Thursday, April 19, 2012

Oh what do you do in Pinetop?

Phil is doing an away rural family medicine rotation in Whiteriver for 6 weeks. The school was able to find our family accommodations in Pinetop so that we could come along and not be stuck at home without him for so long (thank heaven!). It has been an interesting trip thus far. We live in a beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath cabin with a gorgeous kitchen (including a dishwasher!) and nice living room. The weather has been wonderful as well...even including the snowy first weekend we were here. As much as I hate being cold it was fun to have snow because I knew it was going to melt and warm up a few days later. The weather has been around 65-75 on average (besides that one weekend)...awesome!

The biggest downside is that Phil has to drive to Whiteriver every day which means for this one car family, that I don't have a car. If we could walk places like we can at home (park, library, store, etc) it would be great but we don't live near any of those things (near as in walking distance...or at least how far I'd like to walk. The closest store is ~7 miles round trip. There is a dollar store about 3 miles round trip so if I really needed something that they carried I could get it). I actually did a week's worth of meal planning last week to make sure I had everything so I wouldn't need to go to the store (I was very proud). The biggest issue is keeping busy with creative things to do. We are limited with the toys we brought with us plus the few books we brought along (I thought I'd be able to use the library here...I ended up not being able to get a library card...big bummer. Thank goodness I brought the few kid books I did! We read them many times a day!). I was hoping to do some hiking possibly but once again, not finding any close trails. Any woods to do exploring seem to have fences surrounding them or have do not trespass signs. We are really doing fine but sometimes I just get a little bored, the kids may not but I do. I would love to do different things with them. Any bright ideas? I'm open for any suggestions.With all that said, I am so glad I get to be with Phil for these 6 weeks and not stuck at home by myself! That would be awful!.

And some pictures to document the adventure:



James enjoying the snow...didn't last long though since he didn't have gloves. We aren't so equipped for such weather! Maren didn't like it much either.



James playing with his beloved trains.
Maren's new trick...getting on top of the table. If you're wondering, I'm not very excited about it.

5 comments:

  1. Will you be heading back down to the valley any time in the next 6 weeks? I have a few games and such I could send your way...and maybe some a couple of movies?

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  2. My two kids love nature walks, but it sounds like you can't get to nature, but if you can just outside the cabin, give each of them an empty container, like milk jug (that's what we use) and let them fill it with nature! This is one of Spencer's absolute favorite activities!

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  3. Looks like fun. I am sorry you are bored though. I have been trying to come up with things for Ember to do too since we don't get out much either. I haven't tried these but they look fun to me.
    http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2011/12/10-crafts-and-activities-for-boys.html
    http://www.playcreateexplore.com/p/activites-for-ages-1-3.html
    http://moneysavingmom.com/tag/busy-bag-ideas
    http://creeksidelearning.com/2012/02/10/easy-volcano-experiment/
    Good luck. Ember told me the other day that James was looking out his window waiting for her to come. I think she misses him.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the ideas all.
      Jet-We won't be coming down until the rotation is over.
      Camry-Cute idea. I had some empty jugs the other day and wondered how I could incorporate them into outside fun...I'm not very creative. We'll have to do that next time.
      Paige-I've been trying to talk more about the alphabet and I've been using E is for Ember which brings her up quite often. He asked if she was coming over to play the other day. Sure miss you guys!

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  4. I hope things are giong better. By now you're probably set your new routine. I was thinking, I've played red-light, green-light with Emilee a few times, and she's enjoyed that (no props needed). Also, if you can get paper, make your own books to read. Or, get a photo album and look at pictures - my kids like that. Also, you can have James help teach Maren body parts (I just realized a few weeks back that I haven't been teaching Logan things like eyes, mouth, ears, etc). Singing primary songs used to help us pass the time as well. Or, other songs (like from the library story time) using a "scarf" (kitchen washcloth/towel). Sidewalk chalk-endless possibilities there. Hope these help. :)

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