Tucson Week 1

The last week of August and the first week of September, we took a trip to Tucson. A multi-purpose trip, but much of it was to introduce Claire to family she had never met out there. The first week, just the girls and I were there and Kevin joined us during the second week. Because I have sooooo many great pictures of the trip, I will have to post this in 3 parts... Week 1 (mainly visits with family) Week 2 (Touring Tourist Tucson) Claire's Birthday (lasted the whole 2 weeks!).

 After traveling with Grams and Bob-Bob from Austin to Tucson in a trip that lasted 3 days, we were very glad to get to out of the car. Avery and Claire spent plenty of time amusing themselves and looking like the picture above (yes, Claire is tearing up a Kleenex).

One of the first things we did in Tucson was introduce the family to the newest member. Monday night we all met at Julie and Carl's for dinner. Here we are with Grandmom and Granddad. I think they might both be a little bit excited to see us.

It is always fun to visit with Julie and Carl. We were especially glad for the timing of this visit since they were off to Hawaii the following week!

During the week while we were not out and about visiting people and places (or shopping), we found all sorts of new things to amuse ourselves with at Nana and Papa's house. Here Claire and Avery are discovering the joys of a rolling/spinning office chair (thanks Grams).

Of course there is always cooking and baking going on. You can see that Avery has really taken a hands on approach to learning Nana's icing-making technique.

Another favorite activity there is SWIMMING! We all came back from Tucson 3 shades darker because our frequent dips in the pool. Great Fun!!

And for Avery, a must with this side of the family is bubbles! She loved this machine and before the end of the trip figured out how to get to the back porch and turn on the machine all by herself.

As I said before, the purpose of this trip was to visit family. We took a lovely trip to the other side of town to visit with Great-Aunt-Carolyn, and Great-Cousin (?) Carol. The girls were showered with gifts and love and in accordance to Carol's request, no pictures of her will be seen here.

What a gorgeous group this is. Claire also got to visit again with Samantha and Courtney (sisters in all but blood) on this trip.

We spent several mealtimes enjoying Grandmom and Granddad's "home cooking". In their new apartment complex they have a wonderful dining room. Each meal came with 2 courses and a dessert. They even served grilled cheese sandwiches, so it was ok in Avery's book too.

One night, the subject came up of Papa's "broken" ear. Avery, ever the concerned granddaughter, was determined to figure out what was wrong. Of course the concern might have something to do with not hearing her request for more chocolate ice cream.

And last, as I said we spent several afternoon's shopping. While we once again traveled home with at least double what we packed, the shopping was never quite as fun as the playgrounds in the mall. All in all, these girls had a absolute blast in Tucson.

Part 2 Later...