Tucson Adventures

Tucson Zoo, we love this place.  It is the perfect size for the kids to walk without getting tired.  It was a chilly mid 70s morning.  The Seattle crew was in shorts and short sleeves while the Arizonians were in sweatshirts and many talking about how cold it was.  We scored on this zoo visit.  The giraffes were right up against the fence, we saw a rhino running around, two bears playing together and the new baby elephant.  It appears the animals liked the cool morning or they were moving to try to keep warm.

Cooper and Nicholas brought down some leaves and mini pumpkins from our garden.  Tossing the leaves in the air was a hit!

Nicholas LOVED Uncle Brant and the awesome rhythmic sounds he can make.  Between teething and some belly issues Nicholas had a hard time not being in Mama’s arms this visit, making this picture even more special 🙂

It was such a treat to see all the cousins finally getting to play together in person instead of over Skype.

One day was a bit warm to be playing outside so C & N got their first McDonald’s playland experience.  Nicholas loved watching the other cousins from his Auntie’s lap.

It was also on this day that Cooper picked up the phrase “keep going” when we were in the car and stopped for any reason.  If you know Tucson, there are a ton of traffic lights.  If you know my traffic light curse, you know that we were stopped at nearly every one of them.  Cooper and I had many opportunities to discuss the color of the traffic lights and the consequences when they were not green.

With some help from his cousins Cooper climbed all the way to the top of the play structure and down the very big slide.  He had a smile the entire time, but opted to only do it once.

Since they were babies, I have made my nieces custom letter shirts.  I loved watching the excitement on their faces when they opened the latest version.  This round is extra special because one of the fabrics on each shirt matches the custom skirts Nene made for them with the fabric they picked out.