legoland ninjago

The lego Ninjago ride was interactive and a favorite with this crowd. The boys even got a picture with Jay ;)

legoland knights

The Lego Knights and the Castle roller coaster are highlights! The boys had what the ride operator called "the longest run in history" in the driving school ride. They were able to cruise around in those little cars for prob over 20 minutes without a break since there wasn't anyone else waiting in line.

legoland star wars

So many Star Wars lego creations and scenes!

legoland 2

The miniature lego factory was pretty neat to see. The boys were super excited by the giant Bionicles.

legoland 1

The epic Legoland California was high on the boys' wishlist of places to visit. So, so many lego creations everywhere!

san diego zoo 3

We covered nearly the entire zoo thanks to mapkeeper Aiden keeping us going. He surprisingly isn't a huge fan of aviaries or insect houses so I think there were a few of those that we skipped.We all loved the Africa Rocks exhibits and especially the shark tank.

san diego zoo 2

We loved the pandas and the koalas especially. The cheetah with the Labrador friend is unique to the San Diego zoo.

san diego zoo 1

So many fun photos from the San Diego Zoo... more coming soon. Otis the hippo was a big favorite standing on his tippy toes completely asleep.

del mar

The Del Mar area was a treat especially because we met up with our bonk buddies. So fun to find a playground along the beach.  Plenty of treats at the yummy ice cream shop with cookie monster ice cream.

road dinos

Near Yuma on our way to San Diego at a pit stop with giant metal dinosaurs ;)

childrens 1

The Children's Museum was open for After Hours and wasn't very crowded... so these boys really enjoyed wandering around. The favorite is the Bodyology area and the pretty high tech vet's office.

childrens 2

Showing P&G all around the fun museum and remembering the times we visited with baby Aiden and baby Keaton ;) - who brought these big kids?

kaleidoscope

Testing out all the lens options on my camera with the kaleidoscope at the Children's Museum... every time I see one of these giant telescopes I want one at my house ;)

good list

My first official miniature creation - It's a tiny box theatre set that was advertised to me online and I eventually purchased through Amazon. This little happy corner make me happy - even if the light switch broke :( We can rig it to get it to work and at least see the effect when the rooms are lit up (although it is really hard to get macro photos with the lights on).

miniatures

Back to my favorite spot for the kid's make and take day. This time they were making tiny cooking sets. My friend joked with me that I would volunteer/work at the museum if I lived in Tucson and that is for sure!

bisbee mine

I can still remember visiting this mine and Bisbee with J on our 1st wedding anniversary in 2005. That visit we stayed in an airstream at the Shady Dell ;) This time we made it a fun day trip with the grandparents. Bisbee claims to have the best year round climate on earth and they have plenty of rock shops to keep these guys and especially Gran happy ;)  Aiden was a little nervous going into the mine tour since they give you your own personal light since it's pretty dark and a tag to identify you in case of emergency - "What sorta safety measure is that mom?!" But I assured him it was safe, and he was nice and relaxed by the time the tour guide showed us the mine potty cart.

naturalist

We were all giggling as Aiden started asking to film his segments of the Naturalist - Thanks for the cameos G&P!
The Naturalist from Bren on Vimeo.

views

These views from the Catalinas are some of our favorites:

mt lemmon

Cruised up Mt Lemmon to visit Summerhaven, which still has the familiar (yet rebuilt after the fires in early 00s) Cookie Cabin and Rainbow gift shop.  The views from Inspiration Rock were neat and looking down at the ground with all the shiny minerals is another cool view.

biosphere 1

The Biosphere north of us here in Tucson is a really interesting place. It was full of experiments this time and felt like it had been rejuvenated.