Month: April 2023

Today we woke up to Easter baskets and Easter eggs that were hidden all over the house (thank you Lydia and Mary for stuffing and hiding all of them!). The kids had a great time opening their baskets and going on the Easter egg hunt (also thank you to Walmart for having premade baskets!).

Then Lily and I packed everything up and we all went to Lulu California Bistrtro for their Easter menu. Lily and I went there last night for a quick date, and we saw they gave big servings of cotton candy for desert. We thought of Clarissa (whose favorite desert is cotton candy) and scheduled a reservation for today. The food took a while to come out, but we gave the two youngest kids a big speech about behaving in the restaurant before hand, and they were incredible, almost perfect. We passed the time by playing with the blue hairpiece that came in one of the kid’s Easter baskets and also by reviewing our trip together (see video below):

At the end of the meal, Ammon and Clarissa were so happy with the cotton candy. It was so fun to see their joy!

We then drove home for over ten hours. We hit a lot of traffic heading towards LA to jump on the I-15, and then at one point the freeway was closed so we had a short detour. We got home around 1:30 AM and I had a 7:30 AM meeting the next day, which was a little brutal, but the trip was so so so worth it, as was the morning fun we had. It was totally worth getting in later to be able to have a fun Easter in Palm Springs. Thank you Lily for organizing this trip!

I LOVE our national parks, and even though our time at Joshua Tree National Park was short, it was my personal favorite day of the trip. We drove up to a pull-out and we walked around until people needed to use a bathroom. Then we found another turnout with a restroom and the kids played on the rocks and I also go to do some fun climbing with the kids. Ammon skinned his knee and got sad when I was short with him for something else he was doing, but all the other kids were overjoyed with the experience. I too loved hiking and climbing on such beautiful scenery.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

on the way home we went to Walmart and Mary and I went inside to buy easter supplies. Back at the condo, we spent more time in the pool and then Lydia and Mary hid all the eggs and baskets for the easter egg hunt the next day. Those two girls have become some helpful!

Today we revisited one of our favorite places in Palm Springs, Shield’s date farm. This time around we were very struck at how finnicky date trees are how incredibly difficult it is to raise fruit from them. First of all, they can’t pollinate themselves, so humans have to manually collect pollen from male tress and brush them onto the female trees. You’d think that would be easy, but these trees grow insanely tall, so people have to climb large ladders, and the trees put out spiney thorns that are very painful for the people trying to work on the trees. Then, they can only live in dry, arid deserts, but they require an enormous amount of water. So Shield’s periodically floods the date farm so the trees can get enough water. And although they love water for their roots, they are basically allergic to rain, so the workers put rain coverings over the date fruits when it rains. It’s pretty amazing what all has to be done for these dates to come to the market, and they are so so delicious!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After the date farm, we went to tour the windmill farm in Palm Springs. I think the correct term is wind turbine. We learned a lot on our driving audio tour:

• Denmark for a long time has made the best wind turbines (by a long shot), but the US and other countries like Sweden are starting to catch up.
• Wind power had a very rocky start. Early turbines broke easily and had a lot of problems.
• Wind turbine size is limited to what is allowed to be transported on highways. The future of wind turbines is having them in the ocean. There are already some and they are HUGE.
• Wind and solar are about the same efficiency to make. Coal burning produces WAY more power per area it takes, but obviously has very negative consequences for the environment.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Back at home we had fun in the pool. I enjoyed doing some fun tricks with the kids where they would stand up on my shoulders.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Also, Lily has still been enjoying veggie Pho from a nearby restaurant and it feels great as she is still sick, and she and I have also been playing a lot of wingspan, which we love so much!

Today, we explored downtown Palm Springs as a family.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We LOVED our time in downtown Palm Springs. Back at the place, we served spaghetti to the kids, then Lily and I had a date night while Lydia babysat.

Lily and I went to the art museum and we loved it!!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Then Lily and I wandered to downtown, where there happened to be a street fair going on. We got some great Mexican food, rugelach, and juice.

It was so fun to go out together!

Per Mary’s request we started the day with another fun bike ride.

We then went to Sunnylands. Lily found out about it through research and it was such a delight. It turns out a wealthy media family, the Annenbergs (invented TV guide, owned stations etc), built Sunnylands as a retreat in Palm Springs with the specific intention to spread peace to those who came. Both the husband and wife served as ambassadors and they were highly connected to US Presidents and top political leaders. They were close with Nixon and Nixon came to Sunnylands to decompress and find refreshment after Watergate. Obama met with the leader of China to have talks. A trade dispute with Japan was resolved here. And the list goes on. They also famously had a New Years Eve party every year that drew dignitaries (such as Regan) to attend every year. It was awesome to learn about this beautiful place that I never knew existed.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The kids had fun playing tag on the grass.

