Tucson

The past few days have been a BLAST!!! Originally Dan and I had planned to head out to Illinois for Spring Break, but as it got closer, we realized that we couldn't quite swing it financially. So we went on a 3 day trip to Tucson with the Maltbys. I have never vacationed in Tucson, the last time I was there was probably for a chess tournament back in grade school. We ended up doing a lot, and there's actually fun stuff to do down there.
Monday morning we left. I had gotten a grand total of about 3 hours of sleep because, as usual, I procrastinated packing and whatnot until the very last possible minute. We met up with the Maltbys, who had left the night before, at Sabino national park for a nice hike. The weather was beautiful, and the hike was a lot of fun. Well, it was a baby pseudo-hike. We only went about 2 miles round trip on a paved path but still, it was nice. We ended up leaving the paved trail to sit near a stream that ran about a hundred or so yards from the path, and the kids loved it. Nate and Elara both ended up muddy, though not too wet, and I did my best to get some fun pics. Meanwhile, Dan was smoothing a huge stick. It was allegedly a "walking stick" for Nate, but I'm not buying it. Especially since it was about a foot taller than Nate. The more likely explanation, in my opinion, is that Dan wanted to play with a stick, and his knife, and that was the easiest way to do both.
After that, we headed to the Titan Missile Museum. It's an actual bomb missile launch place that has been preserved as an historical museum. It's actually pretty cool, the only downside being the need to chase small children around. Basically I missed most of the tour, running after Nate. But what I saw was pretty neat. And I got some cute photos of Nate at the control panel of the missile launch pad.
The next day was just as much fun. We went to Reid Park Zoo (got in free with our Phoenix zoo membership) and got to see the cool animals. The tiger was marking his territory, so he walked up so close to where we were. Made for some great pictures :) And I loved seeing the polar bear. But then again, I'm kind of a sucker for zoos. While Kathleen, Elara, Nate and I were visiting the animals Dan and Ed were at the telescope store getting a new filter or something. Poor Dan said that it was really cool for the first hour or so, then he fell asleep in a chair! Ha ha, that made me fun. But he said that was still better than the zoo. We did meet up with the guys for a picnic lunch at Reid Park, then the guys headed back to the hotel again while we fed the ducks. They were so bold. One duck came right up to us and stayed there. Nate was going out of his mind. He kept pointing in every direction saying "duck". Well, that one really bold one came right up to him and tried to eat the goldfish cracker right out of his hand! Nate was doing alright until I freaked out (I mean, come on, a duck bit my baby!!!) then he started crying. But goldfish and time heal all wounds. And so we moved on to the children's museum. That was rocktastic. Nate and Elara had a really great time! I thought it was awesome. I have to say, the next time we find ourselves in Tucson I am definitely taking Nate back! Tuesday evening we went to a really yummy Mexican food restaurant. It was different from anything I've ever had. Kathleen said that it's gourmet Mexican food, and I believe it. Yum! But I don't know if we would necessarily make it back there. It was a really nice place. They don't get a lot of children, so there aren't any booster seats or high chairs. And, it's a little pricey. But it was really good! :)
Wednesday was our last day. So we checked out of the hotel and headed off to the Sonora desert museum. It was like one part zoo, one part botanical garden and one part museum. Kathleen got a membership, so I think that she and I will probably end up taking the kids there for a day trip.
All in all we had a really great trip. Tucson was lots of fun and there was more to do than I thought there would be at first.