tucson favorites III

We soaked in some rays in Tubac, AZ:

Last Thursday

Thursday – Day 7:
We started getting our suite hotel room packed back up and organized (it felt like we had three rooms to pack into two suitcases). We then cruised down to Sahaurita to say goodbye to Great Nana at her adorable place. We snuck in a quick visit to the Mining Museum just north of her to visit their garden full of trucks. There was a HUGE truck there that wowed Aiden at first, but then he was right back to kicking and digging in the dirt. He just found it way too hard to resist. We then headed back up to Tucson with J's folks for lunch at Oreganos. The pizzokie was waiting for us! Aiden got to play with a dough ball (with Nana and Grandpa's playful help) and he shared my huge meatball sub. We then decided to hit the zoo again, since it was such a treat earlier in the week and we knew Aiden would love showing Nana and Grandpa around. We had a chance to feed the giraffes their afternoon snack (lettuce instead of kibble bites). Then we took the Zoo Choo Choo around the park pond (where the conductor caught a little froggie friend which made Aiden giggle). We then said our goodbyes/see ya soons to Nana and Grandpa. We were invited to J's advisor/coauthor/colleague's newly renovated home to dinner. It was an amazing new design and we had a nice dinner off the grill (gotta love Arizonan's cooking whole meals on the grill).

AZ Day 7 from LB on Vimeo.

tucson favorites II

Here are a bunch of favorites from the Airzona-Sonora Desert Museum. It was so green and flower-y - dare I say lush in the desert?

Last Wednesday

Wednesday – Day 6:

Our most low key day yet started with a trip to Blue Willow for some deliciousness. We also cruised out east to see our old place and visit some neighborhoods. When J headed off to give his third and final talk, Aiden and I had a chance to go to lunch with an old friend (makes me miss AZ to see all of you!). We then cruised over to the Ben’s Bells project studio and I was amazed at how much it had expanded in the last couple years. Aiden helped glaze five flowers, three coats each! Then we wandered around campus where I let Aiden play in the rocks and run his little heart out. We also hit the UA Union Bookstore to read some desert children’s books. This poor kid was getting pretty worn out from such a strange sleep schedule, so it was nice to have a low key afternoon. We then cruised over to Chuy’s for some of our favorite chicken sandwiches and margaritas with another old friend (Thanks for the great tv talk and especially for the full spectrum of sizes in the Little Peanut gear!)

firsts

As I was going through our photos I realized that there were a lot of fun firsts for Aiden on our trip. Isn't that the best part of vacation - being able to try new things!?

First visit to a gigantic truck:

First favorite travel toy - a mini magnadoodle he called his "coloring pad" - hours spent on giant and mountain drawings:
First Ben's Bells glazing:



First time bowling:
Yep, those are knee high (women's sized actually) bowling socks:
First live artist carving:
First visit to a place with never ending shadow dancing:
First view of cactus and other Dr. Suessy desert plants:

First up close view of a live mountain lion's paw: First up close view of baby hummingbirds:
First rock "mining" for fools gold:

First rocky uphill hike:
First Nana's double chocolate cake:
First chance to get up close and touch some huge airplanes:

First chance to see a peacock dance:

First chance to feed a giraffe:

First churro - with chocolate:

First independent swimming with some serious floaties:

Last Tuesday

Tuesday - Day 5:
We had a trip to the smoothie bar for Aiden’s new favorite strawberry treat and a very tasty PB Squared for me. Then we hit the Tucson Children’s Museum, which is small but really packs a punch. I think we all thought the light drawing was the highlight. Then we dropped Dad off and Aiden I headed over to visit my old work. Aiden was showing off his snoring skills like a little mummy in his stroller for the first half of our visit. It was a nice chance to catch up. Aiden and I had originally planned to hit the baseball game, but we were going to be late and it was approaching 85 degrees and we are wimps…. so on a whim I pulled into the Lucky Strike Bowling and cruised in to find out if Aiden was old enough to bowl. Turns out they had his size bowling shoes (and awesome bowling knee socks) and a big ramp for him to push the ball down the bumpered alley. He loved it so much we bowled two full games! He almost broke 100 with a 98 on his very first game. We then went to our good old friend’s new place for some awesome grilled pizza and Aiden’s first Jenga game. (Thanks for the nice relaxed evening! Hope to see you in MA soon!)

tucson favorites I

More coming as I sift through the nearly 6GB of photos I took ;)

Last Monday

Monday - Day 4:
We started out with a trip to the Reid Park Zoo. The highlights were a chance to feed the giraffes and to see the peacock dance. After we dropped Daddy off for his talk, Aiden and I headed over to the Pima Air and Space Museum. Aiden had his wide eyes out and was so excited to spend nearly three hours running around the planes. He thought some were more “pokey” than others and loved trying to describe their propellers. We then headed over to El Charro for carne seca and Aiden’s first churro. We then had the chance to cruise over to the studio of the photographer I used to work for in Tucson and get a quick chance to catch up.

AZ Day 4 from LB on Vimeo.

easter morning

Aidenbunny hopped all over the house and finally found his basket in the "diamond room on the other side of the wall - tricky Easter Bunny!" He was very excited for his new monkey bunnies, cutting food, books, mini beach gear, and Aidenland puzzle (it's such a fun personalized puzzle!).