Oasis

What is it about Palm Springs that keeps us going back again and again? Clearly it's not the heat alone, because on this trip it didn't go above 70 degrees. My vote (and I think many in Dave's family would agree) would be that it's the feeling you get when you pull off the 10 freeway onto Highway 111, and you start seeing the palms coming into view, and you just throw all of your cares away. It's like a drug; you need to come back for more and more.

What made this trip great was that (despite the threat of rain) we spent almost the entire time outside. The boys set the tone as soon as we arrived, when they discovered a prolific olive tree in the front of the house, matched by fruit-heavy orange and grapefruit trees in the park-like backyard. Tip: If you balance a kid on your head and they manage to pick a grapefruit successfully, there's a good chance that they will immediately drop it and the grapefruit will come down and BAM! you right in the eye. So I saw stars within minutes of arriving. Lesson learned.

I guess it's no secret that I'm not much of a hiker. Looking at tree after tree in a forest doesn't do much for me, and desert hikes just make me tired and thirsty. But doing just about anything with a kid automatically makes it more interesting. "Look at that rock! Look at that stick! Look at that lizard! HEY - Don't climb on that - Aaaaagh!" Plus there was something about the hiking this time (not too hot? good company? interesting, changing views? plenty of snacks?) that made it much more tolerable, perhaps even...er...fun?

On our first day we did an "easy" one-mile loop. On the outbound route, it followed uphill along a mountain stream and under the shade of palm trees; on the return it was a wide-open descent with spectacular views. Between us we had a "real" camera, an iTouch, and a BlackBerry, so a wide variety of media was used to record the event. (Here is my dad getting a closer shot of a cactus). Even though the terrain was rocky at times, no one had too much trouble with the hike - my mom was OK, my dad was thrilled, and Zach was fine, even though he straggled a little bit with all of the rocky distractions.

On the second day Dave took us out to the San Andreas fault, which turns out not to be a single big crack in the earth (as I was secretly hoping for) but more of a series of weird ridges where tectonic plates bumped up against one another. Again, the hike started out through an oasis. We kept saying it felt like we were on the set of some cheesy pseudo-prehistoric Land-of-the-Lost-type movie, with big clearings, droopy palm trees, and ridiculously chunky walls of rock. I like to call the pic on the right "Snacktime at the O-a-sis..."

At the end of all of that time on our feet, we headed back to the house and enjoyed the heated pool, even if only for a short time. I have a great pic of my mom sitting out in the sun, wrapped in towels from head to toe, but I will not post in in the interest of family harmony. 

"How come when we go somewhere we only ever go for two nights?" Luke complained. Workin' on it, bud. Workin' on it.

Last and completely unrelated: I took the boys to a new dentist on Monday. I was just getting tired of the old dentist and the cranky hygienists and the waiting room with one kids' book that Luke read over and over again. So I took them to a new dentist at this swanky kid-friendly office and the difference was incredible. It was the fanciest, most well-appointed place I've ever seen, down to the exquisite bathroom tiles. The waiting room had a movie going, along with plenty of toys; plus there was a separate video game room. They brought us to a "family" exam room where two hygienists worked on the boys simultaneously and talked to me while they were doing it. They had a separate kids' brushing area with free toothbrushes and big mirrors for them to practice their techniques. The dentist was nice, thoughtful, and took time to answer my questions. And the boys got their choice of a toy at the end. How to gauge if it was a good visit? Zach came out the door crowing and running in circles: "Teeth! Teeth! I LOVE this place! I LOVE this new toy!"  OK, then.

Oh, and moderately related, in terms of health and hygiene, Zach is headed back to the hospital on Monday for a surgical-grade ear-vacuuming so the doc can clear out all of the mess in there and figure out what's going on once and for all. Let's hope he comes out of that with the same level of enthusiasm.