Arizona

Well, we just had our first family trip of the year and our first LONG road trip! We decided to visit my brother and his wife in Phoenix, Arizona for an extended weekend. We couldn't afford to fly, so we drove. We broke the trip into two days going there and drove straight through on the way home.

We stopped in Mesquite, Nevada on Wednesday and stayed the night. Both kids were great in the car and we now know we can make it to St. George without any blow ups. We decided to go through Vegas on our way there and enjoy a brunch at a buffet. We parked at the Belagio and toured the hotel for a little while.

Sarah loved the butterfly house and wanted to ride on the carosule which we told her was just a decoration. I don't think she really believed us, though. Because what decoration would be so big and light up? Anyway, we managed to walk the strip for a little while and found a really good buffet for breakfast.

Back on the road again. We drove all the way to Queen Creek, which is pretty far from everything in Phoenix. We arrived just in time for dinner and off to bed with the kids. We planned our day for the next day.

We woke up and off we drove to a real Ghost Town!! Sarah loved it and wanted to go into every shop. Thank goodness we got there before anything really opened up. We were working on UT time with the kids. We stay and took lots of fun pictures, including one where Sarah was in jail!! We also walked into the church where Sarah wanted to go the pue and give a talk/sing. I guess that means Mommy sings too much in church.

We drove to a lake nearby and enjoyed the sights, at which point the kids were through with being in the car. So we drove back to the house and Sarah went swimming. After swimming we were off again. I went to the olive oil store with Justin and my mom while Jordan stayed behind with the kids. It was really neat and I bought some yummy olive oils and am looking forward to some cooking. After we got home we loaded the kids in the car again and we went to the Greek festival in Mesa. We thought it would be bigger than it was, but it was pretty small. We ate dinner there and walked around enjoying the nice weather. We headed home with two very sleepy kids.

On Saturday we went to the water park! It was a lot of fun. We even convinced Sarah to go on a large, big red waterslide with Mommy and Daddy. Sarah is so tall she was able to go on about 70% of the waterslides there. She's only 3 so a large waterslide is pretty intimidating. With the promise of popcorn as her reward, she agreed to go on a waterslide with Jordan and me. As soon as we got off the slide, she said: "Can I have my popcorn now?" Well, Jordan held to his promise and got her some popcorn.

On Sunday Nana, Justin, and Lindsey went to their Stake Conference while Jordan, the kids, and me went to visit my friend Rose. It was great being able to catch up with her. I hadn't seen her in 3 years or so. She lives in Scottsdale, so we had another long drive in the car with the kids. After we got home, and Daniel enjoyed a short nap, we were on the road again to South Mountain for a hike. We drove around the State Park for a while and found ourselves at the very top overlooking all of Phoenix. It was really beautiful. Sarah liked hiking around, and was very careful not to fall onto the rocks that could hurt her. Daniel was stuck in his backpack, which Jordan wore, and off we went. We didn't stay at the top long, since all the hikes there were steep and near cliffs--not ideal for kids. We found a great trail below that wasn't too difficult. Daniel was car sick, poor kido, so Sarah and I went while Jordan stayed with the baby.

Monday we just relaxed knowing the next day was a long drive home. It was a great trip and can't wait to go and visit again. Don't know when that will be, but hopefully soon. Driving in a car with a 7 month old was much harder than driving with a 3 year old. Sarah is a great car kid. I sure hope the weather in Logan catches up to Phoenix soon!!!