Beautiful Desert

John and I celebrated 4 years of marriage :) May 6th. The 4th year anniversary gift is a plant :) soooo he decided to take me to the Desert Botanical Garden. It was a bit toasty but well worth it - because of the rain we have had the beauty of the desert was spectacular. We took Raeli with us (just easier right now) she loves being outside so it was fun to have her there. We went to the Butterfly exhibit first so Raeli could enjoy it before she fell asleep. It was cool and calm in there despite it being a little crowded. I loved it - something about butterflies fluttering about in complete trust it was wonderful. We took a little tour and learned about 4 of the desert plants - the Ocotillo, the Jojoba, the Agave, and the Saguaro. Let me share one thing I learned about each (I can really only recall one thing each - anything more would be asking too much). Ocotillo plays dead to conserve energy and to survive. But when it blooms it is one of my favorite to look at. Jojoba's leaves change direction according to where the sun is. It conserves energy by making as little surface area as possible that is in direct contact with the sun. Also the oil from the jojoba bean is one of the most stable oils there is. The Agave spends all its life and energy to create its super sugary spear that flowers and reproduces. At the early stages of the spear shooting up is when the plant is taken for making tequila. And finally the wonderful Saguaro. It has an accordion type body which allows expansion during those rainy seasons to collect as much water as possible. And for all those out there that have relied on John Wayne movies to educate you on what to do if you are in the desert without water - it may disappoint you to discover that you can NOT cut open a cactus and drink the water. :(

Here are some fun pictures from the day...it was a fun day. Can't wait to return!

Discovery is so magical

There were butterflies everywhere - I discovered it is difficult to capture them - they blend very well and just when you get focused on the butterfly it flutters away.

Here are a few that would pose - thank you butterfly :)

I just love little hands - everything they do are just so sweet! Raeli loves looking at flowers - we ohh and ahh over them on our almost daily walks :)

Ahhh...The mighty Saguaro - I just love how cool these are :)

Very healthy Barrel cactus it does the accordion thing too - see how the accordion has expanded a bit

The Palo Verde is the prettiest tree we have in Spring - I love the smell and those beautiful yellow blossoms next to the pretty green trunk :)

These were so cool...they just lay across the ground and then the new growth shoots up from the "lazy" ones...I thought they looked pretty awesome. I couldn't help but think about crossing the desert back in the "old" days and trying to figure out how to cross these. Yikes!

These were skinny things that draped themselves over this tree...Only the really smart or really dumb animals would cross this thorny disaster :)

These were beautiful glass replicas of nature - I loved them!