Spring in the Desert

On 3/26, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.

My Apricot Glow bloomed on 3/28 & 3/29!

On 4/1, I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery, Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.

On 4/3, I photographed the claret cups on Lambert Lane and then other cactus flowers by the Oro Valley Hospital.

Easter was on 4/4.  Nathan got an Easter basket from the Easter Bunny and did an Easter egg hunt.  

On 4/5, I went back over to Lambert Lane and Oro Valley Hospital, then to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Green Things Nursery, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park. 

I did a 3rd trip to Lambert Lane and Oro Valley Hospital on 4/6.

I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park on 4/8.

On 4/12, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.

I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery and Pima Prickly Park on 4/15.  I bought a pink hedgehog cactus at Bach's for $12.73.

I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens on 4/16.

I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 4/20.

On 4/22, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.

I went to Pima Prickly Park on 4/24.

My June Noon bloomed on 4/26 and I went to the Desert Museum.

On 4/27, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.

On 4/30, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.

On 5/1, we decided to go see the Salt River horses.  We found them pretty quick by Coon Bluff.  We ate lunch at Grimaldi's and then picked up Portillo's to take home.

Nathan lost his 15th tooth on 5/3/21 and got $15 from the tooth fairy!

I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park on 5/5.

My June Noon and Flying Saucer bloomed on 5/6.  Well, it was supposed to be a Flying Saucer, but I don't know if it really is because it doesn't like other Flying Saucers I have seen.  It's still beautiful, though.  I also went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park. 

On 5/7, my June Noon bloomed again as well as my Apricot Glow.  I went to the Desert Museum, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens that day, too.  I stopped by Bach's Cactus Nursery to buy a First Light torch cactus.

My Apricot Glow flowers were still open on 5/8 and my First Light torch cactus bloomed that I bought the day before.   

We had a nice Mother's Day on 5/9.  The day before, Paul let me stop at Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens to take pictures of the cactus flowers.  Then we headed up to Mt. Lemmon.  We ate at the Iron Door Restaurant and then met my friend Greg Lyons from church with his Arizona Adventures Camp group up there.  Nathan zip lined, participated in a shaving cream fight, played games and started the fire for the s'mores.  On Mother's Day, Paul cooked out for me and gave me flowers and a card.  

Spring is here?

Nathan went to see Wonder Woman 1984 with me on 1/15.  It was a strange movie, but it is Wonder Woman and she is awesome! 

I went to the Reid Park Zoo and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 1/19.

I went to photograph the snow at Sabino Canyon on 1/26.  I then went to Saguaro National Park East to photograph the snow, but it had pretty much already melted there by the time I got there.  

1/28 Nathan got strep throat so he had to miss a day of school to go to the doctor.  He got an antibiotic and permission to return to school the next day.  We were thankful it was not COVID-19.  

I went to the Desert Museum on 2/4.

I went to Reid Park Zoo and Tucson Botanical Gardens on 2/11.  Bella also turned 13 on 2/11!  

Paul and I celebrated our 18th anniversary on 2/17.  He got me 2 dozen red roses for Valentine's Day and our anniversary.  Nathan made me a great hand written Valentine's Day card.  

Nathan got in school suspension 2/23 & 24.  Some boys had been bullying him and his friends at recess.  They would join the games they were playing, but they would cheat and call them names.  Nathan and his friends kept telling the teachers and staff, but they didn't do anything about it.  Nathan finally had enough and punched two of the boys.  One was named Nathan and had just transferred to the school a few weeks ago.  Nathan had to sit in the principal's office during his suspension.  We had a meeting with the principal to explain what led to this incident.  He seemed to understand and said that the staff would be more attentive at recess.    

The Tucson Rodeo was canceled this year due to COVID-19.  We never go anyway.  Nathan still had those days off of school, though.  So we went to Out of Africa on 2/25.  Paul and Nathan fed a tiger there and we all got to meet Bart, the sloth (I LOVE sloths!).  We went to see the Tom & Jerry movie on 2/26.  Then we went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on 2/27.   It was a last minute decision to go there so we could cross it off our bucket list. It would have been nice if there were more wildflowers there, but we didn't get enough rain this year. It took about 2.5 hours to get there. Then once we entered the park it was about 10 miles to the visitor center, if I remember correctly. At the visitor center they gave us the map that showed all of the scenic drives within the monument. It is big! There are 5 different routes listed as easy for passenger cars. There are 2 routes listed as medium for high clearance vehicles and one route listed as hard for high clearance 4wd. We took one of the "easy" routes since we just have a Ford Fusion. We decided on the Ajo Mountain Loop (right across the street from the visitor center) which is 21 miles long and has a dense concentration of saguaros and organ pipe cactus. The road was mostly rocky with just a few short paved sections. I thought it was pretty with the surrounding mountains which had colorful layers of rock. There were lots of saguaros, cholla, prickly pear, ocotillo (Paul's favorite) and of course organ pipe cactus. We stopped to hike a little bit of the Arch Canyon trail which is aptly named because there is an arch. I mistakenly did not bring my wide angle lens with me and only had my telephoto lens. So I took some shots with it and some shots with my phone.

