Tucson

The Udstuen family split up for a few days last week. Ben and Mark held down the homefront, while Jonah and Rachel headed for Tucson, AZ to spend a few days with Grandma and Grandpa...and to soak up a little sunshine! The weather was perfect - 80s and sun, sun, sun!

Grilling outdoors! :-)


Kickball with Grandma


Painting the patio brick - and his hair.


We visited the Tucson Children's Museum. Here is the Dinosaur Room: This T-Rex moved his head and made noises - Jonah wasn't willing to get too far from Grandma and Grandpa!

He loved the climbing wall.

California Highway Patrol, we have a new recruit! Probably a bit more Baker than Ponch. ;-)

"Excavating" a shark tooth necklace.

Hiking with Grandpa in the mountains....actually we were in the foothills, but it seemed to suit Jonah just fine.

Jonah took this photo through the car window - check out the blossums on the cactus! Unbelievable!

Golf carting with Grandpa.

A Bald Eagle!

Today we got to see an eagle handler from the National Eagle Center. It was part of the library program for kids. Very cool!

I took the first photo - Jonah is right in front of me.


Jonah took the next two photos of...

the eagle



and the ceiling tile!

I asked Jonah if he wanted to go nose to beak with the eagle. He was not interested!

Happy Easter!

Food

We seem to be spending a lot of time with food this month...we're exhausting the indoor winter options!

Cooking food...



Wearing food...


Creating food...on build your own taco night, Jonah decided that meat, cheese, and veggies were not enough. He dug out corn chips and added some milk. He loved it...we're not sure we'd recommend it (the milk part at least)!



The following is obviously not food-related, but a photo of our archaeologist Jonah. He did some dino-excavating last week and discovered 6 dinosaurs (the T-rex continues to be his favorite).

Welcome Spring???

You could actually feel spring in the air yesterday...all we had left was a snow mound in the front yard from the plowing...and then this. Not even Benjamin (who has been wearing his sandals indoors for weeks) seemed excited about the most recent snowfall. He looked outside and said in a sad voice, "Snow?"

It is still snowing outside as I write this. Sorry Dad and Benjamin, but Jonah and I are counting the hours until we get to Grandma and Grandpa's in Tucson next week. We need some sunshine

122 hours to go...

Do You Know the Muffin Man...you know, the one who lives on Djewely Rain?

During our afternoon snack of fruit punch and Girl Scout Cookies, Jonah serenaded us with a song he learned at preschool.


Turns out Jonah isn't the only performer in the family! :-)

Pensacola, Florida

We had a wonderful time in Florida...although the trip had a rocky start: After rising at 4 a.m. and gliding smoothly through airport shuttles, check-in, security, breakfast, and boarding...our luck runs out. Our plane has a gash in the front tire, soon Rachel has a gash in her forehead that perfectly matches Ben's two front teeth, we miss our Chicago connection, and the early morning catches up with Jonah culminating in a shattered glass on tile in an airport restaurant. But we did eventually arrive in Pensacola, only 6 hours behind schedule!

Day 1 and 2: Rain...lots of rain! What does one do when it rains in Pensacola? Splash in the puddles and visit the Naval Air Museum.

Waiting for the sun to come out




























Day 3 we finally headed to the beach. No more rain, but yes, the boys are wearing their winter hats!







Day 4 - 6: BEACH DAYS!

Jonah loved the beach. He ran up and down the shoreline, soaked within minutes. He dug hole upon hole, and collected plenty of shells.

Our ever-reserved Benjamin was not so quick to show enthusiasm. He wasn't sure about the sand on his feet, the water on his toes, or really enjoying any part of the beach. He could be found sitting in a chair or on his dad's shoulders the first day at the beach.

Fortunately, by the next day he had warmed up to it! :-)

Marcus! The boys LOVED being around their cousin Marcus for the week (as did the rest of the family!) Ben still asks for him when he wakes up from his nap.

The morning dance-off!

Standing on the pier