Field Trip!

When your 17-year-old son calls you from High School to see if you want to go on a field trip with him ... you don't ask where, why or when ... you immediately exclaim "YES!" Because spending a day with this young man and his friends is a rare occasion indeed.

When I heard that we were going to the Desert Botanical Gardens, my mind drifted back to the 4th grade when I took that very field trip with my little friends. I recall saying one of my first cuss words there, just trying to act cool (I can't say that it was the first time I used foul language, because my Dad's favorite tale to tell is of me when I was about 3-years-old shouting out a four-letter word in the middle of church while I was coloring ... but you can't blame a 3-year-old, so I've let that one go.) I'm sure that my friends were so impressed with my filthy mouth (not) and it still bothers me to this day! So here I was some 35 years later, going back with my boy ... this time there would be no swearing.

I remember The Desert Botanical Gardens being ... well ... a big desert with botanical growth. I thought it was ugly, hot and boring. I vowed never to return ... I was a fun child. To my delight, they had a special treat in store for us this time! It was the Chihuly Exhibit, which is basically acres of incredibly crafted stained glass placed sporadically throughout the garden as images intertwined with nature (poetic eh). Since Keaton is taking Stained Glass in school, this was clearly an educational bonus and I was thrilled to accompany the group. After the exhibit, three bus loads of us stopped off at a quaint little burger joint near ASU called The Chuckbox ... it was deliSH and we only left six students behind ... but they weren't in my group, so it was ok. Enjoy the pictures and enjoy your children ... they grow up WAY too fast!