Sabino Canyon and Pinnacle Peak

This year while we were in Tucson for Christmas we decided to go for a short hike in Sabino Canyon. I know it may seem crazy to go for a hike when you are 6 months pregnant, but it turned out to be just perfect! The weather was gorgeous, and so was the scenery.

It is not far to drive to Sabino canyon, and I think the boys were ready to get outside and run around a little bit. They did a good job of staying close to Mommy and Daddy while looking at all the fun desert plants.

It was fun to show the boys how different the plants are in the desert as opposed to the ones at home in northern Utah. The boys loved to look at the saguaros and count how many arms they had and see how tall they were. They also liked to watch for new arm buds growing on the saguaros.

We were laughing at how ambitious this particular saguaro was, growing 6 new arms at once. We saw all different shapes and sizes of saguaros, which was pretty cool.

We also got to show the boys several types of cacti up close (this one is a barrel cactus).

Don't worry. We didn't let the boys get TOO close.

When I first moved to Tucson for graduate school, I thought the desert was dry, barren and kind of ugly. After living there for over a year and then going back to visit every year, I find myself enjoying the beauty of the desert... because it IS beautiful in it's own unique way.

We had a great hike. We went uphill and down, on paved trails and over dirt and rocks. We ended up going a little further than I expected, but we were not going too fast since the boys were walking and so was their pregnant mommy. Along the way we stopped once or twice to take some pictures of our family. At least in this one Joe and I are both looking at the camera, right?

What do you think? Do I look six months pregnant to you?

There were saguaros everywhere! It was fun to see so many, so close together. We even ended up hiking past Sabino dam, where we saw water flowing in the river. We managed a pretty nice family photo nearby.

The boys did great on our hike. They both walked... most of the the time.

Ephraim tired out first, and had Auntie Em give him a ride. Daddy ended up giving him a lift for part of the time too.

By the time the boys were asking to ride, we were nearly done with our hike. They really did a great job out walking in the desert with us. Here both of the boys are sitting on a round rock with Emily.

Jacob got to ride on Daddy's shoulders too. Mommy was not offering rides, since I am already carrying on kid on a full-time basis.

Check out how tall this saguaro is! We saw some really tall ones!

After our hike we went back the the Devereaux's for lunch. Then it was time for Ephraim's nap. While Ephraim was sleeping, Jacob and Aunt Emily made an airplane out of tinker toys. Cool huh?

It didn't last too long, but it was fun while it lasted!

Later that evening we ended up going out to Pinnacle Peak for dinner. It is a fun place to eat in Tucson, and happens to be the location where Joe gave me my engagement ring.

In addition to good food, they have a Traildust town that is tons of fun for the boys. They got to take a little ride on a train with Aunt Emily...

spend some time in jail...

 and hang out with the natives. So much fun!

The boys had a lot of fun seeing the town and all the fun cardboard cutouts you can put your head into. This picture of the boys "blowing up" Emily makes me laugh.

What a fun and busy day we had!