Lily and I LOVE labyrinths! The kids seemed to enjoy it as well.

Then I played tag with the kids in the beautiful weather while Lily checked out the china and table setting pieces from Mrs. Annenberg. She was a master hostess, very detail oriented, and tried to use hosting as a means for building bridges and diplomacy with people. I got a chance to peak into the exhibit as well and I especially loved the yellow settings. Lily was so inspired that she bought a book about Mrs. Annenberg’s table settings.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We then walked through some additional gardens and headed home.

• 

• 

Back at the AirBNB, we thoroughly enjoyed the pool. Lily got a lot of sun which was great because she has still felt sick and we hoped all the sun would help. I had a lot of fun doing obstacle courses with the kids. I also spent a lot of time just floating on three noodles. It was unbelievably comfortable and highly soothing.

We also found an amazing Pho place that could doordash giant portions of veggie pho, which Lily went crazy for. It was especially soothing since she was still sick.

The drive to Palm Springs was very intense. It was extremely windy for most of the drive, and at times the wind got up to 75 miles per hour. When I filled up the car at one of the gas stations near Yermo, the wind blew gasoline out of the nozzle of the hose and gas sprayed all over my shorts. It smelled in the car, and we were concerned about a combustion hazard, so I changed and tossed my old shorts at the next stop in Eddie’s World. The wind got stronger the closer that we got to Palm Springs. We pulled in late and the last five minutes were the most intense. In parts of Palm Springs, there is nothing, but sand on both sides of the road. On one of those stretches, the sand was blowing so violently, that we could barely see in front of us, and during some gusts, we couldn’t see at all. Cars put on their hazards and drove at 5 miles per hour and stopped when there was no visibility. It was an intense stretch, but we made it.

Today we woke up to a beautiful AirBnB, perfect weather and no wind.

We started the day with a fun game of Twister.

Then we used the host’s bicycle. I called it Chitty-chitty-bang-bang. One tire was half flat, but the pump was broken so I couldn’t pump it up. And a screw was missing from one of the chain guards, so the chain guard banged into the chain making a constant steady clanking sound (that was fun to beatbox with). Lily steered because my legs were too long to peddle under the steering wheel. But all those quirks only made the bike more endearing. We loved our bike ride. Mary especially loved it, and was the one who would ask for more bike rides on subsequent days, and we did do one more.

We then went to the Botanical garden. As expected, Ammon started a conversation with strangers almost immediately, and we pulled him away eventually so as not to burden them with an unexpected conversation that was too long. The cacti, Yuccas and other plants were amazing. The first sign we saw encouraged us to go slow, and it was a mindful experience of beautiful desert plants.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We then went to Elmer’s, a fun diner in Palm Springs that serves delicious German Pancakes and other great food. They had great things to take the kids attention while we waited for food.

• 

• 

At home, everyone enjoyed the pool, and then Lily, the girls and I played Wingspan.

What a great day!

We fell in love with our Tiny Home! Here is a tour!

Today we had breakfast pastries from a nearby bakery. We loved eating in our tiny home!

Lily was feeling really sick, but she rallied so that we could go to Kodachrome Basin, a state park that we have been wanting to see for a long time.

The kids had fun in the swing seats and on the rock climbing wall at the visitors center.

• 

• 

When we embarked on our hike, all the kids were very excited about their water backpacks that Georgia gave them for Christmas. Our hike was the Panorama trail and it was about three miles. Below are some pictures and videos from our adventure.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Lily barely made it, as did Clarissa, so it’s really good we didn’t do the 6 mile Calf Creek trail I originally proposed. The trail was beautiful and it was really good to see Kodachrome Basil. We then drove to Boulder, UT (30 minutes North of Escalante), and visited Long Canyon. The name is really funny because it is the shortest canyon I’ve ever been in. You walk 100 yards and you are at the end. It is very beautiful though.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Below is Clarissa making cinnamon rolls (probably inspired by the cinnamon roll she had for breakfast).

Then the kids and I did some bouldering. We had such a good time and it was the kids’ favorite part of the day.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We then went to Hell’s Backbone Grill and ordered dinner to go. Lily was inspired by their cookbook and bought a copy. They have an incredible story building up this restaurant in such a rural place, but they did it and now they’ve gotten acclaim, and for good reason. The food was delicious!

• 

• 

Driving home, we saw one of the most incredible sunsets we’ve ever seen. The pictures don’t quite do it justice, but it does give an idea of the vastness and richness of the orange glow we presenced.

• 

At home Mary and Ammon played Chess, and then the adults played wingspan. We completely fell in love with our tiny home and we loved every second we spent in it.

• 

•