desert museum

The Sonoran Desert Museum is such a gem. The cave area that was under construction the last time we visited held all sorts of interesting, fun creatures - even a station with a live snake to touch!  The boys thoroughly enjoyed uncovering fossils.  The one Aiden found wasn't actually a planted pretend fossil, but instead a real trilobite that he was allowed to log and keep.  He says it's the best souvenir of the trip!

wings

Check out these vultures! 

zoo lights

We headed back to the zoo for their holiday lights (with about half of Tucson also attending).  Great Nana did a great job walking the whole zoo!  

zoo

More animals to feed at the Reid Park Zoo with those giant giraffe tongues.  Meeting up with our friends just like we did a few years ago was really fun!  Felix and the boys are cut from the same cloth and get along really well.

great nana

Having time to visit Great Nana in her new home was a really nice part of the trip.  She would give Keaton a ride on her walker in exchange for plenty of drawings ;) The mini drum set was a favorite behind her door with the lighthouse.

air

We visited the Pima Air Museum and it had expanded to over six indoor hangars along with all their outdoor planes.  Meeting a 94 year old man who piloted B-17s in the war was a definite highlight (we even bought his book and had him sign it).  

space

The boys loved the space hangar and the view from lunch at the grill.  The whole afternoon it waffled between bright and sunny and drizzle rain.

cogburn farm

We kicked off our visit to the darndest place in Tucson! This ostrich farm has expanded since the last time we were there and there are far more than just ostriches to feed.  

They added cow nose sting rays with squid to feed them.  Keaton was not nearly as excited for that as he was meeting the lorikeets.  They really liked him even after his nectar was gone. This video shows how ecstatic he was even while mildly terrified.

ostrich

You get a big cup of a variety of seeds and food. One of the donkeys decided that J looked tasty and gave him a big nip in the waist.  Grandpa got some kisses from the goats.  The bunnies win for the absolute cutest. 

boots

One of our first stops was a trip to Cowtown boots to find these cowboys some boots they could break in on our trip. Grampa very nicely oiled them up for them so they were all set!  Check out these hard core hats, which I call costume pieces ;)

would you rather

What a fun month!

Would you rather go back in time to meet your ancestors or go into the future to meet your grandchildren? I want to see old people because I would just want to say hi to them because I would want to see what they are like and what they like

Would you rather be 3 feet tall or 8 feet tall?
8 feet tall because I'd be super tall and I'd be great at basketball 

Would you rather be a deep sea diver or an astronaut?
Deep sea diver because then I can search the deep seas for fish and sharks that I don't know about

Would you rather be a dog named Killer or a cat named Fluffy?
A cat named Fluffy because if I was a dog named Killer people might try to kill me and that is not fun

 Would you rather be invisible or be able to read minds?
Invisible so I could sneak up on people and say banana poop and they would say Ahhhh! 

Would you rather have x-ray vision or bionic hearing?
X-ray vision because then I could see through people's bodies and say I can see your skeleton and then combined with invisible power they would be really surprised

nye

A good party for kids and adults to ring in the New Year!  Minus a few friends that were sick, we all made it to midnight to countdown into 2017.  Whoosh, welcome 2017!

nye photo booth

You know I can't get enough of a photo booth!

brothers

There are a ridiculous number of photos from our holiday trip to Tucson to sort through, but in the meantime it's been a while since I had a big stack of brother photos I wanted to just mash together and throw up here...  Those sweet guys made 2016 a really fun year regardless of all the messy garbage. I'm so grateful to live in the moment with them.

tucson preview

Here some snaps from Tucson until I can get the rest sorted out ;)  

xmas morning

So much fun opening presents on Christmas morning!  Thanks Nana and Grampa!  These pictures give you a good idea ;)

xmas eve

Frosty left us a nice note and delivered a Christmas tree to the ranch before we arrived - Thanks Nana and Grampa for helping Frosty with that sweet delivery ;) Nana also made sure we had cookies to leave out for Santa that night.  Santa knew right where to deliver since we had giant santa hats by the tree and fireplace ;)

First thing that morning there was plenty of excitement with that bedhead guy that just couldn't help but sing into his giant lollipop.

merry cards

Merry, merry from these guys that cooperated for some photos for PopPop on a cold afternoon...

tree

Visiting the trees around at the National Harbor and Mosaic...  Check out that snow globe ornament Keaton made for us - cute business.

national harbor

The tradition of visiting the National Harbor to see the dancing fountain, decorations, and daddy's favorite Pepper Palace - was made even better by the addition of plenty of Pokemon Santa Pikachus to catch ;)