Palm Springs, Part 3

Ok! Let's wrap this up!

I don't think I've shared this picture yet. Tim took it and it makes me laugh because Kasper spent A LOT of his time trying to kick a ball. He missed more than he connected and when he did actually kick it, it almost never went where he hoped. It was so funny - I don't think he improved a bit over the week. Here, he's looking for the ball in one direction, when it's clearly over his shoulder in the exact opposite direction.


"Kappy, can you bring these chips out to the table?"


We found a bike and helmet for Kasper so he could bike around a bit!



The evenings were gorgeous.







An example of the ball not going where Kasper planned.


Maybe it's his form?


Practicing swimming without a floatie!


Lunch al fresco.



Lots of long naps


Mornings with Grandma and Grandpa while Rob and I are off hiking. Looks relaxing, right??



We picked a day to take a little road trip! We had initially wanted to go to Joshua Tree National Park but in the end, we weren't interested in spending hours in the car. In a stroke of luck, the guy that came out to clean the pool the day before mentioned that there was another, closer option that was just as good. Whitewater Preserve it was! I HIGHLY recommend this place if you are in or near Palm Springs. It was great! And close! And FREE!

Before we left, we got to watch the recycling truck collect its bounty.


I'm pretty sure the desert was in the middle of a super bloom. It was gorgeous.














You can probably guess he slipped and stepped right in the stream, right?


Notice the shoe


This was maybe 10 minutes into our walk? 5 minutes? Marlo is done walking and that's Kasper's bare toe because he had to take his wet shoe off. This validated our decision to only drive 30 minutes away to explore.


No idea where the camera was focusing.


The water was rushing over the road because of the rain or the snow melt or rain or something. Hence the super blooming.






Back in everyone's happy place.


Kasper just decided to go for it and swim across the pool to earn that doughnut.


Apparently this was the only picture we took of our last full day. A greasy lensed shot of the kids eating on the steps. That really sums it up.


We had to be out of the house by 10 am Thursday. Our flight wasn't until 6:45 so we had a whole day to kill! Our first stop was the Marriott to see the flamingos that hang out there. They are so neat!












We then went inside the hotel, hit up the Starbucks and camped out for a spell.


Next we drove to Cabazon to see the Cabazon dinosaurs! To set the scene a little, by this point the wind has picked up and is pretty intense. Stuff is flying off the back of trucks on the interstate, it can be hard to walk, etc.









We stopped down the street for some snacks and date shakes at Hadleys.


For lunch, we had packed all of the leftovers from the house into a cooler. We ate weird food on the patio of the beautiful Sunnylands estate. I, for example, had a fajita sandwich on multigrain bread with cheese and spinach which was really gross. But I think we did a pretty good job of eating up our food! We spent time walking around the gardens, watching historical movies and just sitting until it was time to head to the airport.









We got to the airport around 4. It was super windy, we had to lug our stuff from the rental car to the airport and re-organize our luggage, etc, etc, etc. Then when we were going through security all the power went out for a second or 2. By the time we got through security and had a chance to get our bearings, it turns out the flights were all delayed because of the wind. No planes could land so the tarmac remained empty while the terminals were all full. Long story short, we were supposed to leave at 6:45 pm, we left at 11:30 pm. We were one of 2 lucky flights to actually leave the Palm Springs airport that night. The majority of the flights were cancelled. Thankfully the plane from MN landed in Phoenix and could leave and get to PS in about 40 minutes. It's a tiny airport with minimal food options. Most of the space was outside which was just too windy. The kids were total troopers. Marlo finally gave up around 10 and fell asleep.


Both kids slept most of the flight home. It wasn't good sleep but I'm happy they were able to rest. We got into Mpls at 4:30 MN time.

It was rough.


Ugh. We got our bags, got the shuttle to our car, stopped for doughnuts and coffee for the drive and rolled into our house around 6:30. We all went straight to bed slept until 9!

It was a fantastic trip! A favorite destination for sure. Thanks Mom and Dad! We can't wait for next year!