AZ Trip Day 5 Part 2

Casa Grande National Monument

On the drive from Tucson, Arizona, up to Phoenix, Arizona, we saw one of those brown signs along the side of a highway denoting a National point of interest. We were ready for a break anyway. So before long, we were pulling into the parking lot of Casa Grande National Monument. These are ruins that were once a living community built in the 1300's by the Desert Natives. One of the three story buildings still stands today and is the National Monument we stopped at. You can walk all around the ruins and see how they lived. I enjoyed walking all around looking at it all!
I felt like such a big girl walking around by myself in my new dress. Another guy walking around saw us walking around and said he would take a family photo for us!
Dad and I crawled into one of the little houses - the little doorways were just my size!!

AZ Trip Day 5 Part 1

Leaving Tucson

On our 5th day of our vacation, it was time to leave Tucson and thus leave Grammy and Gramps. Grammy said they would be back to my state in the next month or so... But I was sure sad to leave them....and Peanut!!!
But I was ready for the next part of our trip..... Phoenix and the ROYALS's spring training!!!

AZ Trip Day 4 Part 2

More Chiricahua

Here are some more photos from our day at Chiricahua. Dad, Mom and Gramps went down on a hike while I stayed with Grammy at the top of the mountain in the warmth of the truck... We kept looking down over the rock formations, I couldn't believe my parents were down there hiking! The tall spires of rock looked like they could fall over at any moment! The one behind Gramps in the below photo looks like it did fall over at one point!
Finally, they came back from the hike! With Grammy watching close, I ran across the parking lot to Mom's open arms!!
Then we all drove down the road to an observation area over the valley. It was just about a 500 foot hike, so Grammy and I went on this one too. Mom set the timer on the camera and we all had our photo taken together!
Then we just had a immediate family photo taken.

I was so happy to be spending time with my Grammy and Gramps! Especially in this beautiful location!!!
I really liked hiking!! I wish I had gone on a longer hike!!
Dad even took me cross country into some of the rock formations!! You can't see it here, but we are standing between two rocks that were at least 50 feet tall!!

Mom realized the last photo didn't show much of the rocks, so she hiked up above us and took one down at us. Now you can see the big rocks towering over us!
Dad wasn't ready to leave the trails, so I hiked a little bit holding onto Gramps hand. He was scared of me walking off the trail into the cactus or off the side of a rock edge!
Chiricahua was so incredibly beautiful! Everyone said we'd like to come back here and spend some more time!

AZ Trip Day 4 Part 1

Chiricahua

On the fourth day of our trip to Arizona, we bundled up in warmer clothes because we were driving to higher elevation to Chiricahua (Cheer-ih-cowa) to view the beautiful and unusal rock formations and hike around them! On the way we had a picnic lunch. It was my first ever picnic lunch at a picnic table!!! Look at me, I'm such a big girl now!Here is a wonderful photograph of the strange rock formations! I listened to how they were made, but I have forgotten. Something about Lava and how it cracks over millions of years...
At the top of the mountain there is a several mile long trail to hike around the beautiful rocks. Grammy and I stayed back at the truck while my parents and Gramps went bounding off into the rocks, quickly disappearing. Check out those rocks behind Mom and Dad!
Some of these rocks are at odd angles and seem to be balancing on next to nothing. Gramps is holding on to keep this one from falling over!
Then when he got tired, Dad took over. But he said he was holding it like Atlas.
At one point, several of the formations had fallen over into each other, creating a near cave. Dad hiked up into it!

My baby BROTHER!!!!

Well, you all already know that soon I'll have a baby sibling. But today was the big day for the sonogram. Mom was already at work, so Dad and I drove there to meet her. Mom was dancing the jitterbug, I asked her why she was dancing - if she was nervous. But she said something about having to pee like a racehorse. I guess you can't "go" before a sonogram.

