Mom, My Feet Are Melting...

As I have said before, I live in Tucson. It's kind of a desert. Ok, it is a desert. So, it's hot.
It's hot, it's June, the kids are out of school, and you want to do things with them, but it's the least pleasant part of the whole year here. Well, as it turns out, I do happen to have found a few things that are a lot of fun, and not outside in the scorching heat.

1. Tour something underground.
Underground the temperature stays in the 70s. It just so happens that we have a couple of places like this in the Tucson area.
One is Colossal Cave.

This is a lot of fun, especially if you have kids that enjoy nature, hikes, or learning about history. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes- no heels or even flip flops. It is easy to stub a toe in there. The tour goes about a half of a mile, with 363 steps (stairs), and tight spaces that you have to turn sideways to squeeze by (if you are a large adult). It is dark, but you will have a tour guide with a flashlight and there are lights along the path. No special equipment is necessary. This is a fairly easy walk, but know that you can't take a stroller inside. There isn't room, or ramps for that sort of thing. It is a cave. This is a good trip for older kids, or toddlers that don't get too fussy when they are expected to walk.

Another underground activity is visiting the Titan Missile Museum.

This is probably a good trip for middle-schoolers to high-schoolers. Again, you will have a tour guide. You watch a movie explaining the silo and some of its history, and then your guide takes you through the silo. You see where the people worked and the guide explains everything about the Cold War and why this was built. You can "turn the key and send the bomb" (pretend, of course...but they do a good job of driving home the impact of what that would have meant, if it had ever happened). And, of course, you can actually see a Titan Missile. It is big. What else can I say? That's a big, dang rocket. Kids who love science or history will get a kick out of all of this. My little nerdling (13 year old) had a good time.

 2. Do something up in the mountains.
This is the time of year when I like to find reasons to drive up to Mount Lemmon. It can be just for a picnic, or sometimes we go up to Rose Canyon lake, and do some fishing.

Often, since my family hikes, we go up to do a trail. My recommendation for that is to research each trail before you go to find out how difficult it is, how long it is, etc. - to see if it is right for your family. There are some nice, easy trails, but there are also some that are not for small kids or people who are out of shape. (That includes me) Here is a site that lists many of the trails, and has descriptions of them.

3. Find something artsy to do.
There are a good amount of art-themed activities in the Tucson area. I'm just going to mention two of the ones I am familiar with.

Color Me Mine- paint pottery, and then they will fire and glaze it for you. Pick up your creations in about a week.
And Creative Juices- paint a work of art in acrylics on canvas, and take it home that day! An artist walks you through the painting of the day, or you can just do your own thing. If you look on their site, under class schedules, there is a section for kids workshops. Also if you are looking for something for just mommy or daddy and some friends to do, the adult classes are fun and they serve wine and beer for those.  ;)

4. Do something after dark.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has "Summer Saturday Nights", and I've gone up for this a couple of times now. It is a lot of fun, you can watch the sunset over Tucson Mountain Park, see some of the wildlife at the museum, go visit the new aquarium exhibit, and see special programs just for the night.

The last time I went, there were telescopes out to view the stars, geologists discussing phosphorescence, biologists talking about the bats flying over our heads, and entomologists showing specimens of the various desert  insects. Great for kids of all ages. Wear comfortable shoes, bring a water bottle, and a camera, and do bring sunscreen for the few hours before the sun goes down.

And speaking of the Sonora Desert Museum, they have a Bat Bridge Discovery program I have been meaning to go to. Every Thursday, at dusk there are docents from the museum out to talk about the bats, and then you watch as hundreds of them emerge from the bridge to begin their nightly feedings. Cool. I have GOT to go do this.

Another program I have NOT done yet, is the Pima Air and Space Museum's Night Wings.  They open up from 5:00 to 9:00, to let you enjoy the museum at a more reasonable temperature. But only on certain evenings, so plan ahead.  It looks like these are scheduled for June 22nd, July 27th, and  August 24th. Sounds intriguing.

Well, folks, whatever your summer plans- stay cool, stay hydrated, and have fun!

All pictures in this post were taken by me, at the locations indicated.