The Living Desert

Friday the kids had the day off of school for teacher's in-service. I personally like when the kids have extra time off from school and especially when the weather is so gorgeous because it gives us an opportunity to do something we otherwise wouldn't have time to do and the luxury of not having to squeeze it in on the weekends when everyone else is off work and school.

Before Jake started kindergarten and was in school 5 days a week, we had season passes to the Living Desert, a local attraction of plants and animals all native to the worlds' deserts. I would take them to run around, wear them out and then get some shopping done while in civilization. Of course now, not only do we not have season passes but we haven't been in over a year, not counting our nighttime winter visit for the lights during Christmas (yes, that is the same place!).

What I really loved about this trip was that now that the kids are older, they can really start to learn and retain information about various plants and animals and their environments. You can see the fascination and curiosity on their little faces and it is just priceless.

While getting ready that morning, I sent to the kids on a "mission" to pick out hats and glasses for the trip. They came back, BOTH having raided Jake's dresser drawers exclaiming that they were twins for the day:

Of all the times we have gone the mountain lions, bobcats and cheetahs are always hiding somewhere sleeping (apparently you have to get there super early in the morning to see them at their best) but the leopards rarely disappoint:

We were also able to see a pack of bighorn sheep, including this one, climbing up the side of a rocky hill:

In the African village, the kids had fun banging on the drums. Jadyn entitled this performace, "The Day of the Shoe":

Oh, and of course we can't forget the LG model train display. Still one of Jake's favorites!

We rounded out the weekend with a BBQ on Saturday and a trip to the park on Sunday while also fitting in work (for me), schoolwork (for Joe), chores and yard work. Having that extra day really seems to give us a good balance of work and play and you could definitely sense that spring was in the air.