365.5: WEEK TWENTY FIVE

JUNE 20th - JUNE 26th

Oldest two on their way to our ward’s super activity (so down to 4 kids for four days). Quick trip to the Idea Museum (more on that botched one-on-one later). Wonders at Butterfly Wonderland. Dinner with the younger four at Picazzo’s. Paddling the Salt on a Saturday morning. 

MOTHER'S DAY GIFTS: THE OLDEST

For Mother's Day, my kids gifted me with different experiences to do one-on-one. When I saw that my oldest wanted to go paddle boarding together, I saw an opportunity to go on an adventure that I had been wanting to do for a couple of years: paddle boarding Lake Powell into Antelope Canyon. The mr. and I did this for our 10th anniversary, but we were novices and had zero idea what we were doing (nor did we make it all the way through the canyon to dry ground). Now that I've been on nearly 100 paddles, I figured this adventure would be easy peasy. AND I had a 13 year old up for the challenge. Needless to say, we got a little in over our heads with the wind and the wakes. But WE DID IT! And we lived to tell the tale. After a solid night's sleep, we took advantage of the location and hiked Lower Antelope Canyon before hitting Horseshoe Bend on our drive home. So many memories in such a short period of time. 

KENYA: A PROLOGUE

It's insane to think that just ten days ago, I was in Africa with my oldest daughter. Coming back to America was like entering a completely different reality thanks to the coronavirus. Luckily, it did not impact my trip in any way; I was able to spend ten incredible days traveling throughout Kenya without pause, visiting a variety of habitats. We saw every animal that we could have hoped to see and experienced so many breathtaking adventures. And now that I have a shiny, new computer, I am going through and editing all of the images from my trip. I plan to break up our adventures into four separate posts - one for each of the four locations that we stayed at.
But first, why. And how.
Almost fifteen years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Mozambique with a small humanitarian organization called Care For Life. I spent nearly a month volunteering in orphanages and building huts in communities; it changed my life entirely. I got my BS in Geography because my experience in Mozambique gave me an even greater love for the earth and for the variety of cultures found throughout the world. So, since I was 20 years old, Africa has had a part of my heart.
Fast forward to October of this last year. My biological cousin (from the botched snow trip) texted me and asked if any of my children had their passports. I laughed. Nope. She then posed a hypothetical question: if my oldest daughter had a passport, would she and I like to accompany my cousin and her daughter on a safari? Her daughter, the same age as my own, is OBSESSED with The Lion King and my cousin wanted to take her on this once in a lifetime adventure. Of course my answer was YES! But financially, there'd be no way that I could justify it with my family.
Now let me just stop right here for a minute. I have been incredibly blessed throughout my life with some amazing opportunities. A marine biology study abroad in Mexico. Volunteering for a month in Mozambique. Visiting one of my best friends in Japan. I KNOW I've had good fortune smiling down on me. But nothing compares with what happened next.
"If you didn't have to worry about financial..." WHAT. Was she implying what I thought she was implying? No way! My brain couldn't even fathom the offer that she was granting. But she was. My daughter and I were able to travel to Kenya for ten days because of one of the most selfless gifts that I have ever been the recipient of; at no cost. There is no way that I will ever be able to express enough just how grateful I was for this opportunity, not only for myself but for my daughter as well. The memories made will fill our hearts for a lifetime.
This is Betty, one of the sweetest and most well behaved giraffes at Giraffe Manor. And this is the only photo where I will edit the ridiculous amount of pellets that have fallen to the ground while feeding these gentle giants.

HIGHEST PEAK

For years, I have wanted to hike to the top of Humphrey's Peak. Yesterday I finally got to check it off of my bucket list with three of my amazing trail running friends. While the trail post showed the summit as being a 4.8 mile one way hike to the top, our smart watches calculated it being somewhere closer to 5.8 miles. We hiked a total of about 12 miles in just over 8 hours. It was hard and beautiful and exhausting and gratifying. He had some high highs and some low lows. We sang, we danced, we ran. And we most definitely poured a bit of blood, sweat, and tears into the hike. We made friends with strangers and gave them affectionate names like Tacos. We annoyed the hell out of people with our obnoxious demeanors and Disney music. And we freaking climbed to the HIGHEST POINT IN ARIZONA. I would do it all over again with these awesome people! Just not any time soon. TEAM PIZZA!