Arizona continued...Tuesday

 

Broden and Grandpa filling the bird feeders.

 

Broden with the animal footprint stamp.

 Remi holding still so the humming birds will land on her flower.

 Alissa trying to grab a quail.

 Alissa in Grandma's sunglasses.

 Pretty bird in aviary.

 Snake climbing over wall.

 If you look close you can see the snake eating quail eggs.

Big horn sheep.

 Grandpa, Remi and Broden headed out on the desert loop trail.

 

Remi and Broden woke up around 6:15 I think. I was still sleeping after a rough night with Alissa and Parker. Alissa woke up every so often with a fever, so I would give her some motrin and she would eventually calm down and go back to sleep. Her crying would always wake up Parker though and of course the only way he will go back to sleep is to nurse. Alissa isn't very nice in the middle of the night(like most of us who are sick and in strange places) So she didn't want anyone but mom. So usually I was nursing Parker with Alissa sitting on my lap. Poor Grandma tried to help, but Alissa just wouldn't have it. Then after they were all back asleep, Parker would wake up. This would wake up Alissa and the whole process started again!

At 8:15 Alissa and I finally woke up and she seemed much happier. I gave her Motrin anyway. Grandpa and Broden filled all the bird feeders and we all enjoyed our breakfasts at various times on their back patio watching the birds and golfers. I was shocked to see how big the mountains are there. I always picture Arizona as just a flat desert, but it wasn't like this down there. The mountains were like if you are in the Salk Lake Valley. There are huge mountains all around you. The plants are completely different, but still huge mountains.

We packed a lunch and everything we needed for a day out and headed to the Dessert Museum. We parked and headed in and right from the start I could tell Alissa was going to have a hard time. It was an awesome museum though. More like a desert zoo. There were multiple bird aviaries. The first one was a hummingbird aviary. Remi had a big pink flower in her hair. We tried to get her to sit still long enough for a hummingbird to visit her flower, but it didn't happen. She sat SOOOO still for a long time, but I think the others in our group were too distracting.

The next Aviary we went in had all kinds of birds. I'm  not a bird expert, but I saw doves, quail, a blue bird, some kind of tropical bird and tons of other kinds. After walking on the path in circles about 3 times with Grandma, Parker and Alissa, I was waiting by the entrance for Alissa to be ready to go. I heard some Quail start "yelling" really loud. I looked at the cement barrier by the door and there was a big snake on it. I took some pictures thinking it was cool to see a snake. The I realized the Quail were "yelling" at the snake. I walked over to have a closer look and realized the snake had slithered right into a quail nest and was eating their eggs. Poor Quail. Remi, Broden and Grandpa came back into the exhibit and we all watched nature take its course for a while.

We then continued throughout the rest of the museum. Grandma, Alissa, Parker and I taking our time. Remi, Broden and Grandpa continuing ahead, then coming back to check on us occasionally. We took a much needed ice cream break and ate our ice cream in record time so the 90 degree sun didn't melt it. Then Remi and Broden headed off to take the desert loop trial. They saw lots of Javelina's under the bridge and were so excited. Grandpa had been reading them books at night that were stories about the desert animals in Arizona. There is always a Javelina in the books, so the kids thought it was great to see one in person. Eventually Alissa fell asleep and we enjoyed seeing the rest of the museum in a more relaxed atmosphere instead of do whatever pleases Alissa. We went inside a cave and Remi and Broden had fun exploring the side caves and pretending to be a bat with HUGE bat ears.

When we were ready to leave the museum Grandpa took the kids and I into the gift shop to each pick our a shirt. The kids each picked out one(except parker) The girls all got matching ones, in different colors and Broden got an orange one with lizards on it. While we were waiting for Grandpa to pay Broden accidentally broke one of the magnets. He felt really bad and I told him he needed to go tell the lady and pay for it. I took him up to her and eventually he told her. She was really nice and told him,"You are such a good boy to come tell me. It's ok, accidents happen. You don't have to pay for it, but I'm glad you were honest and came to tell me."

Broden told her he was sorry and I could tell he meant it. I think it was a great learning experience for him.

When we got to the car it was late afternoon and we were all ready for lunch. We headed to find a shady picnic area and it took 3 tries! I don't know who would make a picnic area in the middle of the desert and not have some kind of covering for shade. We finally found a perfect spot right next to Saguaro national park. Lunch was delicious and Broden loved seeing the little squirrel that looked more like a chipmunk. Remi had fallen asleep in the car so we just let her sleep.

The ride home was miserable. Alissa SCREAMED the whole way home. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, but she was not happy and nothing we could do would help. Then half way home, Parker joined in and added to the screaming. It was not a happy car full of people when we got home.

That night Alissa slept better. Parker woke up screaming in the middle of the night and nothing would calm him down. He wouldn't even eat. Poor boy. Luckily Grandma was there and could save the day. She rocked him to sleep and just slept with him so I could be with Alissa.

I felt so bad that Alissa was having such a hard time. I knew she had a cold and a fever, but I don't like taking the kids to the doctor to have them tell me there is nothing wrong with my child. Especially in a different town and not their regular doctor. It was sad that she wasn't herself at all. She has the cutest little personality and I don't think Grandma and Grandpa got to see much of it. We still had fun in spite of her grumpiness though.