Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

We had the opportunity to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum yesterday with the Kindergarten classes. David was able to get the day off, and we decided to bring Tristan along because we thought he'd enjoy it, and figured we might as well make it a family day. Its a place that I've wanted to go, but we've not found the time to go there. It is a zoo, natural history museum, and botanical garden all rolled into one. It has a 2 mile trail with beautiful scenery from every direction.

The famous Saguaro cactus

Riding a javelina

A Mexican Beaded Lizard

(I would've posted some of the snakes that I took, but then my mom wouldn't have been able to look at our blog ever again)

Enthralled with a lizard

Ocotillo (background) and cholla (foreground)


Caving

BATS!


Wolves

Prickly pear (background), I don't know what the one in the foreground is called, but it is quite interesting.

This is a view from the road as we were leaving.

I loved the snow capped mountain in the background

The kids had a really good time and enjoyed seeing the different desert plants and animals. It was a beautiful day to be outside - a perfect 72 degrees. (All of you northerners - don't hate us because of our good weather!)

Team Samuelson

When the kids were out in the garage the other day, Tristan said to Grace, "Gracie, pretend we have hockey sticks" and that's all it took to motivate David to go to Big 5 and get them each (and himself) a hockey stick.

He stopped by my office on his way home and told me that I wasn't going to be happy with him because he had bought the kids sticks (I'm big into NEEDS versus WANTS these days)... so, I made him take me to lunch (after all, I NEEDED to eat!). He picked Tristan up after our impromptu date, and took him home. David said he tried to put Tristan down for a nap when they got home, but it didn't happen... how could it when the kid rode home with three hockey sticks?!?! That must've been torture for that poor boy! Needless to say, when Grace and I got home we found the boys playing hockey. David said it was really neat to watch Tristan, because as soon as David handed him the stick, he started skating! He wasn't paying attention to what his feet were doing, so he started rolling instead of walking.

Can you tell that it didn't make the kids happy?

David got Grace this goal when she was playing soccer this summer... love things that are multi-purpose!

Don't you wish you could fold in half??

Just love this pic! There's a little slope right there, and he thought it was great. He went down it and said, "Whoa, that was fun!"

Time for a little street hockey/skating practice

Team Samuelson

I managed to keep David off of his roller blades for another day, but am afraid I'm going to have to hide them and/or lock them up. When he asked the doctor about putting them on the other day, the doc looked at me and said, "Hit him!"

Future Skaters

With all this ice skating we've been watching during the Olympics and our recent hockey experience, David decided that we needed to get the kids in roller blades. So, while we were in El Paso, we headed to Academy Sports (2 of them, in fact), and got the kids suited up.

I barely got the vehicle unloaded before David had them in their new equipment

It was raining and cold outside so we took up the rugs that are in the hallway, and let the kids have at it. David gave them instructions to just take little steps and practice going down the hall.

Tristan took a spill initially, landing right on his bottom
(I suggested we duct tape Charmin to their backsides)

But, he got up and tried again, and began to get the hang of it.

Grace was a pro the first time up, though she did take a mild spill a time or two.

Getting ready to be pushed down the hall.

They both decided that these new-fangled devices strapped to their feet were pretty cool (Which made for one happy daddy)!

The next day David took them out in the garage so they had a little more room to "skate".

They were racing from the door to the house to the garage door.

Grace even skated a few strides!

Their starting racing position.

David has decided that now is the perfect time to get them used to skating on blades - after all, we're moving to Korea in a few months, and they've put out some really good ice skaters recently, so why shouldn't our kids learn from some of the best in the business? His thinking: if they're comfortable on roller blades, why wouldn't they be comfortable on ice skates? Now he's planning on making a hockey player out of Tristan and then starting up a team in the Bahamas (because that's where Tristan came from, so he should be able to have dual citizenship, right?), and having Tristan be the captain. Gotta love the ideas that flow through my husband's brain! But I guess that's what happens when you're stuck at home for 6 weeks...

