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We are very sad to announce our loss of Willow today.  She had not been doing very well the past few weeks, and we never did find out exactly what was the cause of her sudden illness.  She was the “quiet one” in our family of pets. She rarely fought for the attention that Rufus and Kua’ Lo do everyday. With Kua’ Lo whining, and Rufus barking, you could find Willow laying out on the chairs under the dining room table,  or quietly perched up high, looking down at the comotion below.  All with understated class.  She will be missed.

(Published via iPhone)

Shot with my iPhone

Here is a clip of Tyler performing at Vacation Bible School today.  It was the final concert that all the various classes had been practising for.

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Just amazing the 3d technology.  You can actually see him move in 3d in real time! So far everything seems to be fine.  He is much further along then we thought.  He is currently 11 weeks and 3 days old, 4.5 centimeters long and his due date is October 11.

Tracie and I had been there in 2003 and was probably the highlight of that trip.  The museum is way out in the hills on the western side of the city, surrounded by nothing but desert and tens of thousands of saguaro cactuses.  Part zoo, part natural history museum, the ASDM focus is on the Sonora Desert and out interaction with it.

The museum is laid out on various paths and trails, with the various exhibits along the way.  Being a hot day, most of the animals were pretty hard to find.  Tyler had fun stamping a book with footprints from all the animals in the park.

We decided to have lunch at the museum as we were heading back to Phoenix immediately.  Ok, I know that you always get overcharged at these places, but $3.25 for a soda!???!?  Lunch for us all came to over $35.00, not the best value for sure, but with the facility so for removed from civilization, you do not have a lot of options.

After lunch we headed for home and drove through the Saguaro National Park.  Very cool drive, through windy roads, and literally a forest of cactus.  And so ended our Tucson trip.  We probably enjoyed this one a little better than the last.  Maybe we will come down this way a little more often.  I always heard Bisbee was nice, perhaps that will be our next foray into southern Arizona.

The museum is about 15 miles south of Tucson, near Davis-Motham AFB.  The museum is really two parts, indoor themed displays with various interactive exhibits, and a massive outdoor static display of various aircraft.  We saw most all of the indoor displays, and all the static displays that Tyler’s three year old legs would allow.  Expect to take about 3 to 4 hours to see it all.

We were very impressed with the wide variety of aircraft, especially large aircraft, on display.  Most museums would be proud of 1 B-52, but 3 side by side?  They also had a B-17, B-29, and an SR-71.  Most aircraft were available to go right up and touch, but very few were you able to actually go inside.

After lunch we decided to head back to the room.  We were a little annoyed that by 3pm the room still hadn’t been cleaned! Still we took a nap (well Tracie did anyway) and then decided to do some shopping.  Didn’t buy too much (for myself that is), Tracie finally got her own laptop though. With Tracie doing her Masters online, I’ve just got tired of sharing mine all the time.

Ended the day with our first ever trip to the Waffle House.  I know they are raved about in the south, but there is only one that I know of in Phoenix.  Well we had come across 3 or 4 in Tucson so decided to see what the fuss was about.  To me it seemed a step down from a Denny’s.  The staff were pleasant though, and the food was good for what it was.

Tomorrow its the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.