Proof that the Arizona desert is quite lovely...

So, I mentioned that I'd been trying to get a culture pass to the Desert Botanical Gardens for the past month (fyi- a culture pass is a pass you can get from some of the libraries here in AZ, that allow 2-4 people to get in for FREE to many local museums and other city attractions, such as the zoo... they are only good for one week at a time). Anyway, you often have to wait in line outside the library before they open in order to get one of these passes, especially during spring break time. Well, I finally lucked out this week and got to the library a bit early and the people in front me all were getting passes to the zoo and science center, so yay for me! Sometimes it's a little crazy in the line and this older lady tried to cut in front of me! About 5 minutes before the library was going to open, she shows up and tries to start up a conversation with the girl in front of me (whom she definitely didn't know), and then when the library opened up, she sidles up next to this girl and tries to pretend she's supposed to be there in line - luckily, she says to this crazy lady "I think this girl (me) is supposed to be right after me"... so then the lady says "oh really? oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"... um, ya right, you couldn't see the big pregnant girl with a 2 year old in a stroller and a 4 year old holding my leg... ha! Well, it's a good thing she found her right place, because I got my Botanical Garden pass and then I hear her ask the librarian if she can get the same pass, and the she tells her "sorry, we're out of those" - haha... nice try crazy lady trying to steal my culture pass! :) Sorry, I get worked up...

We started by eating a little picnic lunch in a shady spot and then we headed off to look at the cactus, aka Succulence (Ben loves to see the succulence, because he loves to say the word succulence)...



This is called "creeping devil"... an appropriate name because it really does creep me out - Ben teased that he wants to plant this stuff in our front yard... eek!


I was happy to see that the Butterfly Exhibit was going on again - I took the kids through it last year when my sister was in town and they really loved it...




You can't really tell from the following pictures, but the butterflies were really fluttering everywhere... when we first came in one kept landing on Jake's leg and from that point on Jake decided that he was really scared of butterflies - anytime he would see one get too close he would point and scream and run away... hahaha!



















Emma and Becca modeling their new butterfly necklaces daddy got them after finishing up with the butterfly exhibit. Good thing Ben enjoys spoiling his girls, 'cause there's another little lady on the way! :)

After the exhibit, we wandered through some other paths of more cactus and lots of wildflowers - we also saw some rabbits, lizards, and a cute little prairie dog. Then we stopped for a quick rest and Emma tried her hand at taking a picture of me and Ben together ('cause we so rarely get pictures of the two of us together... how sad is that?!) - well, this is what happens when we try to take pictures together...


Second try...


Better - but oh my goodness! I really am pregnant aren't I!! eek!

Ben being the great dad that he is... taking time to teach the girls from one of the informational signs :)






When we were done exploring (and very tired out), we stopped in the gift shop and got some prickly pear cactus candy for the kids to try out - Ben had been talking about it earlier as we looked at some prickly pear cactus, and the girls were very interested to try tasting it. Well, I thought it was delicious! Just like a really yummy soft gummy candy with a lemony berry flavor - Emma kind of liked it and Becca took one tiny bite and licked it a little before saying it was yucky. Jake loved it and a second after I took the pic of him below, he popped the rest of it in his mouth and covered his face in purple juices. :)





Hooray for a successful family outing! I'm thrilled because Ben started up a week of vacation time today - he's off through this coming Friday. We aren't planning on going on any trips this week or anything, but there are some fun events in the next few days - Jake turns 2 on Tuesday and Ben and I will be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday! Big milestones! :) We kicked off his vacation time last night by getting to go the temple - it really felt like a date with a quick dinner at Chipotle prior to our temple time and then a stop at Bahama Bucks for a treat afterwards. mmmm. Ben's parents watched our kids and took them to see the movie, Rango. So, it was a fun evening for everyone... and hopefully more fun to come this week with Ben spending it with us. :)