Happy Father's Day

Love you, Dad.

a rainy day in June

What a strange and marvelous day we had here in Tucson. Clouds dimmed the usually bright early morning sky so Cassie and I didn't get out until 6:30 am. With the windows down we drove to Udall Park to drop off some office paper at the recycling dumpsters. I was nosing around as usual when I heard the jingle of dog charms in the desert. When I turned to the sound I saw Cassie tearing after a rabbit! She'd jumped out of the car window! Later this morning she ate Jack's grilled cheese off the kitchen counter. What a naughty dog she's been lately. I think maybe she's hungry.

Our neighbor Yvette invited us to the new Brandi Fenton Memorial Park at Dodge and River. We gladly tagged along.



Aren't those the coolest boots? I've always dreamed Jack would be one of those boys who insisted on wearing cowboy boots with everything. We finally found a pair he likes at the Goodwill about two weeks ago and they've been on his feet ever since.



Jack and his first girlfriend, Daniella. Here they make their way back to the car after playing on the Splash Pad. They had a wonderful time together, which is surprising because they're 3 years apart in age and of different genders (obviously).

After playing at the park we met Mandy, Evan, and Aaron way down on the southwest side of town because I had to pick up a textbook at the Desert Vista campus at Irvington and I-19. I had a gift card for Olive Garden, so we enjoyed soup and salad, Squidward Tentacles, and stretchy cheese. The boys were noisy but well-behaved and hysterically funny. Mandy and I laughed all through lunch.



Here they are in PetSmart, our first stop at the giant shopping center down there. A weather system rolled in while we sat in Olive Garden and grew in intensity while we shopped in PetSmart. It rained quite a bit and the air smelled like wet asphalt when we stepped outside again.



Boys misbehaved in Marshall's, their giggling so infectious that I didn't put a stop to the shenanigans but sat there to quiet them if any employee or patron gave us an icy glare. They misbehaved in Ross, too, but so did everyone else's kids.



Here's one kid who wasn't misbehavin. Brazy J doin it the brazy way. Such a good baby.

Temps kept cool and are currently at 71 degrees. A strange and marvelous day.

boys of summer

even in Tucson (especially in Tucson?) two kindergarten-aged boys can have a ball running through the sprinkler. We don't have a pool so the heat must be battled in more old-fashioned ways, ways that make me think of the Midwest.




(the Redneck Bidet works more thoroughly if you take your underpants off before using it... but look at that little muscle man!)

Now, imagine a slip 'n slide installed at the base of the slide on the play structure. That would be wicked fun. Then we could import some fireflies and our evil plot to transform the desert into the prairie would be complete.

we're going to the zoo

On Wednesday we had a Boys' Day, starting with a visit to the Reid Park Zoo.



The day was gorgeous, not too hot for a Tucson morning in June, and all the animals were active.



First we visited the tiger lounging in his pool; the first time I've seen the tiger this close and the first time I've seen him in his pool. He swam right up to the guard wires to play with two dead birds that had fallen into his pool. Mandy said, "Imagine the dumb luck. You're a bird, living in Tucson, and you fall out of your nest. What're the chances you'll fall into a tiger's pool?"



Here's Evan feeding Denver a biscuit. Denver digs biscuits while the other giraffe, Texas, is rather shy and doesn't often come over for her fair share. Later we observed Denver and Texas swatting flies with their 18-inch long tongues, sending rivers of spit flying.



This little dude was trolling the grounds with his keeper. At first I thought it was a baby anteater, but I guess it's been two years since the baby anteater was born here and I imagine he'd be pretty much growed up now, then I thought it was the sloth I never see (the keeper informed me that the sloth is still at the zoo but nocturnal so pretty much nobody ever sees him), then the keeper informed me this critter is a Tamandua (pronounced cha-man-doo-ah) and web research led me to discover he's also known as a Lesser Anteater. The boys got to pet him but only on the back, as his front claws are really big and sharp for tearing open termite mounds.

We watched Boris the Polar Bear do his touches and flips during a long swim, we couldn't find the dwarf caiman but the capybara was lounging in her pool. Didn't see any of the birds but did see a peahen and chick. The peacocks were vocal. Maybe it's still mating season? A fun day.