Day #4: It's a zoo here in AZ!

We took the kids to the Tucson zoo. The kids really enjoyed the animals and the freedom to roam! Favorites were the tiger, monkey and wart hog!! It was great weather and a great space for the kids!

 The kids LOVED feeding the giraffes the carrots! Look at their tongues!

 Snack time!

Grandpa Tim's toys!

Nana being the preschool teacher has wonderful books and plenty of toys! Grandpa Tim being the engineer has plenty of toys too! Other than the airplane he has two pretty cool cars! The first was a new car purchase several months ago. This is the bright red mustang!

 We discovered that Jayne Elizabeth not only loves motorcycles but fast cars too! yikes!

 Grandpa Tim built a car too! This car has three wheels and is called a trimagnum. Johnathan and Joseph smiled big during their ride! These boys thought they were big stuff! Especially as they were riding and Grandpa Tim would zooom by us standing on the curb! Lots of laughs! Maybe we will have an engineer in our three!

 We love this spunky girl!

Sabino canyon

Sabino canyon is a beautiful southwestern canyon that offers a tram ride through the natural desert oasis. It was amazing. Pictures can not capture the grand nature of the foothills of the Santa Catalina mountains. Words of the day: Santa Catalina, grand, pocket mouse, cholla cactus, mountain lion

 We love Grandpa Tim and Nana!

 A "desert animal" hole!

Day #3 Arizona

Today was an adventure!! We are becoming quite the experienced hiking family! We began the day hiking up "A" mountain.  "A" mountain is west of Tucson, and is known as Sentinel Peak. This is a popular look out point and is visible from the city with the LARGE red, white, and blue "A" formed of painted rocks on the side of the mountain. This is the proud symbol for the University of Arizona students! This hike was another big one for the kids, however Jayne Elizabeth and Grandpa Tim had an incident, but all were safe! :) Great times! Words of the day: elevation, Sahuaro cactus, coyote, pecan tree, chapstick :)

The proud trio

 The famous "A", which I would not settle for less than a picture with all three kids climbing it! Look closely, we are on the left side of the blue!

 Mommy, be careful!

 At the top in the gazebo

 The Sahuaro cactus!!

Day #2 Arizona

Today was a busy day, but I forgot the camera! Awful! We went into Tucson, and did some shopping! I enjoyed a Starbucks! We played outside, and went to the park. Personally, I rode a bike down to the park! It wasn't pretty, but it was fun! We played soccer underneath the pecan trees! Johnathan enjoyed gathering the pecans, and brought plenty home.  We went to a local mexcian restaurant for dinner and celebrated Nana's birthday! The kids had fun dancing and entertaining the patrons with the guitar playing hispanic band! 

Nana snuggling the baby!

Grandpa Tim, the pilot!

Grandpa Tim is a pilot and engineer!! He built his experimental Kolb airplane! Grandpa Tim stores it in a hangar close to his home in Arizona! The kids were fascinated with the hangar and airplane sounds!! Most interesting to the kids was the large electronic hangar door, the "stick" to steer (no steering wheel), and the sounds!

 Grandpa Tim and Nana

 The flight crew~!

 Look at Jayne Elizabeth's face while "driving" the stick on the plane!

 The stick to steer! Pilot and co-pilot!

Arizona Day #1: Desert

The weather is gorgeous!!! The morning run was fabulous, the bike and running trails are amazing! After the run, we took the kids on 2.5 mile desert hike! The hike is walking distance from the house. The twins did amazing, and walked the entire desert hike! Jayne Elizabeth needed a few shoulders to ride on!

The words of the day: desert, water shed, road runner, prickly pear, open range, cactus, Santa Rita

There isn't a better way to start the day than to make waffles with Nana!

 Brother and sister beginning their walk together! Precious!

 Grandpa Tim and Jayne Elizabeth on the hike!

 Santa Rita Mountains

 Half way there kids!! A well earned snack and drink!

 The prickly pear cactus, a favorite!

Joseph was a big helper, and  helped carry the backpack!