1. Lemons
Kenneth and Sheila have orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit trees in their yard. Sebby especially liked picking the "yemons." He carried this one around for an entire day, smelling it, rubbing it on his face, and letting it jump with him on the trampoline.2. Warm sunny weather
We absolutely basked in the lovely 70-degree temperatures. Most days. I was TOLD that AZ gets something like 340 days of sun per year, which makes us either really special or really unlucky that we were present during a day and a half of ferocious thunderstorms. However, what I kept endeavoring to convey to our hosts was: It was perfect! It was lovely! Even the rain was a welcome, welcome change from smog/dirty snow/below-freezing temperatures.3. Old West Mining Towns
We went on a great outing to an old mining town that looked just like you would want it to. They had a "shoot-out" and a jailhouse (sorry, Ky) and a reptile show and a train ride. And also, I love fields of cacti.4. Desert Botanical Gardens
We absolutely LOVED the botanical gardens (thanks for the tip, Allison!). You would not think desert plants could be so varied and beautiful, but they are. Ken and Sheila very kindly watched the boys for us so we could enjoy the gardens without worrying which boy was going to impale himself on which cactus, and we had a wonderful time.
As an added bonus, we got to see some amazing glass creations by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. (Perhaps you saw his exhibition at the BYU MOA a few years ago? To my everlasting regret, I put it off too long and missed it, so you can imagine my delight when I saw there was an exhibition at these gardens!) The sculptures were put in among the desert plants here and there, creating an amazingly wonderful juxtaposition of forms. It was really almost indescribeable---otherworldly---almost like they were some strange alien plant-forms, or undersea vegetation, or something. They fit in with all the yucca and cacti and so forth like they had grown there. Seeing those delicate, fragile glass forms (you can see in the pictures, they almost seem like balloons!) next to the tough, spiny plants was really unforgettable---what a great experience!
5. Meteor Crater
Here is the largest chunk left of the meteorite (it was 150-ft wide on impact!). It's amazing to feel it---it's made of iron and nickel, just feels like a big chunk of metal---and think, This fell from space!
This natural landmark is worth visiting anytime you're in the area---there is a great museum with a short movie, and some interactive exhibits where you can design your own meteor and see what the impact crater would be like (hours of fun!). I thought maybe the boys would be worried about meteors hitting us, and true, there was much discussion in the car before and afterward about how this happened a long time ago and meteorites like this are very rare and there won't be any loud noises now because the loud noise was 50,000 years ago and nobody's house was hit because there weren't any people living here then and so forth. But in spite of all that the boys were fascinated; they loved the museum and the BIG, BIG HOLE.****
I don't have pictures of the other great things about Arizona: a HUGE treehouse/playground/"family fun center" we went to on a cloudy day and the boys LOVED, lazy picnics in the backyard, frisbee in the park, cousins (Abe says, "Katy is my best friend!!"), Ken and Sheila's great cooking, the hot tub, Andy's basketball game, Katy and Lucy's dance recital, etc. etc. But we had a wonderful time and are SO glad we got to go. Thanks for having us, Nelsons!
