Sedona Mtb

Alisha says: Overnight mountain biking trip to Sedona sans the little one, yes please! My mom was kind enough to watch Skye while Dave and I sneaked off to Sedona for a quick trip. We did a big loop on the west side in the afternoon when we first got there that included Chuck Wagon and Mescal. The next morning we followed that up with Bell Rock side where Dave thought my skills had improved enough to take me on Hiline trail. It is a pretty sweet trail and I did fine climbing up, across the ridge and on the first downhill part but then I did a bit of walking as it has some crazy downhill towards the end of the trail. We completed a big loop by coming down past Chicken Point back to the car. Fun, fun, fun, so much fun!!!!

A Big Family Campout

Dave says: As the Welsh family has gotten bigger, it's not often that the whole crew can get together for a weekend camping trip. However, over Easter weekend that's just what we did with a camping trip to Camp Verde. My parents and grandparents stayed in a cabin at the RV resort while Christine and I brought our trailers. Some of the highlights from the campground include swimming, evening campfires, ping pong, mini golf, and a walk along the river. On Easter morning my mom hid some eggs for the kids and gave Skye an Easter basket. The trailer was a big success once again and we feel like we're getting things dialed in a little more with every trip.

On Saturday, Alisha got us permits to hike into Fossil Springs. It's a long dirt road to get to the hike but in Arizona it's pretty special to find a big stream with blue water, tons of swimming holes, and a big waterfall at the end of the hike. The water was a little chilly still but everyone got in for some wading. One interesting feature of the waterfall is that you can maneuver around behind the falls into a little cave.

Easter

Alisha says: I took Skye to a little Easter event in Mesa where you would walk around to different businesses and they would give the kids an Easter egg. They also had an Easter bunny that you could take pictures with and since the line wasn't that long yet I decided to give it a try. Since Skye is still really clingy I thought there was no way that she would have anything to do with the bunny but she surprised me. I sat her down and quickly took my picture, so while the whole thing was very quick I would call it a success because there was no tears! After the event we played with her eggs in our newly finished backyard.

Backyard Remodel

Dave says: We love our big pie-shaped backyard. The west side was landscaped with rock and desert plants when we moved in which was easy in terms of maintenance but not very usable for us or Skye. We decided it was time for an update consisting of pavers, turf, and a playset. I chopped and transplanted a few prickly pear behind the wall but otherwise the desert landscape remained largely intact. We added a big loop of pavers around the turf and two raised mounds and hopefully someday soon Skye will be out there doing laps. Having a big chunk of turf has also been nice. Finally, we got Skye a playhouse off Craigslist that we put under the trees so it is typically shaded. Some days she likes her playhouse and some days she just wants to run around in the dirt looking for interesting rocks to pick up. In the evenings right before dusk is our favorite time for hanging out here.

17 Months

Alisha says: Skye is quite the busy toddler these days. She is getting quick and agile on her feet and loves to be outside. We have taken her to a few splash pads and she thinks they are rather fun. She is still clingy and won't stay by herself at nursery. She gets so excited when Dave comes home from work, as soon as she hears the door open she drops whatever she is doing and runs to find him saying "Da, Da"! It is really cute.