Tucson

Oh, how I LOVE the desert. We had a fabulous time in Tucson and enjoyed a little change of pace from our daily routine. Coop and I were able to play the whole time while Mark slaved away in class. We did get to play around a little bit with Dad in the evenings and luckily Mark got out of class early on Friday so we were able to drive south of Tucson to spend some time at Grandpa Toby on Oma Lis' place. I'll post pics from their place later--it's so cool it warrants it's own post. We picked a perfect time to visit the desert. Everything was in bloom and sunshine, sunshine, sunshine (did I mention the sunshine?). It's rained probably every day the past month in TN, so the sunshine was a great boost. Coop and I enjoyed playing around the resort and spending time with Grandpa, Oma and their cute dog Ishi. They spent a couple of days with us and showed us some of their favorite places; Tohono Chul Park, Degrazia and many yummy restaurants. Tohono Chul Park truly is a desert oasis and Degrazia is a must see! I decided that I could live in either place. The gardens are breathtaking. Who knew you could have such lushness in the middle of the desert? I truly felt at home while visiting both places. I guess that means I'm a desert rat. The only downside to the trip was discovering how hard it is to keep a little pale skinned boy from getting sun burned. Cooper now hates, hates, HATES sunblock due to the constant lubrication. I couldn't help but think I sounded just like my mother: "someday you'll thank me when you have beautiful skin without wrinkles and sun damage......do you want to look like George Hamilton when your 20?" Oh, how I wish I would have listened to my mother. The other obstacle was keeping Cooper happy in his car seat with so much driving around. The kid isn't a fan of car seats these days. Mark and I are used to suffering through it, but I didn't want to put Grandpa and Oma through that so we used the old shove a cracker in that kids mouth before he blows trick. Needless to say, our rental car looked like a cracker convention went amuck in the backseat. If only those poor mice from our car would have settled in our rental car instead. They'd still be alive today..............

Morning coffee on the veranda~that's fancy resort talk for patio :)

Awesome door at Degrazia

Grandpa Toby, Oma Lis and little Ishi (in Lis' bag) at Degrazia

Cuteness on a stump

Kids' garden at Tohono Chul Park

Cuteness in a Cabana

Coop LOVED the fountains

"swimming"

Enjoying breakfast on the deck overlooking the pool.