Monsoons

Dax was born in Utah in December. That’s not a good thing. I couldn’t take Dax outside for months after he was born for fear of him catching RSV. Doctor’s orders. The doctor’s also told us it would be best for him to stay inside until April. April!! That was going to be nearly impossible, but we did try the best we could. Dax had a little jaundice when he was born, but laying him next to a window where the sun would stream in was not an option. There was no sun. I didn’t see the poor boys little birdie legs until he was probably six months old because he was always swaddled up in a nice big blanket. And the snow? Oh, how it snowed. It snowed and snowed and snowed. It did not make much fun for me with a newborn. I think it snowed all the way until April that year.

By the time summer finally rolled around, we had a wonderful time playing outside in the grass and going for walks. Utah has wonderful summers. But they always end quickly and sometimes it starts snowing again by Halloween. And of course, that was the case for Dax on his first Halloween and although it didn’t snow, I think I remember it being 40 degrees at least. We had to swap his cute cowboy outfit for a plush dragon that had covered feet, hands and a fleece hood. Still cute, but not the same when your first trick or treating experiencing is cut down to a 10 minute power walk around the church parking lot to trick or treat out of ward member’s trunk and then hurry home as fast as you can. I’m sure he didn’t care, but I did! Those winter months consisted of staying cooped up inside as much as possible and it wasn't fun.

When we moved to AZ the following March there was record breaking heat, record breaking consecutive days over 110 degrees and record breaking days without rain. Plus, I was pregnant with Wyatt, but that’s beside the point.

Dax has lived in some pretty extreme weather. And although both are pretty miserable, the thing I feel bad about the most is that he has literally only experienced rain a handful of times in his life.

I love when it would rain growing up. It didn’t happen often, and perhaps it wasn’t even classified as rain, definitely not Seattle rain, but more showers. But when it did, my mom always put on a movie for us, popped us popcorn over the stove and made hot hot chocolate. I loved it.

Here, the rain isn’t much like that either though. Here, the rains are called monsoons and it is something to be seen. These monsoons usually happen from about early July into September. They come and go as fast as you can blink, dump more rain than imaginably possible and the rain is dried up faster than even more imaginably possible with the loudest thunder and the brightest lightening, and it is still 112 degrees outside. Trees blow over, play houses are knocked down, trash cans are found down the street, parks flood. It’s crazy!

And it’s that time of year.

We’ve had a few monsoons this week. Usually they happen late in the day or in the evening, but the other morning we woke up and it was raining. This never happens. And for once it wasn’t as windy or as much of a trenchale downpour as usual and we were actually able to go outside and play in it.

Dax wanted an umbrella but I couldn’t find one. Why would I own an umbrella in AZ? He insisted on wearing a jacket and hood. I told him he was crazy because it was already 90 degrees at 7:30 in the morning, but that's what he wanted. Wyatt on the other hand ran around in his diaper but I was too embarrassed to post any pictures of him considering we were in the front yard. Okay, maybe there is one. And guess what? They love the rain too!

I love that I finally have pictures of Dax playing in the rain. It only took 3 ½ years, but there you have it! Total bliss.

That is until he jumped in a puddle that was actually a sink hole (another great thing about monsoons and AZ) and got covered in mud and the fun stopped there.

But at least we got some pictures to remember it all.