Desert Beauties

It is high time I posted something after my last post that was a bit on the depressing side. Sorry about that.

Now for the fun. Last weekend I took the kids to the Desert Botanical Gardens (Clara kept calling it the Dessert Garden), and we had a blast! They had a butterfly exhibit that I new Noah especially would love because he is our little butterfly catcher.

I was right- Noah loved it and Clara too. I think Noah would have stayed there all day. I heard him say, "I wish we could come here everyday!"

Frankie was a good sport. We were there a long time, and it was hot! But he was happy most of the time. Poor guy in that pink stroller. People say, "Boy?" because the pink throws them off. I'm just too cheap to buy a new stroller.

We also enjoyed the wildlife. It was better then the zoo! This tortoise was so fun. We learned that they are attracted to pink shoes or toenails. Clara had pink flip flops and I had pink toes, so it liked us. It thought they were flowers to eat. Clara squealed in half fright and half glee! Noah got to feed it a real flower petal. Fun!

This was one of the many lizards we saw and one of the biggest. I stopped keeping track of lizards spottings at 20. The were everywhere!

We also saw a road runner, a king snake, a giant ground squirrel the size of a bunny (maybe bigger!), and lots of birds and of course butterflies.

The plant life in the desert is really quite fascinating! Much of it looks like it belongs on some alien planet and not Earth. We are continually amazed by the unique beauty here. We love all the variety of cacti, and as if they weren't beautiful enough, they blossom in the spring! The saguaros get this flower that looks like a daisy. (of course I forgot to upload the pic. Just use your imagination...or Google it) Here are just a few examples of the strange yet beautiful things that grow here.

The animals here are just as fascinating as the plant life. Joel took the kids in the mountains and came back with this guy- a Regal Horned Lizard. He was such a funny and strange creature!

We named him Gus, and he lived with us for a total of one day. We learned that they eat about 1,000 live ants a week, which would cost us about $20 a week to feed. So, it was back the wild for Gus.

I have to end my post with this sweet, round, squishy baby. Frankie is such a joy! He makes my heart want to explode (in a good way). He's getting so big! He'll be one year old in a month. In fact, almost 1 year ago our little adventure began. I would do it all again a million times!