For not having any plans before Spring Break started, it sure turned out to be a busy and eventful week! Colin had taken Monday through Wednesday off to be with us, but we had made no plans to do anything. On Saturday, we drove to Cloudcroft for a little while and had lunch at Big Daddy's Diner with Grammy and Grampa. Wind was strong and cold, though, so no pictures taken that day. Sunday, most of the day was spent giving out garage a good cleaning. It looks so much better now! Sunday evening, Colin and I started talking about possibilities of places to go as a family. Not a whole lot of options around here within a half day's drive that we haven't done several times before. We finally decided to go to Tucson. It had been a couple of years since our last visit and there is always plenty to do and see - especially with it being less than a 4 hour drive. So, we surprised the kids Monday morning with their bags packed and ready to go!
First stop, of course, was In-N-Out Burger for lunch that day. Yum!
We then went to the Tucson Mall and did a little looking around while waiting for check-in time. Our hotel was what they call a boutique hotel and it was beautiful! La Posada was the name and it was just down the road from the mall. Very pretty and well-cared for, with a lot of Spanish character. This was the view from our room:
I fell in love with the punched-tin headboards:
Of course, the kids were just dying to swim! The pool was very nice
We enjoyed our time down at the pool and in the hot tub!
If it was up to Cady, swimming is all we would ever do when we go on a trip:
But, we wanted to do other things and we especially were looking forward to some good food! So we got dressed for dinner and snapped a few pics:
We decided to take the kids to The Cheesecake Factory for their very first visit. Colin and I had eaten at one in Waikiki several years ago and one last summer in Phoenix. The food was good, but we splurged and got cheesecake and that was definitely the favorite!!
More pictures the next morning before heading out to check out BioSphere 2:
BioSphere2 is run by the University of Arizona now, but used to be privately funded and is an on-going ecological experiment where they study the environment - especially water. They also are testing sustainability on another planet. In the 90's, there was a team of 8 adults who were literally locked in for 2 years to see how self-sufficient they could be. We had heard good things about it so decided to make our trip a little educational. It was very interesting. Here are the main buildings, where there are 5 different biomes all under the dome - rainforest, desert, ocean, marsh and savannah.
Here is looking down on the ocean:
Learning about the rainforest:
A look at the intricate glass dome system:
The desert:
One of the kids' favorite parts was going in the very short and narrow tunnel to the "south lung" where the breathing for the biosphere is done:
We also could go down below and view the ocean and the real coral reef. Colton was exploring the "Touch Pool" full of seashells:
Cady checking out the microscope in the living quarters:
It was a very interesting and educational time!
That afternoon, after lunch, we went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens, a place I have always wanted to visit.
They have a Butterfly Pavilion with over 500 butterflies that I couldn't wait to check out!
As soon as we walked in, a butterfly landed on my back:
A little while later, Colin had one on his hand:
Besides butterflies, there were also a few different varieties of poisonous dart frogs. The fun part was trying to find them among all the plants and things. We found 3 or 4, but this blue one was the only one out enough to get pictures of:
This hibiscus was almost as big as Cady's head:
Here are some of my other pics from the Butterfly Pavilion:
The kids both had fun taking pictures. Here are some of Cady's best ones:
And Colton's:
It was a huge place with a lot to look at! One of my favorites was the cactus garden. So many different varieties:
I loved it and could have stayed much longer - especially in the butterfly pavilion - but after almost 2 hours, the rest of the family was ready to get going to the hotel for more swimming!
The next day, we were headed home, but not until a quick stop at the zoo. We've been before, but always enjoy that zoo.
Some of my animal pics:
Colton's:
The best part were the lion cubs. There were 4 cubs in with the mama and daddy and the daddy lion was grumpy and didn't want to play with his cubs who were climbing all over him until he snapped at them! You can see a picture of the grouch with 2 of the cubs in the lower left picture above.
Cady's (she got cute ones of the otter):
Here's the reason I didn't get many pics - the kids were taking turns with my camera!
We then stopped again at In-N-Out for lunch and headed home.
On Thursday, Colin unfortunately, had to go back to work, but I had promised my parents and the kids that we would spend some time together Thursday and Friday and come back home Saturday. It was a beautiful day when we arrived at their house on Thursday afternoon:
Friday morning we got up and drove to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We hadn't been there since Cady was 2 and in a backpack! The short hike up is always fun:
A good climb - especially when fighting a chest cold and cough like I was:
There were spiny lizards out sunning everywhere that the kids were trying to get pictures of. We were amazed at how close they'd let them get before moving:
Here's one I got with my phone camera:
Here's a couple of Cady's shots she got with my camera:
It was a very fun day with Papa and Gramma! Unfortunately, I was feeling worse instead of better, so we came home Friday evening instead of Saturday midday. The kids weren't too happy, and I felt bad, but I just felt lousy enough to want to be home. The rest of the weekend was spent around the house. Didn't want to get back into the swing of things this morning but we did! Just 8 more weeks until summer vacation - can't believe it!!!
