Mini Golf!

One of the last outdoor excursions we had in Arizona before we came back to Montana was taking Elena and Clara for their very first mini-golf experience. Christina is very, very fond of the game (despite lack of skill) and Steve graciously goes along with it. He took the time to show the girls the "right" way to putt.

Although they liked the lesson, they loved running around with the balls more. Oh, and examining the course. These definitely trumped actually hitting the ball with the putter (which really surprised us - we thought they'd like to whack at things!).

Christina tried to share some strategy, but it seems the girls didn't quite take to it...

...as the few times they did hit the ball it went quite wildly off and around the course. Christina had to retrieve one ball that was headed merrily down a stream, as it had gone not only off the course but also out of the little pond that traps the ball for you - it was definitely a rogue ball.

We thought the girls would enjoy the mini-golf scenery, and it turned out we were right on that one - the decorations were a big hit.

But getting them to look at US for a picture while among the scenery was mainly a lost cause - they couldn't take their eyes off of the door that would open and close, open and close.

Also unexpected (but not really surprising) was that Clara really wanted to go IN the 'baby house.' Trying to explain that the house was only for the balls didn't really work - clearly this house is bigger than a ball, and could fit a girl! It took a long time to persuade her away from this one.

All in all, it was a really fun round of golf, if not precisely for the actual golfing. We ended with an Icee to top the whole experience off. Definitely Arizona fun...even just looking at the pictures brings us a little warmth now that we're back in the cold. Sun, warmth, fun....ah, it will come back to Montana someday.