Travel / Explore with Kids - Tucson

Keeping with our goal this year to explore more of Arizona, we spent a fun day in Tucson this past weekend.  Bo taught a class there on Friday, and we originally planned to drive down with him and make a weekend of it.  Unfortunately, between spring break and spring training, we were  unable to find a non-smoking hotel room that would fit the 5 of us.

We were going to put off a Tucson trip for a few weeks, but Bo noticed that the Air Show at the Davis-Monthan Air Force base was last weekend, We decided to drive back on Sunday to visit the show.

We saw many airplanes on the ground, and Nate loved the chance to look at the planes up close, as well as watch them fly through the sky.  Colin was a bit bored, and Lydia was tired.  She hasn't used a stroller in well over a year, but I think she would have gladly sat in one on Sunday.  (It had been a busy weekend -- planting on Friday, Boyce on Saturday, then a long visit at a friend's house in the afternoon / evening.)  For a long time I kept an umbrella stroller in the back of the van, and I think I should throw it back in the van.

I'm glad we went for Nate. He has expressed an interest in the Air Force for a few years now, and would like to attend the Air Force Academy. He was able to talk to a few pilots who went through the Academy, and they were encouraging and kind.

After a few hours on the tarmac, we headed to Eegee's.  Eegee's is a fast food place unique to Tucson where they have delicious frozen fruit drinks and subs (as well as other things -- like pizza fries, which are fries topped with pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese)  When Bo worked for Sears, he would sometimes have calls in Tucson and usually brought back Eegee's.  The flavor of the month was lime, and it was yummy!  The rest of the family enjoyed a mix of strawberry and lemon ice.

We finished up the day by visiting the San Xavier Mission.  It was founded in the late 1600's, and has been there ever since. It's a beautiful, old church that is the oldest European structure in Arizona.  It is a fully operating parish, but is also open daily for tourists to visit.

There are a few things I should have done to make this trip better.  I should have been better prepared to throw together a cooler of drinks and food to take with us.  Instead, we purchased drink & foods along the way.  I should have had a stroller for Lydia, because even though she is almost 3 and still fiercely independent, there are days that she needs a rest.  I also should have put my shawl back in my purse so she could have had a covering when she tried to rest on my lap / the ground during the air show.

I am glad that even though our original plan was scrapped, we still made it away from home to do some exploring this weekend.  I'm not sure where we plan to go next month, but I'll let you know!