Tucson Festival of Books

          Today, we went out to the Tucson Festival of Books...we've gone each year since Brenda and Bill Viner started this wonderful festival.  They are a nice couple, who own the Pepper-Viner construction company...and they care about Tucson, cultural diversity and creating fun things for families to do!
          As I said, we've gone to this festival each year that they've had it.  Kim liked to take the bambini to see the children's authors, gather the give aways and hit the food court!  It is a great event!
          We had to park just north of Speedway today, and walked down Cherry St. to approach the campus.  It was an incredibly nice day today, about 83 degrees, sunny and with some high cloud cover to screen the sun.  I felt like it was a 'beach day', as Kimmy used to call it.  I commented to the kids how it would be great to be able to take off my shirt and catch some rays...and I thought, I won't know anybody, so why not?  Autumnt though this was so funny!  'I am not a role model' said Charles Barkely...and I was living up to this...'  I did put my shirt back on, when we got to Flandrau Planetarium...(we passed some police officers, who Autumn thought for sure would arrest me in my nefarious state!)...
            We ran into Rosa and Vito's cousin, Franca and her girls right away and started to take in the sights - jugglers, clowns, give-aways (like turtle hats!) - the kids made t-shirts...

                              It was pretty crowded there...and my finger seems to find the lense, somehow, but Tonio is wearing his turtle hat!

                 We walked the children's section, where the bambinis got to make t-shirts, bookmarks, collect stickers and other assorted treasures!

                          Once again, my stupid finger gets in the way!  But, at least, I got to capture Antonio desparately trying to cool off in one of the fountains on campus - this is a beautiful campus, too!

          Well, you can't see it, but behind the bambini, are clowns, who juggled and amused the kids!  It topped out at around 85 today - great day!
            And, we went to see the 'Night Sky' at Flandrau Planetarium - the kids loved it!  It was a half hour show...the narrator had a soothing voice...the seats were comfy and reclined...so, as the sun set in the show, I fell asleep...waking just as the narrator announced the coming of dawn!
            Then, we went to Target, getting mango smoothies, Kimmy's favorite and a tradition she started with the kids.  Well, the bambini got smoothies, I got my tradional venti black iced tea, 2 pumps of sugar...
             Amy, Tom and Alex came over and we grilled hot dogs and burgers (meanwhile, Angie called for a morale check!  She is great that way!!!) -  we watched Penn State get it's first birth to the Big 10 finals  and then, watched the Arizona Wildcats, get tired in overtime, miss a few good looks and lose to Washington...as time expired.  Dammit.  At least they were on regular cable tv - we usually do not get to see them play.  Alex stayed tonight, to watch Saturday Night Live with Cody and sleep over...
            Betsey and Brian stopped over later for a night cap, as the kids had digressed into a full scale Nerf gun war (thanks Sandy and Jack for the big machine gun for Tonio - he was the big winner tonight!) - we all fel in danger and could not cross the living room without being straffed by darts!

     It HAS been an 'in and out' type of day...am I dreaming?....or not?  But, yesterday morning, I went to Mass at San Xavier, to light candles for Kimmy...and when I went to put a candle at Mary's altar (where Kimmy's smiling face looked back at me from the photo I placed there on her birthday), I saw the dove, sitting on the casket shaped container, with Father Kino in it...look closely, it is on top of his statue, just to the left of Jesus on the crucifix...gave me quiet the start...knowing it was Kimmy...
         Kimmy loved the book festival and what it stood for and enjoyed going there to see the authors and participate in the kid's events...

          This morning, when we woke, I planted some flowers for Kimmy in our St. Francis bird bath that we have on our front porch...she would do this each spring and rotate flowers through, as needed, throughout the summer time.  Alysum being her favorite...

                    I also re-introduced pots to our front yard, placing some purple flowers in this pot and putting the St. Francis from our old home (thanks Shannon and David Conrad for saving him!).  I found that I was just a week or two ahead of the newest shipment of flowers, so I'll update my progress on 'greening up' Kimmy's gardens...Almost weekly, Kimmy would ask me 'do we have enough left over after paying bills for some flowers?  I need some color...'.  How could I deny this sweet, unselfish, girl?  I couldn't.  If she wanted flowers or plants, I was getting them for her, one way or another!  She made our yard a paradise...and we'd sit out back and enjoy the flowers that she had planted, whenever our hectic schedules permitted...

                       Earlier this morning, Brian stopped by to work on the nitcho!  We are out of cement again!
                      When Aut and I stepped out back to say goodnight to Kimmy, we talked about what we learned at the planetarium earlier today and that, we could see the moon, and our beloved Big Dipper, but could not identify anything else...'that's ok, the Big Dipper was yours and Mama's' Autumn said.

                    
            
                       Love,
                          Dave