We Love This Boy!

Our Spring Break plans got canceled. We were supposed to be in California this week at the beach, Disneyland, and seeing some friends, but the state is still locked down and Disney is still closed, and ASU canceled Spring Break and Walker had to attend classes still, so we stayed home. We were all pretty bummed!

I still wanted to do “something” and came up with a few different plans but nothing seemed to gain much steam from the family. So I said we’d go on a hike in town which still got mixed reviews. LOL! I told everyone we’d be going Sunday morning (the only day the whole family has off of work/school) and if they wanted to come they were invited. But either way, Dad and I were going. 😛

Eli was the only taker. I’m not complaining. It’s a rare occurrence that we get one on one time with him. He’s always up for an adventure and he makes it way more fun! He turns 18 in a month which is kinda blowing my mind!

We went to the Wind Cave which is only 30 min. from the house. It’s a desert hike. It’s rated as “moderate” and it earns every bit of that title. Some spots I feel should be rated difficult. It’s a steady (and in some places steep) incline all the way up and very rocky! I kept feeling like a sprained foot/ankle is probably a common souvenir on this trail. LOL!

Eli is in his element when he’s outdoors! He’s always been our explorer. He’s also in incredible physical shape and leaves his poor parents in his dust! LOL! He was patient with us though and would double back and take little breaks until we caught up. Haha!

Eli hates taking pictures. I’m so glad he let me get this one of us though. I love it so much! <3

Saw this little guy just chilling out on this twig without a care in the world. LOL! He let us get SO close!

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect! It had rained 2 days before and the temps were cool, the dust was low, and the sky had scattered clouds, which may seem normal to people in other states but in AZ the sky is almost always cloud free and just miles and miles of blue skies. It’s exciting when we have “weather” here. LOL!

We made it to the Wind Cave at the top. The lighting in this pic was bad you couldn’t see anything but our shadows. I tried to lighten the best I could. Idk why I didn’t take a pic of the actual rock formation of the cave. It was a little anti-climatic at the top but that’s ok. Google has our back. Here are a couple from the inter-webs. 😛

You can actually hike up passed the cave and go to the very top of the mountain but there really isn’t a path per say, it’s very rugged, and scaling is necessary in several spots. Eli was trying to talk me into it and I took maybe 20 steps up and I realized it just was going to be too rough for me. But I told the guys to go ahead without me and I’d start heading down the trail (I’m slow) and that they’d probably catch up with me. 😛

We parted ways and I started the descent….

They guys made it to the top!

They told me it was a good thing I didn’t try to do it. They were struggling in parts (which for Eli to say, it really had to have been rough!). The view was spectacular though!

I actually only had to wait maybe 5 minutes and they had caught up to me, but they did say they were booling down. That’s a hip teenager word for zooming. 😛

After the hike we went to Downtown Gilbert and tried a new Creole restaurant called Da’ Bayou. It was fun to try. The food was decent and we got to try alligator. It really does taste like chicken! LOL! The guys really like the bread pudding but it’s still not as good as Charleston’s. No one seems to make it better than them! The biggest bummer was that we wanted beignets and they were all out!! 🙁 Big sad face! I’m not sure how that happens on a Sunday at 2pm. Oh well….

It was such a treat getting time with Eli. He is always so busy!

After lunch we came home and had a fun little cake I bought to end Spring Break with! 😀

Apparently, spending the day with us wore him out! Hahaha! I found him like this after I got out of the shower.

Love this kid! He is becoming an incredible young man. He is SO smart! His mind is always going 1,000 miles an hour. He’s a self-starter and self-motivated. I don’t know where he gets all that energy from! He rarely sits still and always has some project he’s working on (even though that pic up there shows otherwise, it’s actually a rarity. Hence the pic. LOL!). He’s a puzzle/problem solver. He researches everything. He works hard and never gives up until he’s achieved the thing he’s set out to do. He’s a risk taker and entrepreneur. A born salesman. He loves his circle of people fiercely. He’s an all-in guy. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and is vocal about it. He is insanely confident. He has no problem speaking his mind and standing up for what he believes. He pushes and inspires others to be and do their best. He’s a great coach. His future is bright and I can’t wait to see where life takes him! I kinda feel like we are always trailing behind him trying to catch up and hoping he’ll let us tag along and be apart of his life. Haha! <3