The kids think their new skates are great and have asked if they can put them on pretty much non-stop since we got them home. Tristan even woke up asking about them this morning. No "Good morning, Mommy", it was "Mommy can I go put my skates on and skate in the garage?" The boy barely even had his eyes open! Oh well, if they like it and have fun doing it, that's all that matters!

Rhinos Hockey

David had his final follow up appointment with his surgeon on Monday, so it was off to El Paso for one last hurrah! We left home Saturday afternoon and made it to El Paso in time to grab some fajitas from Taco Cabana and take in a hockey game that night.

The El Paso Rhinos mascot

Face off time

Enjoying the game

What I couldn't figure out is why David would have gotten them cotton candy when he knows I don't carry wipes with me anymore...

...Could he not foresee this happening???

No hockey game is complete without a good fight.

The El Paso team just out played the New Mexico team

We ended up winning 6-1

The kids had a great time, and I think they would have yelled "Let's go Rhinos" the whole game if we'd have let them! Not bad entertainment for a Saturday night - especially since it was free, and the kids each got their own hockey puck (and Grace's was pink - go figure!), and a Rhinos cup.

Oh yes - the news from David's doctor...

David returned to work yesterday after the doctor's okay, and he'll be working 4 hour days until April 1, when he can gradually increase his activity. The doctor is pleased with his recovery process, but reminded him that he still needs to take it easy - no physical activity, other than walking, and no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk for at least another 3 months.

When he returned to work yesterday he found out that his report date to Korea has been delayed until the middle of April. Hooray! That means it won't be an issue for the kids to finish up school here, and we won't have to rush out of here to make it to Korea before our 60 day window closes. Now we really have to get busy sorting our stuff into categories: what we can live without for 2-3 years, what we can live without forever, and what we absolutely cannot live without (and that better not exceed half of our stuff, because that's all we can take with us)... Wish us luck!

Old Tucson Studios

Since we were out of school Monday for President's Day, we decided to venture up to Old Tucson Studios - a place we tried to go when David was stationed here back in 1995, but it had met the fate of an arsonist, so it was closed the first time we tried to go. David is a huge fan of western movies so I was sure that he would enjoy it, and Tristan is always playing cowboy, so I figured he'd like it too. Many movies such as El Dorado, Geronimo, Rio Bravo, Young Guns II, and Tombstone were filmed here, along with some portions of episodes of Little House on the Prairie.

Grace and Tristan with their friends Kelsey and Tori

Guess where David ended up?


We walked into a gun fight as soon as we got to Main Street

We threw the kids in jail - they were bein' pretty naughty. The look on Grace's face is because she got her fingers caught in the gate...

Tristan, Grace, Tori, and Kelsey - before we went into the haunted mine...

Kelsey and Grace did pretty well. The guide was kind enough to warn us of everything before it happened, but that didn't make much of a difference to Tristan or Tori - they still weren't very pleased by the time we got to the exit!

We then redeemed ourselves with a train ride

These are some of the sights we saw while on the train.

Some mighty beautiful vistas with the mountains and clear blue skies!

Tristan and Tori eyeballing the carousel

Kelsey and Tori belong to this fine lady pictured here.

Tammy has become a very dear friend to me in these past 8 months, and I am going to miss her terribly when we move. I don't get to spend near enough time with her, so we thought this would be a fun outing to do together as our kids get along very well. Her husband is currently serving in Iraq, otherwise he would have been there with us - something I don't know if we could have handled... I imagine he and David could have gotten pretty rowdy together with all those cowboys and gunfights going on.

David taking the kids for a ride

I don't think there's much that beats a carousel.

In fact, they rode it a second time on our way out of the park.

Another show we saw - this one had us in tears we were laughing so hard

They even had a stagecoach that went around the studio

This is the train used in many of the movies filmed here, including "The Outlaw Josey Wales", so David thinks it is the coolest train ever (to use his words). One tidbit I found interesting was the fact that in those scenes that look as though the train was travelling cross country, it was only running on 220 feet of track!

Have I mentioned the beautiful views??

Boys will be boys...

Tristan found an old shovel head, and started to dig.

We had great fun that day, and great company too. It was nice to get out of the house (in short sleeves no less, while the rest of the country was buried in snow) and spend a day with friends and family.