I have put a kind of ragged summary of their trip to the USA together for the benefit of a few of my good friends and relatives. Many of the photos were taken by my son or daughter-in-law and I have fllled in around the edges.
Like most trips these days this one started on the way to Vantaa Airport with our intrepid foursome taking a selfie..
Upon arrival they checked their luggage. The one on the left was for our youngest grandchild and the one on the right was for the oldest. That leaves the little case in front for the parents. JUST KIDDING. On the other hand they did buy another suitcase before they left Tucson. I think it was just to hold the stuff they bought at their favorite store in the USA--Target.
Waiting to depart in Helsinki you can note that they did have a few things left over for deposit in the overhead bins.
Their outbound route took them from Helsinki to New York to Minneapolis. In another life our son lived and worked in Minneapolis for several years before taking a job in Finland. In Minneapolis they renewed old acquaintances and also had a chance to visit with my daughter and her older son who had managed to drive up from Iowa for the weekend. Here are those little girls again with their Aunt and their all grown up cousin.
Their aunt has raised two strapping boys so she now has a special interest in loving and spoiling these little girls.
Of course Grandma is a bit of a spoiler too.
After the Minneapolis sojourn the family popped back onto a plane and flew further west to Los Angeles. There they rented a car and traveled back east to the Grand Canyon. It turned out to be a fine time to visit. Even though it was cold the crowds of tourists were down to a trickle according to Papa. Aha! Another selfie with a more eloquent background.
Our younger granddaughter, as you can see, is already on the road to replacing Grandpa as the theatrical "ham" in the family.
The older granddaughter is more into cool shades.
Both of the girls,of course, are showing a preference for life on the edge.
Or on the rocks.
With the canyon in the rear view mirror, the intrepid trekkers next drove south through Flagstaff and the red rocks country all the way to Tucson where my wife and I were waiting for them in our cozy condo.
And I do mean cozy.
They were all quartered into our second bedroom. One was on the top of a bunk bed with Papa below. Mama was on a twin and the littlest munchkin made a tidy nest on the floor. I can report that in spite of the crowded arrangement they all survived.
Luckily the pool had more room.
They swam and swam right up to sunset.
Indoors was for crafts and by the end of the short stay we had every available surface covered with projects. Both girls love art and love to dig in with paper, crayons, glue, play dough, and anything else that can be drawn on or cut up.
Number one on our list of sights to show our visitors was the wonderful Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We saw the famous Raptor Free Flying show.
And some typical Arizona animals like a rattlesnake,
a gila monster,
and a fox.
The javelinas and turtles were apparently taking naps so the girls made do with replicas.
The next day Grandma and Grandpa took the girls to the Tucson Children's Museum while Mama and Papa went shopping. Their big cousin will appreciate that the young women had a chance to drive a fire truck.
And for the climber there was a chance to slide down an old fashioned firepole.
If a fire trucks were not flashy enough, you could also try your luck on a souped-up police motorcycle. This picture goes out to our daughter's high school senior second son, who is a motorcycle lover. He could not make the trip to Minneapolis because he was working that weekend.
The Children's Museum also had a place for more crafts and the girls took full advantage of it.
One of their favorites was a wall size air blower that sent puff balls and scarfs sailing through a rabbit warren of tubes. They would be spit out at various places and the game was to anticipate which exit they would pop out at and then catch the flying item.
There was also a chance to explore a plastic saguaro that was fitted out with bats that flew out over their heads.
And yes the mature ones are that big.
The next day saw a nice visit to the Tucson Botanical Garden. Grandpa didn't go; he was resting. There were butterflies to study and Grandma helped with the identifications.
Our daughter-in-law zeroes in for a closeup. I can't wait to see her photos.
I wonder if this is what they were seeing. Sorry, I did cheat here and the photo below was one I took at a previous visit in 2018. .
Finally there was a trip to Sabino Canyon. I have posted a huge number of photos from this desert wonderland over the past several years. Our rental is quite close to it and Grandma and Grandpa walk there at least three or four times a week. For this trip we boarded one of new quieter and non polluting electric trams for the ride up the canyon,
Unfortunately it had rained in the mountains in the past few days and our main road tram ride ended at the bridge before Stop Two.
What is usually a pleasant trickling stream was a bit of a torrent.
They still did get to see a good sampling of the mountain cliffs and the saguaros that carpet the lower reaches..
This saguaro is the first one I have seen that seems to be growing right out of a rock. Tough plants!
The tram tour then yielded an unanticipated pleasure when we discovered that since we could not go beyond stop 2 on the main road, we would be taken up to the overlook and view Sabino Dam from above.
This is what they were looking at.
Our daughter-in-law was especially taken by the Saguaros. Nothing like a desert anywhere in Finland. .
Everyone in the family seemed to be excited by the places they visited and from all reports their experience of the Sonoran Desert was a success.
They capped off their trip by driving back to Los Angeles and even got a visit to Disneyland in before boarding a direct flight back to Helsinki.
We are blessed with a beautiful international family and two of the cutest granddaughters anywhere. We shall miss them.
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