I photographed a few wildflowers along Tangerine Rd in Oro Valley on 3/3. There wasn't much, but there were a few here and there.

The Texas Mountain Laurel flowers started to bloom over by Fry's on 3/6! They smell like grape candy!

My 2014 Ford Fusion went over 100k miles on 3/7!

Nathan made honor roll for the 3rd quarter of 5th grade.  He got a 94.6 average.  He got a 96 in English Languages, 91 in History/Geography, M for Latin, 96 in Math, M for Art, M for Music, M for PE, 95 for Reading and 95 in Science.  

For Spring Break, we decided to go to Glacier National Park and the Grand Tetons.  We also wanted to go up to Canada to Banff and Jasper, but Canada was requiring a 2 week quarantine period.  When we started making our plans we also did not realize that it was still "winter" up there.  Most of the areas of the parks would be closed because they hadn't plowed the roads yet.  The advantage was that there was less people.  So on 3/12 we flew out to Spokane, WA and spent the night there.  The next day we drove to Glacier National Park.  We ate pizza pie for Pi Day and had huckleberry pie (with huckleberry ice cream).  We drove around Lake McDonald that day.  The next day we drove to the east side of the park to explore as much as we could until the road was closed off.  3/16 we drove 9+ hours from Glacier National Park to the Grand Tetons.  I broke my 43 day streak of getting 10k steps :(  I did not get to eat corned beef and cabbage on St Patty's Day, but I did make my own in the crockpot the week we left before our vacation.  That day we explored part of the Grand Tetons.  3/18 we did a 4 hour tour too see more of the Grand Tetons.  We saw moose, elk, coyotes, bighorn sheep, eagles, etc...  We also took a "sleigh ride" to see the elk up close at the National Elk Refuge.  It was a horse drawn wagon ride that was VERY bumpy.  Our last day in the Grand Tetons we drove to Mormon Row.  They had the road leading it to it closed, so I had to walk about 2 miles to get to Mormon Row and the 2 miles to get back to the car.  It was worth it.  We saw a big group of deer that morning.  Then in the afternoon we did a scenic chair lift ride at Snow Mountain.  We were going to go snow tubing there, but Nathan chickened out.  3/20 we drove from the Grand Tetons to Butte, MT.  That was a 4+ hour drive and we had to go through the mountains in the snow.  It was scary, especially when we saw the car directly in front of us almost slide off the road.  The last day we drove from Butte to Spokane, WA.  That was another 4+ hour drive and again it was snowing.  We finally made it to the airport, but we weren't sure if our flights would be delayed/canceled since we had a connecting flight in Denver and Denver was going to get a snow storm.  The first part of our flight went as scheduled.  Our flight out of Denver was delayed because our flight crew was coming from Midway and they were delayed.  We finally boarded the plane and then they had to de-ice it...while it was snowing pretty good.  We left about an hour late.  We hit some turbulence or something and I wasn't sure the plane was going to recover.  That was probably my scariest moment flying.  The rest of the flight was smooth, but we didn't get to Tucson until 11 pm and then didn't get home until midnight.  Paul had to work the next day and Nathan had to go back to school!  I don't think we will plan a trip that tight again in the future!   

2020 is over!

We went to the Wildlife World Zoo on 11/27, the day after Thanksgiving.  

I went to Sabino Canyon on 12/8.  I saw a coati!

Nathan turned 11 on 12/15!  Nathan decided to make his own cake this year.  We bought a cake from the Safeway bakery with plain white icing and he decorated the top to look like a castle. 

Nathan's birthday ?s: 

1) Favorite Color – Cyan
2) Favorite Toy – Nintendo Switch
3) Favorite Show/Movie – Karate Kid
4) Favorite thing to eat for lunch - Pizza 
5) Favorite thing to wear - Clothes
6) Favorite Game - Minecraft
7) Favorite Snack – Fruit Rollups
8) Favorite Animal – Dog
9) Favorite Song – Maxy Party (a song he made up about his stuffed animal dog Max)
10) Favorite Book - Bible 
11) Best Friend – Max (his stuffed animal dog)
12) Favorite Cereal – Lucky Charms

13) Favorite thing to do outside/place to go – Dave & Busters

14) Favorite Drink – Mango Lemonade
15) Favorite Holiday - Christmas
16) What do you like to take to bed with you at night - Tons of stuffed animals
17) Favorite thing to eat for breakfast – Pancakes
18) What do you want for dinner on your birthday – Grimaldi’s
19) What do you want to be when you grow up – Computer Programmer
20) Favorite thing to do at school - Lunch
21) Food you don't like – Bugs and Sushi

