Get Out Your Life-Vest

Ok. Here goes. Take a deep breath! The catch-up tsunami is on.
Some of these are separate posts that I meant to put up ages ago but never got around to, some I never put in at all. It's a long, long mishmash. But since SOME of you have been HARASSING me about these things, and since this blog is presently the closest thing Little One has to a scrapbook, I will subject the rest of you to the whole shebang also. Sort of like how that one loud kid in class makes it so everyone has to give up recess. Sheesh. There's one in every lot, Peanuts!
So first: Arizona.

Other than meeting Leggy Baby and participating in the wedding festivities, we made the rounds to some other VIP's in the area. Most of them I didn't get pictures of, and so they get left out. I still love you guys though! Just not quite as much! Because some people did pose for the camera.

For instance Sparkles and Flips here. I call them that because it's what I called them in high school, and no it's not really that long of a story but I'm still not going to tell you why. Because it's a secret! No, no it's not. (But it's more fun if we pretend it was.) Anyways when I went to my first high school these two lived across the street from me, and we were inseparable! Except for the hormonally mandated teen-girl friendship breaks for despising one another. Other than that, we were inseparable! It's lucky that we still keep in touch, and even luckier that I got to see them all grown up and meet Flips' adorable kiddos. Even if it is hard to recognize them without doc martens and really big bangs.

We also got to see my friend K and meet Her little baby, BB. K writes over on http://barkingbaby.blogspot.com/ and has some great tips about green parenting. We went to the same high school and college, but it wasn't until we started reading each others blogs that we really got to know each other. Isn't that weird? And kind of cute? Like internet dating!
Here is our first real-life mom-date. We had a blast and so did the kids. I wish we lived closer!

Guess what else. We went to the Biosphere. BIOSPHERE! DO you have ANY idea how much this science nerd has been DYING to go to the biosphere for YEARS?! Since I moved to Tucson I'm-so-not-telling-you-how-many years ago and never made it out to see it. Enough to use a LOT OF CAPITAL LETTERS! I don't care if it was a "failed experiment". It was an incredible feat of engineering and one of the few tangible examples of how you can make fantastical dreams come true, with enough smarts, persistence, and belief in yourself (and money). Like the Taj Mahal! Sorta. Plus it is really, really interesting science. Plus I thought that Pauly Shore movie was hilarious. I'm sorry, (I really am) but I did. So I cajoled some of my favoritest girls to join me, and we went to the BIOSPHERE!





After which we partook of another of man's greatest achievements; good Mexican food. Which, like the biosphere, does not exist on the east coast. Little One's favorite part was the decor. Poor thing. She thought She spied a guapo hijo to be Her amor. She smothered him in besos. I didn't have the heart to tell Her it was just one of those creepy doll-things made to look like a kid leaning on the wall. Star-crossed, these two. She cried a little when we left him.


We also went to the Tucson Zoo, home of this regal and fierce King of the Jungle! Or, well...it has a mane, anyways....and it's probably alive...might even have a few teeth...in the back, somewhere....But! The real animal to watch out for is the vicious giraffe! I will have you know that it tried to actually eat my small child! Seriously, it did. Buuuut it wasn't really vicious, so much as confused. See. Here we were letting Little One feed it big, green leaves of lettuce. And there She is in a sort of billowy dress, in a rather unfortunately similar shade of green. So one can hardly blame the creature for sticking out it's loooong, slobbery tongue, wrapping it like a serpent around Little One's skirt and reeling Her in. One can screech "eeew!" and douse the baby in hand sanitizer, but not exactly blame. Fortunately it realized its mistake and spat Her back out so that we could enjoy more adventures.


There is another visit we made. We went to see Bernice's memorial stone. Do you know that the one thing not covered by Bernice's pre-arranged burial was $150 to carve the date of her death on the headstone? And that $150 exactly how much money I "inherited" from her when she died? Weird how these things work out. Little One and I found her spot under the olive tree and remembered her, and wished she could have met Little One. We even left her a little present, so she would know we were there.

I'm sorry to say that this wasn't our only reminder of the finite nature of life on this trip. After a rather sudden turn for the worse, and a really hard week in the hospital, J's grandfather passed away. I hate that he is gone, because for one thing he was a really funny guy. Just a few days before he died he was still flirting with the nurses and cracking jokes. But I'm so grateful that we could be there together, the whole family, to support him and each other. And that we had a chance to see him before he got so sick. He adored Little One and She always liked him especially too, since She was tiny. When She was just a few months old I remember him soothing Her colic just by rocking and talking to Her. It was amazing. He had a way with people. Maybe it was that he was always, always smiling. We will miss him a lot.


But like I said, it was good to be there as a big family, and a lot of what we did in AZ was just hang out and spend time together. Little One got to have a lot of time with Her aunts and uncle and grandparents. She had a special bond with Her Grandad, perhaps because he made such a good effort at speaking Her language. And She even bonded with the family pooch.






We all took a tram out into Sabino canyon and played in the river. Little One would not stay out of the water. Finally I gave in and waded in with Her. This was the desert, yes. But it was also MARCH. In the picture down there I am going, "Ouch ouch omigoooooodness ohmigosh!" like a sissypants as my leg muscles actually cramped up from the cold. Little One was not the least phased. Even though Her legs were purplish red when I finally convinced Her to make for land, She kept wanting back in. This is how much She loves water.




Cut to later that day when She was running around in public without pants-having soaked them in the river- and spotted a fountain. Thankfully J was there to recover Her quickly, as She toppled in head first, reaching for the water. This nearly killed me, Peanuts. Little One, who spent the rest of the day nekid, having now soaked Her shirt too, thought it was great fun.

SO you can see that we escaped AZ just in the nick of time. It was definitely making my baby go all tough and desert cowgirl on me. Next thing I know She'd be playing with rattlesnakes and sleeping on a cactus pillow. My blood pressure cannot take this, Peanuts! But still. It's good to know that the progeny of J and myself, as She should, has a little bit of Wildcat in Her.