Temporary Scottsdalians

We spent 30 days in a temp housing condo in Scottsdale. It was nice to be set up in something other than a hotel for this transition, especially with Rolin. It seemed like a 30 day whirlwind, with all our to dos, doctor appointments, mail chasing, no cell service, waiting for our car to arrive and house hunting, so the days flew by.

Our digs were pretty sweet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (one with a double sink!), fully furnished, large kitchen with nice appliances, washer/dryer, community pools, next to a park. It was no where near child proofed, so that made things interesting the first few days. We only broke three things total. Thank goodness for superglue.

Scottsdale itself is nothing to shake a stick at, either. Some areas are pretty swanky.

And the sunsets. THE SUNSETS!

The condo was in a community in the Scottsdale Ranch area, which is nestled around a man-made lake. We didn't have a lake view from our condo, but all we had to do is walk across the parking lot to enjoy the view.

There was also a fountain in the center of the community that Rolin really enjoyed watching. We made daily trips to the fountain (because he'd fall asleep on our walks, you see, so whether or not he seemed like he wanted to see the fountain, we went to see it anyway).

Fountain side re-hydrating with ice water. Sweet, sweet ice water.

We used the pool a couple times. There were two in the community, and they were almost always void of swimmers. Probably because it was too hot. Rolin loves the water, and loved sitting in his floatie near the pool's waterfall.

We would have gone more, but it was monsoon season while we were there, making for quite a few thunder storms and haboobs (sand/dust storms), not to mention excessive heat.

Nice to know this feature exists.

Visibility was down to 100 ft. in this sand/dust storm. Can you see the house in that pic?

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

The Thompsons came down the first week we were in Scottsdale to help watch Rolin while we went house hunting with a rental rep. They stayed for a few days, you know, just long enough to start to get used to the heat.

 Grandpa Lee soaking up some patio heat with Rolin.

We went to the aquarium later in the month to kill some time. Rolin seemed to enjoy it more than I expected he would. He seemed entertained the entire time and didn't cry once.

Gazing up at the fish from inside the under-tank bubble.

Jellyfish.

I couldn't help it.

No idea what this is. But it is interesting!

We got two stuffed manta ray toys at the aquarium, one for Rolin and one for a friend, as a memento. We had Rolin choose between blue and green mantas; he chose the green one twice...I thought it was so cute when he made his selection between the two. Now that we've moved into our new place I can't find the damn blue manta ray for his friend anywhere...it's making me feel crazy. I'll probably find it when we move out of this house. The dangers of moving...

Overall, Rolin did the best he could to entertain himself with the limited amount of toys we brought for our temp stay. He played peekaboo a lot and chased his red bouncy ball around the house.

He did end up playing with an empty beer box for a long time one night, so the next day we went and got him a truck he can sit on or push.

We realized too late that he doesn't quite yet understand the concept of hanging on to the truck when you go too fast when parents push you too fast. Sorry, baby!

The truck entertained him for a day or two, then he resorted to batting a stacking cup around as entertainment.

We also practiced speaking names of our loved ones, such as Aunt Brianna and Uncle Joe:

He really did enjoy going outside though, no matter how hot it was. He would get so sweaty and pink-cheeked, but he LOVED being outside. I'd have to drag him back inside kicking and screaming....at least he doesn't hate the heat, right?

Now we're busy getting settled in at our new house. We've had a crazy time since moving in too, as we were in WA for a week for Nanny's funeral, came back to AZ with house guests, and Rolin pushed through 3-4 teeth, had diarrhea and a terrible head cold. Needless to say, we're grateful for a low-key weekend.

Stay tuned for more updates!