The Nutt House goes Outdoors

One of the best things about living in Phoenix this time of year is the weather and all of the activities that the Nutt House can participate in because of it.  I do not know if it is because our Nutt-yness is so great that it just can’t be contained indoors or what but we enjoy participating in many outdoor escapades.

Us Nutts are park people.  We love us the parks – the swings, the slides, the sand, at our favorite parks the ducks, the trains, the carousels and much, much more.   We try and make it to the park at least once a week, especially when the weather cooperates as much as it has the last couple of months.

When we go to our family favorite park of Desert Breeze or our latest discovery of Freestone Park Kaden will not allow the day to be complete without at least one trip on a “choo-choo” (Kaden speak for train ride).  Watching him try to cup his hand to his mouth to shout “all aboard” can bring a smile that is so warm to my heart it could melt ice cubes.

Occasionally daddy can come too which enhances the experience every time

Our own house may not have the excitement of a train (though it would make our house Kaden’s happiest place on earth if it did), or a duck pond we do manage to have fun in our own backyard.  Impromptu picnics, kicking a ball around, playing on our own “jungle gym”, blowing bubbles, or just playing in the rocks are just a few of the many regular backyard activities that we enjoy.

The Nutt House has been wanting to do more camping and to help with that toward the end of January we purchased a bigger tent, one to better fit the size of our Nutt-y family.  Well, our next planned camping trip just seemed too far away and our weekends have all been too jam packed to pack up and head out of town for a camping trip so we did the next best thing.  At the end of January we set up our new tent and had a backyard camping trip.  This was complete with roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for dessert, sleeping bags for everyone, the whole bit.  Well, as Kaden is not used to sleeping so free he didn’t handle it too well, Kara got cold, Brent was sore, and me – thanks to Kaden and Kara I hadn’t slept much, so about 2 am we called it a night and came indoors.  (Us Nutt’s need to work on our outdoor and roughing it skills!)

The zoo is always a favorite location for the Nutt House, maybe that’s because we fit right in, I’m not sure…  Anyway, a trip at least once a month is what we try to go for.  This allows us to have fun exploring our favorite areas, discover new exhibits and take our time without feeling like we need to see and do it all in one trip.  Any zoo trip for our family always starts with the giraffes, followed by tigers and lions.  The most common and preferred route from there is to head toward the petting zoo area where there are more hands on activities for little Nutts.

 

What a relaxing view for lunch

No matter what type of horse it is, she enjoys riding it!

When we first got home from our Christmas vacation we worked with Kara on her bike riding, she was so excited and wanted to ride every day.  Against my better judgment, I took her out one afternoon without Brent.  I put Kaden in the wagon for our little adventure and headed down the street.  This excursion was on a Monday so many garbage cans had not been taken in yet.  This led do lots of bobbing and weaving around the garbage cans.  Kara did well until she needed help getting around a couple garbage cans at the top of a little incline.  Well, I got her around the garbage cans and as I was getting the wagon with Kaden around them Kara took off at top speed.  It was not intentional at all for her to go – she had not pedaled at all, this was one of those events that felt like it was happening in slow motion.  Internally I debated if I should leave Kaden to rescue Kara who was screaming “momma, momma I can’t stop” but I knew if I did he’d suffer the same fate as Kara, so as fast as I could race down the incline with Kaden I chased after Kara.  Of course, the inevitable happened, she crashed.  She was traumatized.  I was traumatized.  There was no getting her back on the bike for the ride back home.  In fact, it was a good 2 maybe 3 weeks before she’d even sit on the bike again.  Thanks to a well-supported ride one Monday evening at the church parking lot coupled with new princess elbow pads and gloves Kara was not only ready but eager to begin her bike riding escapades again.  She is still practicing, I still have nightmares of that incline/hill/mountain of terror, but she is improving and doing tremendously well!  Fortunately, the weather has been very accommodating and Kara is able to ride her bike several times a week now, improving each and every time!!  And thanks to daddy, Kara can now go down the incline with the use of her breaks.  Mom on the other hand is not yet ready to handle that portion of the street yet again.

We look forward to a new day tomorrow and our next Nutt-y outdoor adventures!