We walked into a dark room with a big screen on the wall. Mom layed down on a bed, and I wanted to cuddle with her, but they wouldn't let me. Then the movie started. But I got bored pretty quick, it was in Black and White. And it was one of those silent films.

Then the tech typed something on the screen which made the entire thing worth while...

IT'S A BOY!!!!

And if you check my brother's blog (link on the side - the one called Red, Red and More Red) there are several more sonogram photos!

AZ Trip Day 3

Dad's Hike

On our third day of vacation in Arizona, Dad and Gramps went hiking in the wilderness just past the RV Park. Dad wanted to see the big Saguaro with 58 "nubbins!" As an "arm" starts to grow off the big cacti, it's called a "nubbin" until it gets big enough to be called an Arm. There is this one Saguaro that has a record 58 nubbins on it! Check it out! And then Dad saw this big Saguaro that he thought Mom would get a kick out of (she likes the ones with the strange arms).
While the men were off hiking, us women folk did what women did - went shopping!! Grammy wanted to get me some fun clothes for this summer! We went to one of the big malls and I got a tad big spoiled... But all my new dresses are so cute!!!

That night for dinner all of us were joined by Dixie and Ed and went to a local joint for dinner. You would think being so close to Mexico we'd have Mexican food. But nope! We went to a hole in the wall Pizza Place! I thought Gramps was kidding at first when he pulled up to this place. It was out in the middle of the desert and it looked like a cruddy old rundown building with bars on the windows. But let me tell you, it was the best pizza I'd ever had!!

AZ Trip Day 2 Part 3

More Desert Musuem

Here are some more photos from our experience walking around the Desert Musuem on our second day in Arizona! Mom liked this photo - I wonder if he is Alvin, Simon or Theodore? I still can't get over how the Saguaro grow everywhere here!! Look at this landscape! Back home, we have trees that grow up all over, but in Arizona they have these giant cactus that dot the hillside!
And when you zoom in, you might even see a coyote!! I wonder if he's planning his next Acme adventure to try to catch the Road Runner???
And when you zoom out, you see Gramps over on the right side taking a photo of the same coyote!!! Hahaha!

In the afternoon, some of the staff put on a show with the falcons. They let them fly around and the giants birds will land right on the cactus! Grammy and I stayed at the back of the viewing area and Grammy snuck me some raisins Mom hid in her purse...
Now, this next picture is a treat! You might need to click on it to make it bigger to fully appreciate it... We were inside the Hummingbird House you see, and Grammy told me if I held up my hand that the hummingbirds would fly right up to it!! Well, this photo proves it!! A hummingbird is about six inches from my hand!! I was oblivious to it, but look at Dad's face - he's watching it!! The pint sized bird is in mid-flight, so you can only really see his head and beak - his wings were moving faster than Mom's shutter speed. But if you make this photo bigger, you can see him!
I really enjoyed watching the big horn sheep, too! Grammy stood me near their exhibit for a long time and we loved watched the big male running around!

That day was also my first day to ever get a sunburn. Mom slathered the sunscreen on me in the morning, but she must have forgot to put some on the top of my leg above my knee - and that spot found the sun... I was pretty red! But we kept putting lotion on it and here I am a week later and it's back to normal color and it didn't even peel!

AZ Trip Day 2 Part 2

Desert Musuem

On our Second Day in Arizona, we loaded up in the car and drove out to the Desert Musuem. Now, this place was called a musuem, but I'm not really sure why still to this day. It felt more like a zoo/botanical garden to me! My mom explained that it was a musuem to teach all about the desert. Everything inside was native to the Senora Desert region... They had learning activities all over the place, and my parents both said it's a great place to teach kids about the desert. I just liked looking at all the different cactus and animals!!

