Thursday, July 20, 2017

Impromptu Vacation: Tombstone, AZ

Over the 4th of July, we thought to ourselves, "Wow. Lee has a bunch of days off work and we have planned nothing. Let's do something." So we tossed around various "staycation" ideas, and eventually settled on visiting Tombstone AKA "The town too tough to die." We'd never been, it is a bare 45 minute drive from our home, and due to freak monsoon weather patterns the weather there was going to be in the 90's! Compared to the triple digit temps expected in Sahuarita, it seemed a no-brainer. Let's go to Tombstone for the weekend!


I explained to Paul that Tombstone was a "Cowboy" town, which he thought was cool. What really won him over was the ice cream cones he saw everyone walking around with. It seemed the thing to do so we got an ice cream cone to share. Laszlo is really quite greedy about ice cream and so is Paul so it ended up being difficult to keep one happy while the other got a lick or two.


Surprisingly tasty and reasonably priced!

We cooled off at the hotel pool then grabbed some dinner before being struck by an epic monsoon storm. It felt like hail, because each rain drop was laced with a few grains of sand...very pleasant...

Puny John's BBQ: Definitely get
their mac and cheese.

The next morning, we visited the famous Boothill Graveyard. I got a kick out of some of the epitaphs and there were some very interesting historical tidbits. If you are visiting Tombstone, you gotta visit Boothill. It is an inexpensive and essential part of the experience.


"Here lies George Johnson Hanged by mistake 1882.
He was right, We was wrong, But we strung him up
and now he's gone."

Down the hill, this is the Jewish cemetery of Tombstone.

I just loved how sad Paul looks...

"Here Lies Lester Moore, four slugs from a
44, NO LES NO MORE."

The oldest grave in Boothill.

We took a stagecoach ride around town and our driver narrated the whole thing with terrific historical tidbits about the O.K. Corral, the Chinese Mafia, Wyatt Earp, and a number of other colorful characters.



We ate lunch in the Crystal Palace Saloon...


And, of course we went to the O.K. Corral and watched their gunfight, because we are tourists and that is what tourists do.



Here are our gunfight actors, generously posing for me.


Lastly, we visited the Courthouse museum. It was probably very interesting, but we were going at a "Paul" pace, so we saw everything very quickly. We spent a lot of time ringing some old bells and locking Paul up in the jail.



By then it was time to head home and do an Independence BBQ, like real Americans. Some things we really wanted to do but couldn't this trip: tour the old Good Enough Mine, and the Bird Cage Theater. Both looked wonderful, but not for babies. We'll come back again sometime and check them out. Stayed tuned for future family adventures! Our next few months promise to be non-stop super action adventures! Or, at least, they will be very busy and possible photo worthy.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

The Spring/Summer Photo Dump

I want to share our little family adventures and outings with you all, I do, but life is busy. This past few months has been especially busy and I have only just caught my breath. Here are a few tidbits and pictures of our families adventures from this Spring and Summer so far:

We had a nice Easter weekend at home, Paul got a couple Paw Patrol themed items in his Easter basket...


Palo Verde trees blooming in the Spring.


We made some pretty cool technicolor eggs this year.

Paul in his Easter Sunday best!

This Spring I opted to get a Zoo membership so we would have a go-to family outing for the next year. It may be too hot to go right now, but in April and May I made good use of it! On one visit I bought the over priced carousel ticket, on another we decided to do the Giraffe feeding. Paul enjoyed both.






Lee did two races this year, the Tough Mudder and the Tucson Terrain Run. Here are some photos of the Tough Mudder:




I didn't really get pictures from the Terrain Run, I was kid wrangling. But participation did get us free tickets to visit Old Tucson Studios...





Laszlo has been growing like a weed and developing new skills and quite the quirky personality. He is very much attached to Mom, but Dad will do in a pinch. He has been trying lots of different foods and terrifying his brother. It has happened a couple times now when Paul is trying to tease him or scare him, Laszlo will screech an inhuman, banshee like shriek and Paul will start crying because his baby brother scared him. I don't think Laszlo will have any trouble holding his own as younger brother.



We thrilled Paul with a mini camp out, complete with marshmallow roast, and he and daddy slept in a tent in the back yard. He has been asking to do it again, but it is just too hot.


We visited the Legoland Discovery Center in Mesa while we were heading up that way to catch a flight. Paul thought it was great and it was definitely nicer than I thought it would be. They even had 2 rides!





We did a very quick visit with Grandmas and Grandpas while we picked up a new van. Paul got to feed horses and chicks, ride a tractor, and Laszlo got to meet lots of cousins and Aunts and Uncles for the first time.






All of this was squeezed in between auditions, rehearsals and performances for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was the music director, and Lee and I were both in the cast. It was complicated, Laszlo came to a lot of rehearsals and we hired lots of babysitters. The show was a terrific success, the cast and crew were amazing, and we sold out every performance. Here are a couple production photos to give you an idea of what we've been so busy doing for the past few months. The pictures are in no particular order, I suggest playing a game of "Which One is Lee." Can you spot him as all of the following: a Brother (Zebulon), a Go-Go Dancer, Potiphar's Attendant, and Egyptian:

One More Angel in Heaven

Go Go Joseph

The Narrators

The Coat: created by Francine Muse

Those Canaan Days

Poor Joseph gets flung in a pit.


Go Go Joseph

The Potiphars: Mr and Mrs...
Benjamin's Calypso

The Finale
"The King" and his adoring fans.
And, finally, in the midst of all this, the Tucson Temple Open House was going on. I was privileged to lead tours on one day, Lee helped direct parking on another, and we got to walk through with our boys on the last weekend. The dedication is only a month away, folks here couldn't be more excited!


Grandma Jamie and Paul and Laszlo's cousins Weston and Grace came down to visit and walked through with us, then I made them pose for a photo. High for the day was 110 degrees, so they were very gracious to be out in that heat even for a minute.


And now our family has a little time to breathe, but only a little, because this summer is going to continue to be a busy one! Enjoy my attempts to capture Laszlo's cuteness! Sorry, no smiles. He was pretty much ready for a nap when I did these: