We're home!

Goodbye Tucson!

We made it home at 6pm and Kyle is now putting the kids to bed back in our own house.  Here are some highlights and things we learned from the trip:

*Kyle ran a 5K and came in # 161 out of 222.  He ran 1 1/2 miles in 16:46 (not bad when he hadn't been training at all for it!)

*I lost a toenail on one foot by kicking a suitcase...no surprise there, I'm always kicking something

*...and got a mega bruise on my other foot by dropping a peanut butter jar on it

*Benjamin took a nap on the sidewalk of Truth or Consequences (we let him out of the car because he was sick and we didn't want him sick all over the car)

*Kyle, true to form, came home with three nice bags jam packed full of hundreds of drug pens and other random drug labelled stuff (like a clock, stapler, pocket knife, toothbrushes, rubber duckies, otoscope)

*Johnny has become excited about potty training (see my last posting) and is still doing pretty well with it!

*Johnny had his first experience in a real swimming pool (our town in Oklahoma didn't have a pool) 

*Benjamin is learning how to swim and isn't afraid of the water

*Courtney started not being so afraid of the water

*Kyle got to sing and play his saxophone for the Acting Surgeon General and lots of his higher up underlings

*We learned that scotch tape is a byproduct of making cheese

*Kyle loves saguaro cactus

*We love the waffle makers at hotel breakfasts!

* One thing the kids enjoy on vacation at hotels is that they get to watch TV.  We're glad (meaning...Kyle and I are glad) that we don't have cable or satellite TV. 

*Lots of FFA kids and Maryland Air Force Reservists now know about the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

*Kyle's always going to bring an extra collar device or two on business trips (since he's glad someone else did...an almost disaster)

*Tucson has a pretty cool Children's Museum we walked to about a mile from our hotel.  The kids got to drive a sub, a police motorcycle, and a fire truck.  There was also this very cool shadow room where you could pose and then move away from the wall and your shadow was still there.  I had a lot of fun in that room!

*The kids DON'T like walking in the hot weather.  At all.

Our little dairy farmer, inspired by the hotel full of FFA kids we spent the week with:

Mom, these are the swim shirts.  You can't see it well, but Johnny's got his "muscle suit" on.  And Ben is wearing his "giggles".

Aunt Bethany, this is for you:

And to end, here is a video of one of our favorite areas at the Tucson Children's Museum.  There are velcro frogs on a velcro conveyor belt and a ceiling fan to help them take flight.  Enjoy!