good list

So much good stuff when you get to know a new environment... It feels settled and like we are on vacation and I'm not sure that will fade before it's time to go home.

There's something about a new fresh set of art supplies, but especially a set of pens and art pencils. 

Making kazoos to talk about how sound works ;)

Modeling clay is an upgrade from play dough.

This birdie pin was limited edition from Australia and I couldn't resist...

These boys made these watercolor cactus scenes after we talked about texture and shadows as an art lesson - Love them!

Playing around at the mall and even those daddy long legs still fit in the helicopter ;)

That marionette horse from the circus is so much fun.

The Charley Harper Desert print hanging in this house inspired me to buy these Land of Nod porcupine cactus pillows to jazz up the couches!

Soy sauce smiley faces in every rice bowl ;) 

tidbits

The boys were excited to keep up with their swimming fun from all the hotel pools, but sadly our pool here is freezing! It must be cold because these guys are pretty comfortable in cold May pools in Virginia. So, our swim suits will be waiting for a while...

Cooking and measuring to to make pudding pops!

The best part of this homeschooling business is seeing these guys get along so well. Seriously, the best brother bonding time in Arizona!

Working outside on the patio and eating dinner el fresco!  Woot!

Reuniting with our favorite pizzookie at Oreganos and finding a new favorite ice cream at Screamery...

Visiting dad for lunch on campus with a farmer's market and a hopping campus as classes resume...

dragon breath

This crazy snack at the mall was a fruity giant cereal corn ball frozen by liquid nitrogen called Dragon Breath Nitro. The guy who sold it turned it into a science experiment for the boys explaining how he was cooling the cereal buy pouring the liquid nitrogen over it.  As he poured there were even little droplets dancing from the smoke. It was such a funny thing to see smoke that really did make you look like a dragon!

circus

Thanks to friends in Tucson, we learned that the circus was in town the first weekend we were here.  So we headed to this fun family circus with our ring side seats. Continuing the tradition, J was picked out by the clowns to play along... he even held one of them in his arms - hah!

road trip in 60 secs

Here's a highlight reel of the road trip in 60 seconds - and woah, did it fly by! Already plotting our next trips ;)

Road Trip in 60 seconds from Bren on Vimeo.

gila cliff dwellings

The drive up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings is not for the faint of heart.  We were determined and that 40 miles of ascending and descending switchbacks took almost two hours through a changing landscape and even some snowy evergreens. The easy one mile roundtrip trail up to the cliff was easy in comparison.

pictographs

There were seven dwelling spots to view and climb past.  The best part of this park is how they let you in the caves and tunnel areas to see everything up close. The boys spotted the pictographs on the side of the canyon pretty quickly (we learned that they have pigment painting all over this area but not many carvings despite the soft rock).  The light, wind, and views from the caves gave you a really good idea of what it would be like to live there.

white sands

Checked into our hotel in Las Cruces and then took off across the missile fields on our way to White Sands National Monument. Stopped at the visitor's center to pick up some pins and another stamp in our National Park Passport and surprisingly, sleds and wax. The ranger said to just head to the end of the drive where the asphalt turns to packed down sand.  We parked and trekked across the beautiful dunes to find a perfect hill with just enough incline and range. There were a few unnerving and spooky rocket noises that made it even more surreal. The boys traded off the go pro on a headband as they swooped down the dunes on their well waxed sleds.  There were so many ridges that we almost got lost trying to head back to our car ;)

big bend

We finally converted Aiden's paper pass into a real National Park badge (4th graders and their families get in free for a year).  The ranger wanted to talk to Aiden directly about his visit and tell him about what he might enjoy in the park that day. 

rio grande

The Santa Elena area near the Rio Grande was marked as a "must see" and our tour guide app Just Ahead mentioned it as well.  We loved having this app which acted like a tour guide since it was connected to our map system and would point out features and areas to stop as we drove. 

We caught a road runner running across the street, which was a big highlight the boys mention when people ask about the trip.  They were pumped up after hiking up the switchbacks to get to the top of the canyon on the US side. Half way across the river is considered Mexico.  J threw a rock across to Mexico, and how many opportunities do you have to say you are that close to the border. The walls of the canyon have shell fossils all over.

fossils

The newest exhibit at Big Bend includes a really great historic timeline illustrated with fossils found in the area over time. We also earned a special patch for identifying all the plants in the garden outside the visitor center.

terlingua

Stopped in Terlingua on our way to the Big Bend entrance (we stayed north in Alpine to make it easier), and the ghost town has plenty of fun stuff. The boys were more pumped by the gift shop full of crazy stuff, and came home with scorpion stuffies, a turtle flat flute, and a whistle made of real antler. J played some guitar on the porch as the wind kicked up the dust.

alamo

Remember the Alamo! We stopped in for a morning visit.  We learned more about medical treatments in that time than we probably wanted to and tons of information on how cannons work. They had live music setup and Aiden was excited to add this flute to his wind instrument collection (it's expanding!)

peli and sonora

On our way from Houston to San Antonio, we stopped at a new fast version of a restaurant we saw on the Food Network years ago and I've been following for a long time on social media. They are a blend of South African, Indian, Dutch, and French cooking, so all good stuff! It was even more delicious than expected... I loved the truffle fries, and short ribs and the boys loved their chicken encrusted with a sweet crunch.  The manager was so friendly and even gave us a cookbook and t-shirts ;)

We also found this tiny town called Sonora that hosts this fun museum full of curiosities.

houston space 2

So many interactive exhibits and huge parts from real rockets and the shuttle...

houston space 1

A highlight of the trip, given the number of photos I took there, was the Space Center Houston, where all the exhibits were well done and the tram tour gave you a really good behind the scenes view of the real operations at the center.  They showed you the vintage mission control area which is where the actual Apollo missions communicated. Keaton actually sat in the seat where the Queen of England sat in the viewing area.  Seeing the real robots and capsules on the work floor was really neat.  

The boys absolute highlight was the the robot that made ice cream sundaes for them ;) - see the top right photo below:

bye louisiana

We cruised out of Lousiana on our way to Houston, with a quick stop to see some alligators and the wetlands.  Check out that Mardi Gras tree ;)

aquarium part 2

You are greeted with a tunnel full of fish and sting rays when you first walk in to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. They were all getting their breakfast and it was so fun to watch!  Then we got to see the penguins get their breakfast which might have been a favorite.  We saw them train the sea otters (they are huge!) and also feed the sharks and turtles.

aquarium part 1

The aquarium was such a treat with so many different areas to explore, we spent nearly all day there. You also get tickets to a 3D Imax show and we saw Titans of the Ice Age.  The aviary was full of birds flying around on a windy day, and they were trying to escape! One even went completely into J's pocket! Between the wind and the frantic birds landing on me and pecking at me, I was not keeping my cool boy mom persona in tact - I was not "playing it cool" with so many swooping birds. ;)  Keaton was so excited to pick out a cute otter stuffie guy, he named Oscar, at the gift shop.

more new orleans

We met up with J's friend at a great seafood restaurant he recommended.  Turtle soup, whole fish and fish cooked in a bag, all delicious... We happened to be there on the evening of the 300th Tricentennial celebration and were treated to a surprise fireworks show from our hotel window over the Mississippi.  Cafe Du Monde beignets and hot cocoa were such a treat! We took a trolley up to Bourbon street and veered off the main drag fairly quickly as it got dark...