Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Spring break fun in Tucson

My last post ended with us arriving in Tucson on Friday and Michael and I going on a Friday night date.  Friday March 11th.  I'm a little behind.

That night Michael and the kids slept at his parent's house and I slept at my parent's house.  It was so damn fantastic.  I can't even tell you.  I slept until about 8:30 on Saturday morning which is just a miracle. 

I hung out with my mom that morning because Michael was off doing a project with his dad and the kids were hanging out with grandma.

Ginger wanted to be close to my mom.  

Even if it meant strangling herself with a chair. 
That afternoon I met my friend Amanda for lunch.  We went to a place on 4th Ave.  4th Ave in Tucson is pretty notorious for attracting an "interesting" crowd.  After lunch we walked around and did some window shopping and then she drove me back to my car.  On the way we saw a whole bunch of people dressed as brides.  Apparently it was a pub crawl.  Do you see the dudes?  And the super creepy bride doll?






After lunch and shopping with Amanda I drove across town to have happy hour with Josh and Laura.  No pictures though.

On Sunday we went to the Gaslight Theatre for a fundraiser for my high school.  I've slacked off on my theatre-going after a promising start, but this show renewed my commitment.  I need to buy some tickets for something else.  I  recently realized that I no longer get any emails from Goldstar which is a website that offers reduced price theatre and concert tickets.  Those emails were how I found out about all sorts of shows.  In the middle of writing this post I went onto Goldstar and re-set my email preferences so I can be a bit more in the know. 


There was a raffle during intermission.  Of course my dad dressed for the role of the raffler.  He is active on the alumni board.  He didn't just get up and do this randomly.  Although that would have been very funny.



The kids and my dad had a wrestling match that afternoon.




On Sunday evening Michael drove back home and after I got the kids into bed I went over to Josh and Laura's to watch The Walking Dead and The Talking Dead with them. 

Monday morning I took the kids out to breakfast and then we went to see Zootopia.  Spencer was so excited and he loved it.
Elliott was so excited and he didn't love it very much.  The story was a bit above his comprehension and he's not the best at sitting still and watching a whole movie.


This was after the movie.  I volunteered to take a picture of a mom with her kids since they were trying to selfie the movie poster.  She did this in exchange.  And then we both told our kids, "see, other people take pictures too."  She's probably a Tucson blogger.

We went to Beyond Bread for cookies after the movie.

Elliott did not like his gingersnap.  Beyond Bread makes their gingersnaps very, very spicy. 

And then, oh my God, Elliott dosed off for about 2 minutes in the car on the way home.
On Tuesday we went with my mom to the Miniature Museum of Miniatures.  That's not actually what it's called.  I think it's really called The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures.  But I like my version better.   My mom and I were enthralled and charmed by it.  The kids were not so enthralled and charmed.  Until we got the the Christmas Village and the magic tree.  Then they loved the place.  

This is a description from the website:

The Mini Time Machine was created from the imagination and dedication of Founders, Patricia and Walter Arnell. Pat’s fondness for miniatures began in the 1930’s, when as a young girl she received her first miniatures- a set of Strombecker wooden dollhouse furniture. It wasn’t until the Arnells moved to Tucson in 1979 that Pat began collecting in earnest. The Arnell’s became very active in the miniature community becoming recognized members and supporters of important organizations such as NAME (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) and IGMA (International Guild of Miniature Artisans).The collection grew and the Arnells, dreamed of a way to share it with more people. They envisioned an interactive space where the entertaining and educational aspects of the collection could be enjoyed by everyone- a place that would be enchanting, magical and provide a rich sensory experience.

I have a lot of pictures, but not so many words so just scroll.  If I ever become really rich I'm going to invest like $10,000 into my own miniature.  I might do a grocery store.  Or my dream house.  Or maybe a mall.  






Nope.  I definitely have to do something with a garden and pigs.



Look at the polar bear skin rug!



Look at all the treats on the shelves in this bakery!  It boggles my mind.


Aristocratic dogs!






I'd like to hang out in this formal study and sit at the fancy desk and do some blogging in there.  And then have drinks out on the terrace.




This large mansion was impressive.

One of the rooms inside the mansion.

A typical Santa Fe house.

And a room inside of it. 


All the Christmas stuff made me excited for Christmas..... 8 months prematurely. 






We took my mom home after we left the museum and then the kids and I went to a different Beyond Bread for another afternoon cookie snack.


Elliott liked his death by chocolate cookie much, much better.
And then we fought traffic for a very long time to go have a play date with my friend Elisa and her kids Max and Theo.  

Spencer was very impressed by Theo.



Spencer insisted that I take a picture of Theo's leg on Spencer's leg.  He loved it.
And finally, we once again fought more traffic to head back to my parent's house for early bedtimes for all.  Oh, except my dad and I watched TV together until very late, so those early bedtimes did not apply to us.

2 comments:

Sherry said...

I love that you got some relaxing time with your mom. And those brides... Hilarious. You see the craziest things. Is that typical of Arizona? Haha! And I love that you love going to local theater performances. My husband's Grandma Mattie always took them when he was a kid and was a big supporter of their local theater. I wish we had one closer to us to take the kids too. Our local library and cultural arts building does host some performances and we need to go to some, but I don't think they are this grand. I am going to see where the closest theater is now. And I would love that Ghostbusters show. Haha! And those miniatures. I was in heaven looking at those posts. I have really wanted to start a dollhouse for a long time and have begged Eddie to help me build one. Sigh. We will do this one day, and we will blog about it. It will be wonderful. Maybe when our kids are grown and we need other blog material. You will have your garden and pigs. It will be phenomenal! :-)

Cat said...

That mini place is adorable! It reminds me of one I went to in Victoria, BC. So cute. Those cookies are huge. If by some chance, Mike makes it to AZ with me, we shall find him a cookie that size (I think he likes cookies even more than I do). Your theater comments remind me that I need to see what shows are coming to my neck of the woods. I went to three plays/musicals while in Ireland and thought, I used to do this at home, I should do it again while I am child-free and have time for such things.