BeBa

The weather here in AZ was PERFECT this weekend and we decided to load up the girls and take a road trip down to Tucson's Reid Park Zoo. (Phoenix Zoo members get in free

The girls and I had never been to Tuscon, so it was neat to see some of that city. It's much hillier and prettier in that area than I imagined.

Much like Phoenix, it's bordered to the north (and east?) with a large mountain range. A very impressive mountain range, too – the Catalinas – with a peak of over 9,000 feet, that range gets an average 180" snow per year. On our way back home, we drove by the entrance to the Catalina State Park. We're very interested in exploring that ara someday.

What a relaxing day we had. We didn't rush out the door, but took our time. Regardless of weather or size of zoo, we knew that between my third trimester endurance levels and typical kid behavior, we'd have maybe a 2-3 hour window of opportunity at the zoo anyway. So we headed out around 8:30 am, stopped at BK for a fast food breakfast and then hit I-10 for the two hour drive. I-10 sucks.

We loved the zoo! We're regulars at the Phoenix Zoo, so it was a fun and different contrast. Reid Park Zoo is a small, community zoo. It wasn't too crowded – nice to see the exhibits without all the jostling crowds. Also, the habitats were significantly smaller than you see in the larger metro zoos, so that means we were able to FIND the animals in nearly all the exhibits.

Anyway, it was such a small zoo that we saw the whole thing in two hours. Perfect! We were ready to go by then, anyway. We had a late lunch at PF Changs and took the back way (through Florence/Queen Creek) home. In all, a really nice day.

For the I-Can't-Take-Them-Anywhere file
The most intriguing exhibit, as far as the girls were concerned, was that of the polar bears.

On the glass of the enclosure, a small placard explained that you might find the polar bears engaged in mating behavior: nuzzling and nibbling, rubbing against each other, potentially we'd even see some mounting. If the zoo was lucky, they would breed and later there would be a little polar bear cub.

So we approached the exhibit, along with another mom and her preschooler. All my girls had to, of course, carefully read the sign out loud and observe, that yes! The bears were nuzzling and nibbling and rubbing and… "Oh look, he wants to mount! They're going to mount!"

"Okay, girls, let's move on… Yes, now. N O W."

Girls and me

(Anyway, our enjoyable Saturday was followed by an even more relaxing Sunday – including a visit from Andrea and McK for brunch. The girls had a good time playing with their baby cousin. The rest of the day we just hung out at home, needing to go nowhere.) It felt soooo good, that downtime.

HM, McK and Mir

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Mir and her cousin McK were SO CUTE this past weekend, don't you agree??

Cousin love

Indoctrination

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The trip back to Ohio for my grandmother's funeral was uneventful. Those flights East and back are long and never very fun, but the weather was mild and our flights were direct, so the trip went about as smoothly as it ever can. (We had some silly delays all over the place, but nothing too traumatizing…)

The funeral was difficult. I spent a lot of my childhood with my grandparents, and had an especially close bond with my grandmother. I have them to thank for so many wonderful memories. As I expected, though, the emotional impact of losing my grandma didn't really hit me until I was at the funeral home.

Granddad and me

Seeing my grandfather, without Grandma at his side, was the first emotional whammy. They had been married for over 61 years and, from what I saw of them, they were happy, loving years. They always seemed so companionable and easy around each other. I can only imagine the void her loss has created for Granddad. It's heartbreaking to think about.

The second difficult emotional moment, of course, was seeing Grandma. She looked so peaceful – at rest – as if she would just wake up at any moment. I miss her. There's a lot I had been saving up to talk with her about – I kept putting off calling her – and now I never can.

While the occasion was a sad one, I did enjoy spending a little time with my family. With my sister in Pennsylvania, my brother in NE Ohio and me in Arizona, it's a rare treat when we are all three together at the same time. Alas, we didn't get any pictures of the three of us together. I need to get better about thinking of stuff like that.

I also saw extended family whom I haven't seen in years and years and years – some not since childhood, and even a few I'd never met or was too young to remember when I did. It was neat to reconnect and catch up a little. I do wish we had coordinated a family reunion like this before Grandma died, but I guess we take for granted that there will always be time to do it.

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