On Tuesday morning I dropped Ammon, Mary and Lydia off at the Tanque Verde Ranch for their kids program. They spent the day fishing, horseback riding, tie-dyeing, playing, and eating ranch food. I had to make a last minute dash to Target to get them all jeans because it turns out they needed jeans to horseback ride, but other than that the day was a rousing success. When we picked them up after they all chattered about all the fun things they did for the rest of the afternoon and evening. They loved fishing, they loved horseback riding, they loved tie-dyeing, and they raved about the ranch food. Yay!
Meanwhile I took Clarissa back to the house and played in the pool with her the whole time the kids were at the ranch. (Abe had to work.) I am borderline upset with Abe for not remembering to pack his GoPro camera so I could have video taped Clarissa in the pool. She was over-the-top cute. We would bounce up and down and say, “One, two, three, TOGETHER!” Then I’d hold her as we ducked underwater together. We were both in goggles so we could look at each other underwater and the expression of pure elation on her face was something I hope I never forget. Ever since she could move, Clarissa has been OBSESSED with water. Seeing how joyful she is when submerged in her favorite element was a highlight of motherhood to date. After staring excitedly into each other’s eyes, we would spring out of the water together, she would shoot a stream of water out of her mouth, look at me, grin and shout, “AGAIN!!!!!”
We basically did that all day.
Abe finished his work from the car so he could be with us to pick up both the kids and dinner. On the way out of the ranch we saw a fox!! It sat down and stared right back at us.
Then we drove to downtown Tucson to pick up a platter of Ethiopian food from Cafe Desta. Oh my goodness, it was soooooooo good. We took it home and ate it at the dining table, and we almost finished it all.
We finished with a Frangipane tart Clarissa and I had bought at Whole Foods earlier and then all of us jumped in the pool for an evening swim. I think we all can say we love Tucson.