For instance....can you find the mountain lion in this photo???? I promise it's there! You can see his tail and his eye! Just one eye though. Dad called it his "Where's Waldo?" photo! And here is a Desert Wolf! I thought wolves were just in cold areas, so I learned something new! There is a such thing as a desert wolf!!
The musuem was pretty big, and I got tired of riding around, so occasionally the crazy adults decided to let me get out an play.
But then soon enough, they would snatch me up and try to get me to pose for photos... Gramps and Mom both have these fetish for taking photos... I swear, those two had camera's to their faces all day long!

But then again, if Mom didn't take a million photos, then we wouldn't have this amazing shot of this Saguaro with the blue blue blue sky and beautiful clouds now would we??? See those holes in the cactus? Birds build those and live inside the cactus!!!
And check out this Cactus! It's called an Organ Pipe! They don't grow close to Tucson, so this was probably planted here to show us. I couldn't believe how pretty it was though! Notice Dad is close by in case I try to touch the cactus or try to jump off the balcony...

AZ Trip Day 2 Part 1

Purses

I guess it's true that a girl just naturally knows what to do with purses! Grammy had picked up several little purses for gifts (ooops, just spilled the beans if you will be getting one in the future - act surprised!) And she let me play with them because they are just my size! When she handed them to me, what did I do? Well, I did what any woman would do - I put them on my wrists!!! Everyone cracked up at this!! My mom doesn't like purses really, and hates to carry one, so she had no clue why or how I knew to put the purse on my wrist!!

AZ Trip Day 1 Part 3

Saguaro National Park

That afternoon we drove around to view some of the larger Saguaro in the Saguaro National Park. We drove to the Visitor Center with a large viewing area of the Park. See the Prickly Pear Cactus behind me? Everyone was scared I would try to touch them, but I never did.
What a nice family shot!! My mom didn't want to put any photos of her in here, she thinks she looks "fat" but I had to remind her she's FIVE MONTHS PREGNANT! Women can be so petty sometimes... I think it's a great family shot with the cactus behind us!
When we were leaving the Visitor's Center, I didn't know Mom was back behind me taking this photo. She thought it was a great photo to show how I'm growing up by walking around on my own.

After we left the Visitor's Center, we drove around in the park. At one point we got out. And guess what Dad did, he wanted to touch a Saguaro!
We drove to one hilltop that is famous in the Park. It is covered in rocks with ancient Native American's doodles! You can see some on the rock in the bottom of this photo. They think these are several hundred of years old! I didn't hike up there, I stayed back in the car with Grammy.
I still cannot beleive how beautiful this state is!

AZ Trip Day 1 Part 2

Arriving in Tucson and Touring the RV Park

Not long after the plane landed in Phoenix, Arizona, we picked up a rental car to start the next leg of our journey - driving down to Tucson where Grammy and Gramps winter in their RV!!! I was still exhausted from all the travel, so I quickly fell asleep in the car and slept the whole way down!

The next thing I knew, I was waking up when the car shut down. I looked outside the window, but all I saw was RV's! They were everywhere! Then I saw a door of the one closest to me open and a familiar face walked out - it was GRAMPS!!!!!! Then a moment later GRAMMY! And Peanut was right there begging to come outside, too! I hadn't seen them in months and months!
It was great to catch up with all three of them, and they were shocked at my growth, too. Last time they saw me, I was just barely sitting up on my own. Now I can walk and almost talk!!! I don't think Peanut remembered me, but I sure loved to follow her around and yell out, "Da!!" That's my word for dog.
And I loved seeing Grammy, too. She had lots of goodies for me to snack on!
Grammy wanted to give us a tour of the RV park. Just as we stepped outside, the Ice Cream Man truck drove by! So Mom and Dad both both some snacks. You must remember, when we left home the temp was maybe 15 degrees, and now just a few hours later we were walking around in near 75 degrees weather!
In the RV park, I got my first glances of cactus! I couldn't beleive how tall they were!!!
There is one Saguaro in the park with several interesting arms branching out in strange directions. Mom took Dad's photo in front of it - check out how tall it is!!!! Gramps told me it was probably near 30 feet tall.