Whew y'all. It has been a busy week. Busy enough that I'm going to split it into two separate posts.
You see, now that Thatkid is in school, we need to plan our travel around his school breaks. Which means our annual trip to see Toxicesq had to happen during Spring Break...which coincidentally fell on the same week as our annual Easter trip to see Thatboy's family. Sheesh you guys.
So the first half of the week found us in Arizona!
We checked into the Saguaro Hotel, which had a cool mid-century vibe that I'm sure my children didn't appreciate.
As usual Toxicesq planned a lot of fun things for us to take part in. Like the OdySea Aquarium.
When the ticket-taker found out it was our first time at the aquarium, she urged us to check out the restrooms. We thought that was a little weird, but it was well worth it for the great view into the shark tank.
Thatbaby wanted to touch all the fish. Which he couldn't. But he could pet the sting rays to his heart's content.
Thatkid was super excited to see his favorite marine-life - Piranha. Yeah, I didn't know about this affinity before either.
I did know about Thatbaby's love for penguins though. He even brought his own stuffed penguin with him. Which he showed to the aquarium penguins and they were very very interested.
We also did a repeat of last year's hit - the train park! The boys made an immediate bee-line to the carousel.
This year they wanted to sit in the covered train car - no adults allowed. Which Thatbaby yelled at me when I tried to take their picture. I was worried he'd be scared in the dark, especially the tunnels, but according to him he laughed the whole time.
Afterward there was lots of playground time.
And of course, daily swimming in Toxicesq's pool.
Knowing the way to my children's heart is ice cream, Toxicesq also suggested a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Which, was obviously as big a hit as your would imagine.
Ice cream is huge in my house with my boys. I'm less of a fan, but during Passover it makes for a nice, easy dessert. Chocolate and ice cream are both Passover friendly! And homemade chocolate sauce is so easy. If you're not an orange fan, you could sub in raspberry or cherry liqueur and leave out the orange rind.
Chocolate Orange Sauce Sundae (From Cooking Light)
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup half and half
1 Tbsp butter
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tsp grated orange rind
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp Grand Marnier
12 cups fat-free frozen yogurt
- Heat milk and half-and-half in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180 or until tiny bubble form around edge. Remove from heat.
- Add butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth.
- Stir in rind, juice, and liqueur.
- Serve sauce over frozen yogurt, garnished with orange rind strips.
Another fun family event. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteVelva
You guys do the coolest stuff! We're big ice cream people - there's always a pint (or 5) in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteThat train park looks very cool. Remy is really into trains lately as well. We're going to have to seek out a train park on the east coast this summer!
ReplyDeleteWait... what?! You were HERE?! we have memberships to the odyssea aquarium!! Wish I'd known, because PLAYDATE!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great family adventure! Great!
ReplyDelete