Saturday, March 21, 2015

A great time of the year to be in the desert...

I love this time of the year in Tucson because wildflowers start showing up and cacti start blooming.

3/9/15 I went to Ajo Highway near Sandario to see the poppies by the pipeline.  The poppies were not really open that early so I went on to the Desert Museum.  I went back later in the day to see the poppies on Ajo Highway and was surprised to see a huge jackrabbit.  The thing looked as big as a deer.  I did get a few pictures, but I did not have my telephoto lens with me at the time.

I took Nathan to the Children's Museum the next day.  He loves going there...until it starts to get crowded.  He is so good there.  He shares with the other kids and helps out those who are younger than him.

3/14-3/17 we went up to Phoenix.  On 3/14, we went to an Angels vs White Sox spring training game at the Angels stadium.  White Sox ended up winning.  The next day we went to the NASCAR race.  This time we had pit passes.  We got to go in the winner's circle and we signed the finished line.  I got close to the stage and took pictures of the drivers as they were introduced.  Blake Shelton walked by, but I only saw the back of him!  Kevin Harvick won again!  3/16 We went to the Reds vs Giants game.  The Reds won.  We split up on St Patty's Day.  I went to the Botanical Gardens and the zoo.  The Botanical Gardens were disappointing because not many cacti were blooming yet.  The boys went to the train park in Scottsdale and an auto museum.  Then they went to the Angels vs Rockies spring training game at Talking Stick.

I cooked the corned beef and cabbage the next day.  Nobody really cares for it, but me.  But once a year I want to eat my traditional St Patty's meal.

Today the boys went to the 4th Avenue Fair and I went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens.  The gardens were crowded since it is a Saturday, but I was excited to see the iris garden starting to bloom.  Some of the cacti were starting to bloom as well.  

Monday, March 2, 2015

Spring is here!

We went to the Sonoran Science Academy open house on 2/19/15.  I was rather disappointed.  The school does not look nearly as nice as a Casas.  The classrooms look cluttered.  I am hoping that Nathan will get a good education there, though.

Paul took Nathan to the NHRA races in Phoenix on 2/20.

Nathan went to Marley's birthday party on 2/21.  It was also at Heart & Soul and once again he was the only boy.  He had fun, though.

We went to Picacho Peak after church on 2/22.  Good rains brought out the poppies a little early. This is the first year we finally got the chance to see them there.  It was a cloudy day.

I went back to Picacho Peak on 2/25 to take more pictures of the poppies.  I went right after I took Nathan to school, but I had to wait for the poppies to open.  Then the sun was playing games with me that day because it was causing glare in my pictures.  I think it would have been better to wait until the afternoon to take pictures there.  After I picked Nathan up from school I took him to Arthur Pack Park.  While he played, I took pictures of the round tailed ground squirrels.  They did not seem as plentiful as last year, but there were several running around.

Nathan was supposed to be off school on 2/27 for Rodeo Days.  He really wanted to go to school that day so I paid extra to have him go.  I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens to photograph the butterflies and flowers.  Then I checked out the Japanese Gardens.  I was disappointed.  It was small and there were not many flowers.  They had koi, but no water lilies or lotuses.  They said those bloom in winter between Oct-Dec, but I think they said they do not plant water lilies, only 1 or 2 lotuses.  From there I went to Tohono Chul Park.  I was going to eat lunch there and check out the flowers.  As soon as I got there I got a call from Nathan's school.  They asked me to come pick him up early because he was misbehaving.  He threw sand on Peyton's head and threw pebbles at Aubrey.  When he was in thinking time, he threw pebbles at another child AND a teacher.  He has been in trouble for throwing sand and rocks before so he knows better.

We went to Monster Jam on 2/28.  We went mainly to see Scooby Doo.  There were a couple of other new ones there, too.  Nathan likes El Diablo and Zombie.  Zombie had an automated "mouth".  We bought the pit passes so we were able to meet the drivers and take pictures.  Unfortunately, a lot of my pictures got blurred again.  One of these days I will learn how to take pictures at that show!  We are considering going to the world finals in Vegas.  We can't go this year because it is the end of March and Lisa will be visiting us.  We may plan for next year.

Yesterday, 3/1, we decided to go to the Renaissance Festival at the last minute.  We had a fund time.  We rode the elephant and camel.  Nathan also got to ride the llama.  I did not realize until the ride home that most of my pictures came out really bright because I had my ISO turned up the day before at Monster Jam.  We did get to see some wildflowers during the drive, too.

Love is in the air

Nathan had his 5 year old pediatrician appointment on 1/13/15.  He was 44" tall and 41.5 lbs.

I took Nathan to the Children's Museum on 1/15 and then I took pictures of him at La Placita.  He was not that excited at first, but by the end he was having fun and posing for him.

Nathan and I went to the Desert Museum on 1/20.  Finally got to see the free flight show for the first time of the season.

I went to Reid Park Zoo and Tucson Botanical Gardens on 2/2.

Nathan went to his friend Eirene's birthday party on 2/7.  It was at heart and soul.  He was the only boy there, but he had fun.

The next day we went to Whitewater Draw to see the sandhill cranes.  They say about 30,000 sandhill cranes fly into the area every day during this time of year.  Afterward, we ate lunch in Tombstone.

Bella turned 7 on 2/11.

Nathan actually wanted me to take Valentine's pictures of him on 2/12.  Then he wanted to take pictures of me.  It was cute because he tried to stabilize his camera on a chair just like I was doing when I was taking pictures of him.

On Valentine's Day, we ate lunch at Grimaldi's.  They had awesome samoas cheesecake.  Then we went to the gem and mineral show.  Nathan opened a geode and got amethyst.  I was not finding much until the end.  Paul ended up buying me opal heart earrings and a matching necklace.  We went to dinner at Athens on 4th.

We went to Lodge on the Desert for dinner on 2/15 per my request.  We went to celebrate our anniversary early.  We went there last year for our anniversary, too.  I was hoping to get the roasted chicken this time, but they were out.  I was disappointed about that.  I also really wanted the creamy garlic soup that I had last time, but this time the soup of the day was cream of cauliflower.  It was alright, but not nearly as good as the creamy garlic.  My ribeye was good, but the meal was expensive and we were not that impressed this time.