it) and the rest of us to the pool. Notice how my mom does things with Elliott? And not me? I feel neglected... Anyways, we went down to the pool to discover it was dominated by two baseball teams. Without a notice to all the room they were taking up, the noise they were making and the splashing they were doing, we hopped in. Soon, pool girl came down with some ice cream. Maybe there's hope for us yet...

Ethan

Biking boys or chicken mama?

March 17th, 2012 (Saturday)

At the end of the Desert Classic Trail

Another boot camp killer day. We (the two oldest boys and me) went riding on the Desert Classic Trail in South Mountain Preserve. The guidebook described it as a "challenging ride" both "easy and moderate." So what is it? Challenging? Easy? Moderate? Can't the writer make up his mind? Seven minutes into the ride and I'm heaving. Forty minutes in and both boys want to turn back. It is hazy with a warm breeze but when you are biking--it is hot. We are riding over the lunch hour. We have water and raisins. I won't let them turn back. No. We are riding one hour out and then back. A two hour workout in the heat. Mom decides. It is just that way in our family. The trail has level parts but roller coasters up and down. That part is actually fun. It is the steep boulder-strewn washes that are grim. They give advice again. "Mom, you need to pedal down the hill faster so you can get up the other side." "Mom, you need to change your gears on the way up." "Mom, move your butt behind the seat on the way down." "Mom, you need to stand up more." And then loose gravel and rocks. I watch two bikers seriously wipe out. Not encouraging. "Mom, you need to keep your pedals even over the rocks."  Who brought these children along? So much to remember. The last 15 minutes are grim. Quads are whining. Butt is feeling delicate (this is a family blog). Hands tired from gripping desperately on handle bars as I reverberate over endless jutting rocks. Face emanating heat. Red and burned from the hazy sun. "Are you having fun, mom?" Someone tell that child to be quiet. We arrive back at the parking lot and water is quickly inhaled. I stretch out horizontally on the shaded picnic bench. There are parts of my body that seriously ache. My abs hurt from lifting weights. I want to rest. "Mom, can we go now." "Mom, what are we doing next." "Come on, mom, let's go." I love my children. I'm sure of it.
P.S. If you are a chicken and ride down the steep washes with your brakes on, it means you have lost momentum and you are going to have to work really, really hard to get up the other side. Who has had the tougher workout? The chicken mama or the biking boys?

Swimming

Saturday, March 17th.
Today when I went for breakfast I had waffles cereal. Then, we left to go on an easy bike ride hard, long and tiring hike pushing our bicycles. We went for about an hour in one direction and then it took 50 minutes to get back. I was exhausted, we ate, and then my Mom wanted my older brother and my younger brother to go biking. I just wanted to go back to the hotel. Which we did but they hadn't made the room up yet so we had to leave. At the pool Ellis learned how to swim and actually swam.