Gem Show 2015!

I almost forgot! In the middle of our crazy February (shuttling back and forth between school, volleyball games, Girl Scout meetings and the like), we somehow found time to sneak in a quick visit to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.

Not a gem or a mineral; just a cool sculpture we saw at the gem show

The Gem & Mineral Show happens every year in Tucson, and it's simply...huge. It involves literally dozens of events and hundreds upon hundreds of vendors set up at locations all over the city. There's no way to reduce it to a "single" event (although supposedly, the "main event" takes place at the Tucson Convention Center...but who goes to that? No one I know). Since moving to Tucson, I have sampled some Gem Show wares a handful of times. However, the first time I took the kids was last February, when we went to check out some awesome dinosaur fossils in the midst of all the other fine minerals. This year, we decided to visit the Gem Show vendors operating behind the Kino Sports Complex, just off Ajo and I-10.

This year, the girls and I didn't have as much time to hang out looking at gems. As I mentioned above, this February was jam-packed with extracurricular activities, and most other activities were just "filling in the gaps." Our Gem Show excursion was a prime example of that; we did it on a Friday afternoon, following a doctor's appointment, before heading back to Sahuarita for volleyball practice, dinner with Grandma Barrett, and Girl Scouts. Whew; this was quite a busy afternoon!

But we still got to see some pretty amazing stuff...like these huge sculptures here:

The whole tent and surrounding grounds were covered with mind-blowing sculptures like these. The girls were constantly asking me how much they cost. All I could think of was the response: "If you have to ask, you can't afford it, kid!"

While the large sculptures were beautiful, we all had more fun venturing into the tents and checking out the smaller items, both carved and rough.

The cute little skulls were my favorite!

Lorelai enjoyed the fossils the most.

It is fun to run your hands over these beautiful stones; hopefully we don't depreciate their value too much in doing so!

As was the case last year, there were a handful of generous vendors who let the girls walk away with free samples (mostly uncut stones, but no less exciting for that).

The girls were happy with their stones; I was happy that they were happy. Sadly, we didn't have a ton of time; only about an hour and a half, and we barely saw half of the vendors! Such is the nature of the Gem Show, however; it's pretty much impossible for any mortal human to take it all in at one go. And it's definitely impossible to do it if you have three hyper girls in tow, and you have to hurry back home to get those girls to volleyball practice. Still, it made for some lovely pictures and good memories.