September and October are usually busy, exhausting months due to Z & F's birthday's-8 days apart. This year to take the sugar encrusted edge off the festivities and avoid the tears, we decided to try something new. We wanted to make the family celebration a big deal and the friend party- low key. For Z, she loves to read, loves nature, and butterflies. In celebration of her 7th birthday, we went to San Pedro Riparian Preserve to watch a humming bird survey. They catch, weigh, measure, band, and inspect humming birds. Then they let the visitors release the hummingbirds.
Z got to adopt a humming bird, she named Zoe and released it.
F also had a turn.
O was terrified the bird would use its long beak to hurt him and kept chanting "Ow, Owws, bug makes ow owws." He was super curious. 
Z also made friends with a caterpillar. She wanted to take it home. 
We took a day trip to Sierra Vista to see the birds and stopped to visit a friend in Suarhita along the way. It is a town just south of Tucson. I hadn't seen K in around 15 years! We grew up in KS and MO. I was surprised to find out she was practically in our back yard! Now, she has 4 amazing children, and I have 3 awesome kids. We had a wonderful visit. She makes the most amazing bread and welcomed us into her home with a slice of bread and open arms. After visiting the bird preserve, we stopped at Mag Pies pizza in Tucson on the way home. YUMM! It was a cool, clear night, we ate in their fenced in patio and O could run and play while we waited for our pizzas. It was such a relief to leave Pheonix behind and go somewhere a tiny bit cooler.
We returned home tired and happy from our trip. We drove around 400 miles round trip and have lovely memories of our day. Z said this was the best birthday present. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
