Slowly going insane: Arizona

I shudder to realize how tardy I am in posting photos from our fun trip to Arizona after Christmas. But somehow life has gotten in the way of me having time for myself. Between being busy preparing for the new semester at work, recovering from Christmas at home, and dealing with extreme weather in Dallas (wind chills below zero - not fun!) and Scott's unexpected travel for work, this all has thrown the regular routine into a tailspin. But tonight the kids are in bed and I have a nice glass of red wine on the table and about an hour before I need to go to bed, so finally I have time to post some pictures.

In summary, we all had a grand time enjoying five days in the mostly warm and sunny climate of Arizona between December 26 and the 31st. The Texas Wilsons are all most appreciative of grandma and grandpop's generosity in sponsoring and planning this trip for our family. We were glad to have this time together with family in lieu of spending the holiday together. Our days in Tucson consisted of a few planned child and adult-friendly activities mixed in with shopping trips and outings to a local park and other activities to keep us all occupied. We enjoyed it all - from the kids' innocent excitement from seeing cactus for the first time on the side of the road, to the elaborate displays and exhibits in the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and other venues.

First are a few photos from our excursion to the Pima Air museum, the third-largest airplane museum in the United States (I believe). We saw hundreds of old airplanes, ranging from fighter jets to passenger airplanes, all in the midst of the wide expanse of the desert. This was a very interesting museum.

Below are a few photos taken during our excursion to the Wild West town in Tucson. John and Jack make an adorable indian and cowboy, respectively! And Jack certainly enjoyed himself on the carousel with Laura and his cousins.

Laura discovereed a great park near our hotel that had an elaborate playground for children in addition to the dozens of ducks and geese to feed in the pond. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon watching the children feed the ducks and play together.

And yes, by the end of the trip Amelia and John (and I think Jack too) got their fingers pricked on cactus. Despite repeated warnings not to touch the cactus, before the trip was over they both had minor encounters

with the cactus and small finger-pricks to learn their lesson - Do not touch the cactus!

Below is a shot of Amelia and John on a rock in the shallow riverbed in Sabino canyon. One of our favorite aspects of the trip was the time we spent in the canyon - spectacular scenery - see below.