22) What is something you are good at – Video Games
23) Favorite Food - Pizza
24) Favorite Vegetables – Greek Potatoes
25) Favorite Dog – All dogs (Pug, St Benard, Bulldog, Husky)
26) Favorite Reptile – Komodo Dragon and Yellow Bellied Sea Snake
27) Favorite Bird – Puffin, Turkey, Turkey Vulture
28) Favorite Pizza Topping – Pepperoni, Green Peppers and Oregano

29) Favorite Car – Yellow McLaren P1 

I went to Reid Park Zoo on 12/17.

Christmas was low key at home with just the three of us.  I never even got ornaments on the tree.  We didn't put up the main tree downstairs because Paul's desk and Nathan's desk are now in our living room.  We put up "Nathan's tree" in the loft/Dawn's office.  Santa still found it!  Nathan got a lot of art supplies, some Lego sets, Game Stop gift cards, an air hockey set, etc...  

Nathan ended the 2nd quarter on high honor roll!  He had a 95.6 GPA.  He got a 94 in English Languages, 92 in History/Geography, M for Latin, 99 in Math, M for Art, E for Music, M for PE, 97 for Reading and 96 in Science.  

I went back to Sabino Canyon on 12/27.  Still hardly any water, but some nice yellow trees.  

Nathan had his 11 year pediatrician appointment.  His previous pediatrician had to retire early due to health issues.  So he had a new pediatrician this time.  He weighs 82 pounds and is in the 55th weight percentile.  He is 56.3 in tall and is in the 49th height percentile.  

New Years Eve was spent at home with just the 3 of us, too.  We also celebrated my birthday with a Wonder Woman cake!  We were all in bed by midnight!

I turned 46 on January 2.  We went to the Phoenix Zoo, Grimaldi's for lunch and then picked up food to bring home from Portillo's.  

Nathan started back at school today.  This first week of the 3rd quarter is being done remotely.  They are supposed to go back to campus next week.  

The holidays look different this year

Nathan ended up being a Gladiator for Halloween. We weren't sure if we would get any trick or treaters or if neighbors would be handing out candy due to COVID-19 restrictions.  We had a decent turnout, though, and Nathan did a little bit of trick or treating.  They didn't do the costume parade at his school, but he did have a class party.  

I went to Reid Park Zoo on 11/2. My June Noon bloomed again on 11/7.  I think it was confused with the record heat we got this summer.  I went to the Desert Museum on 11/12.  Nathan lost 2 more teeth on 11/13 so he got $13 and $14, respectively, for his 13th and 14th tooth.   I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Green Things Nursery and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 11/20.

Nathan has the whole week off for Thanksgiving.  We don't really have plans for Thanksgiving this year.  Paul is working and is supposed to be off on Thursday and Friday.  We plan to just have a small meal at home.  However, I have a "cold" and have lost my sense of taste.  I am really hoping it comes back by Thursday so I can enjoy some turkey and good food.  Maybe we will get our Christmas tree up later this week, too.  We decided not to put up our big one in the living room since Paul and Nathan have their desks in there now.  Paul has been working from home and Nathan started off the school year doing remote learning so we set up that area as their office.  I think we are only going to put up "Nathan's tree" in the loft/my office.  It is really hard getting in the Christmas spirit.  It's been a tough year with COVID-19 restrictions.  It looks like cases are spiking again which they anticipated so it won't be a big surprise if they start closing things down again.  I have also been struggling with peri-menopause this year.  Now I am sick with a cold or whatever this may be.  We have had miserable record heat and even today, 11/22, it is like 90 out there.  I am hoping that 2021 is a better year.    

Almost Halloween

 Nathan lost his 11th tooth on 8/27

I went to the Desert Museum, Reid Park and Pima Prickly Park on 9/12.

I went to Reid Park Zoo on 9/14.

I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 9/29.

We went to Apple Annie's on 10/3/ to pick our pumpkins.  

On 10/10, we went up to look for Fall colors on Mt Lemmon.  We found some in Bear Wallow!  We were surprised by how much color there was there, especially after the bad recent fire.  We ate the Iron Door Restaurant.  

