Weekend in Arizona

We recently spent a weekend in Arizona, since the one hour flights seem to be the best for us right now.  We flew out of LGB, the Long Beach airport, which is about 2 miles from our house.  Which we love.  It's one of the best airports ever, in my opinion.  Unfortunately, I forgot what airlines we were on and went to the counter to check in...and asked jokingly if they were still planning to fly to Phoenix.  They joked back that they were...and eventually it was determined that I DID actually need to go to Phoenix, and they were not in fact going there - it was the other airline.  Awesome.  The only good thing was that J was parking the car, so he didn't get to watch the ridiculous exchange.

Tiago as usual flew well.  The only issue was that we had Shaun the Sheep videos loaded onto the tablet and he has graduated (?) up to Thomas the Tank Engine.  He kept asking for the train.  We had to keep saying "no".  Made me very glad it was only a 1 hour flight.

We stayed near the Phoenix Airport.  Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Wildflower Bread Company, and went to Changing Hands Bookstore.  I used to go to both places when I lived in Tempe, and still miss them!!  A great restaurant attached to a bookstore is as close to heaven as I have been....;)

Since we were going to drive to Tucson, we went to the park to let Tiago run around for an hour.  One of my friends from grad school came to meet us and talk for a little while, then we got on the road.  I had forgotten how much I liked living in the desert.  It's great this time of year.

We were in Tucson to watch the Houston Dynamo play a pre-season game.  Those that know Jaime will know why.  But we had time before the game Saturday evening, so we went to San Xavier Mission.  It is south of Tucson, and one of the old Spanish missions.  Really beautiful, and worth the stop.

 Long view of the Mission

 Closer view - partly restored.

We lit candles - because I always do.

 I was a little nervous to let Tiago run around - lots of cactus everywhere!

 Jaime and Tiago

Tiago was impressed with the paint job on this car.

Then it was on to the game!!  We had fun and Jaime and Tiago were able to say hi to some of the players.

 Tiago and I spent time discussing why he couldn't climb under the bleachers.

 Close-up view of the action

 There they are!

 T is obviously into this...

Then he brought his A-game for the picture with the Coach.

Sunday morning we got up and caught mass at St. Francis de Sales.  We didn't fly out until that evening, so we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  One of Jaime's co-workers had recommended it, and it was definitely worth the stop.  We saw desert animals, plants, and habitats.  Bonus is that the entire thing is outdoor trails, so two year old tantrums weren't a big deal.  They had strollers that you could borrow, and ours was multi-purpose (30% with Tiago in it, 30% with him running and the bag in the stroller, and 30% he pushed it into all the other nice people visiting).  He enjoyed the prairie dogs, and the bird enclosure especially.

 T & I looking at a falcon...at a good, safe distance.

 It was a hazy morning, but the views were beautiful.

Excellent use of the stroller...

 Prairie dog.

 What would it be like to be a turtle?

We ate at the museum, then drove back to Phoenix.  T declined to nap in the car, and fell asleep as we were pulling into Phoenix.  Good thing we had the carrier for him so he could nap as we took the bus to the terminal.  Easy flight home, and that was the trip!  It was the last free flight for T, who turns two at the end of the month!

He loves these, everywhere we go!