Tucson part3

Tucson turned pretty rough for Molly when she decided to get jumping cactus EVERYWHERE.  In her paws, her chin, her nose, her tongue.  Papa spent a good 30 minutes picking each needle out while Ahwee and myself took turns holding poor Molly (and Toby sniffed her butt)

I wish I would've gotten a before picture to illustrate how bad it was, but poor girl didn't need me rushing inside to get my camera while she had whole pieces of cactus in every inch of her body.  But she survived and took it easy the rest of the day while I took the kids to the cousins house.

They LOVE it there.  So much entertainment.  Trev had a blast in Emma's room for awhile

And Ryden and Emma played so well together in the backyard

 Emma would show me every sparkly rock or bead she would find.

 And Ry dug in the dirt

 And then Trev discovered a pinwheel and was pretty content.  Oh the toys at Aunt Sara's house!

 Monkey Emma!

 I decided to treat the family and make pot roast for dinner.  The kids were more interested in Papa's dirt pile, so again, up they went.

And down they went...

 Trevin ended up being solo on the mountain...throwing rocks by his lonesome.  I had to send Ben up to help him down.

 And yes he has no pants on.  We call that 'no pants party'.

 The next day, Marcy and I took all the kiddos downtown to Ben's Bells.  It is a great cause to spread kindness.  The kids got to decorated 'coins' that are then purchased and passed out to anyone that shows kindness.  You can also make a bell that is hung around Tucson for someone to randomly find.  Read more about this wonderful organization HERE.

 Baby brother just watched

 Artsy shot

 Artsy shot...take 2

 Trevin and brother just kickin' it

 Hannah photo bomb (Marcy wasn't too thrilled)

 Butt cracks

 After...we took the kids for some ice cream and doughnuts.  

I do believe Ry had a slight crush on Hannah...

 And I do believe Trevin had a slight crush on his ice cream

Even though Marcy and I were outnumbered...we had a great time.  I ended the night watching one of my favorite movies with my dad.  I might have been born in the wrong era.  The music...the outfits back in the day.  And I loved how giddy my dad got while naming all of the old cars and songs.  One of the best memories of the trip.

Tucson part2

Now, don't think you will be able to get through these Tucson posts without seeing pictures of my kids posed by each cactus.  For some reason, Ry did not want to go on our cactus walk this morning so Trevin did the honors of doing his best cheesy smile by each one (minus the old cactus...too pokey).

The purple cactus

 The pineapple cactus

 ...which Trev turned into a drum

 ...and the mesquite tree (which isn't a cactus of course, but it caught Trevin's attention)

 Then the cousins came back over in the afternoon and it was time to climb on the big dirt hill in the backyard

 Trev....not so interested

 But super interested in Mr. Flamingo

 ON TOP OF THE WORLD

 And then the task of getting down.  Sliding on the behind seemed the logic way,,

 Emma has a dog that looks exactly like Molly.  But she carried Molly all around and deemed herself BFF's with that dog.

 Then it was time for my jewelry party.  Sara was so kind to host it and she did such a good job.  And of course mom got everyone together for a group shot.

 And Uncle Steve entertaining Ryden on the crazy swing.  Later, I tried to push him to which he told me "Uncle Steve pushes way crazier than you do Mama".  Burn