For Nathan's Fall Break, we decided to take a short trip to Sedona/Flagstaff to try to find some more Fall color.  On 10/15, we went to Sedona.  We ate lunch at Picazzo's (my favorite...they have the best chicken piccata).  We went to Red Rock Crossing.  There was some nice Fall color there, but also a lot of people.  Sedona is becoming very crowded.  We drove through Oak Creek Canyon on our way to our hotel in Flagstaff to stay the night.  The next day we spent the day at Bearizona.  The following day we went to Lockett Meadow.  We drove our car (Ford Fusion 2018).  The road was pretty bad and a lot of people were parking on the side about a mile and a half away from the trailhead.  So we did, too.  We walked to the trailhead and started walking the trail.  Nathan didn't get very far before he complained he was tired and couldn't go any further.  So he and dad stayed there while I continued on.  There wasn't as much color as we were hoping for and many of the leaves had blown off.  However, I hiked all the way to the top of the trail and there was more yellow to see of the Aspen trees.  After hiking all the way back down and back to the car, I figured I did about 8 miles of hiking that day (I forgot my Fitbit at the hotel).  Our last day we made a last minute decision to head to Meteor Crater, Winslow and to Petrified Forest National Park.    

Nathan made high honor roll for the 1st quarter!  The odd thing is that he said 70% of the class got high honor roll, another 20% got honor roll while only 10% did not make honor roll.  It wasn't like that when I was going to school.  Only the elite got honor roll.  We hope that he is getting a good education.  He performed well on the standardized tests last year so we will see how he does this year.  

Nathan lost his 12th tooth on 10/24.  He got $12 from the tooth fairy.

It's still hot!

 This has been such a hot summer with very little monsoon action.  We are still breaking heat records into September.

I had another June Noon bloom on 7/30.

On 8/1, I went over by Saguaro National Park to look for mammillaria in full bloom.  I found one.  I also saw some javelina with a baby.  Unfortunately, my check engine light came on.  I was without a car for a few days while the dealership looked at my car.  It ended up needing a new sensor.  

Nathan started 5th grade on 8/5.  He was supposed to start in school learning, but the school changed their minds and said that only those scholars who had parents that were essential workers or who didn't have access to a computer/internet at home could be on campus.  Even those on campus would be doing distance learning with monitors at the school.  Nathan did distance learning for about a week and a half before the school decided to allow kids back on school....with masks.  Distance learning was not going well for Nathan.  He could not focus on school while being at home and he wasn't getting that interaction he needed with his peers, teacher, etc...  Nathan started in school learning on 8/17.  He was actually excited to be back at school!  His teacher is Mrs. O'Connor.  This year he says he actually likes all of the kids in his class and his teachers!

8/12 was the last night of VBS.  It was water night so Nathan had fun getting wet and getting others wet!

I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 8/17. 

Nathan lost his 10th tooth on 8/20.  The tooth fairy gave him $10.

I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 8/21.  

The zoo finally opened back up so I went on 8/27.  I loved watching the baby elephant, Penzi!  Nathan lost his 11th tooth on 8/27, too.  The tooth fairy gave him $11.  

On 8/28, I had another June Noon bloom.

Summer 2020

The Desert Museum opened back up on 6/15 so I was there.  Being so hot I didn't stay long. 

Nathan received his Masters Club awards at church on 6/21.  He got the Testimony Badge, Patriotism Badge, First Aid Badge, Do Unto Others Badge, God's Creation Badge, Bible Study 1 Badge, Bible Series 1 Badge, Discovery Bronze Badge, Uniform Inspection and Sunday School Faithfulness Badge.  That day was also Father's Day.  We didn't get to celebrate it much because we decided to go to Chicago the next day.

We decided to go visit our family and friends in Chicago 6/22-6/30.  6/24 we went with my friend Debbie Madl and her kids to Summerfield Farm & Zoo.  The next day we dropped Nathan off at Aunt Lisa's for a sleepover so Paul and I actually had some time alone.  We picked up Ledo's pizza for lunch and ended up by Lake Katherine in Palos Heights.  I took a lot of pictures there because there were baby geese, baby swans, a waterfall, waterlilies, flowers, etc...    

On 4th of July, there were no fireworks due to fire danger and COVID-19 gathering restrictions.  Paul cooked out, we swam in our pool and we made smores.

Tucson Botanical Gardens opened back up so I went there on 7/9.  

My June Noon and Apricot Glow cacti decided to bloom on 7/12.

Another Apricot Glow flower opened on 7/13.  I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens that day, too.  I thought they were closed due to COVID-19, but someone told me that they were open.  

I went back to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 7/16 and 7/17.

I went over to Saguaro National Park on 7/21 to take sunset pictures.  

Nathan went with me to church on 7/22 for VBS.  I have been helping with the snacks this year. 

We celebrated a late Father's Day at Vivace's on 7/24.  Later that night I went over by Picture Rocks Rd and Contzen Pass to take sunset pictures.

We decided to go peach picking and tomato picking at Apple Annie's on 7/25.  Paul and Nathan had peach pancakes and we all had some roasted corn.  Later that night lost his 9th tooth!  It had been 3 years since he lost a tooth.  The tooth fairy gave him $10 and a certificate.