Arizona 2016 recap

This seems to be an every other year experience. Mainly because of the rate at which we were having babies. So hopefully this will become a yearly family trip. Because we LOVE it. Both Kyle and I said multiple times how much more fun it gets with each year. I think the ages of our boys helps tremendously. We weren't so uptight about schedules and naps, it helped that the youngest is so "go with the flow".

I don't think he cried the entire trip. Just perma-grin plastered on his sweet, dimply face.

Most nights he wound up in bed with us, but that's pretty much normal. Cole talked our ear off about going to the "beach".... we finally had to break it to him that he must be thinking of the pool and not the beach. Thankfully, the pool seemed to be an OK substitute.

The only disappointing thing about the trip was the weather. It never fails, we ALWAYS bring the rain and clouds with us. Every. Time. We even purposely waited until late spring to go, and we had clouds, rain, and lightening. The evenings were cool and everyone kept saying how "unusual" this was. So, I actually never went in the pool past my knees, it was just too cold. Kyle, on the other hand, he was a champ. And seriously should get some kind of award. He took the boys swimming all but one day, every time there was wind and it was cold and breezy. And he still did it...with a smile on his face, might I add.

The boys of course loved it, cold or not.

Their Grandpa should get an award too, because some how he always got suckered into the pool, even when made plans to sit on the side only. Someone can't resist pleading blue eyes.

And when Davis wasn't taking his nap poolside (have I mentioned, he's easily the easiest baby EVER?!) he loved getting his toes wet and kicking around. he may have accidentally gotten dunked and still came up squinty and smiling.

But man, those after swim snuggles sure are sweet.

When we weren't swimming, we spent our time exploring. We spent one lovely morning at a natural reservation.

Cole was so cute, he has an ongoing rock collection at home, and is always on the lookout for cool rocks. He found some really pretty ones while on this walk and wanted to take them home. I told him he needed to ask first (knowing full well, that since it was a reserve, the answer would be no) But bless the man's heart, you could tell he almost let Cole take them, he had the hardest time telling him "no". But they offered a little booklet with a map and a free stamp on the hand, and suddenly the all was well and the rocks were neatly placed on the ground to come find next time.

Oh, and I completely failed in the packing department, forgot to pack Cole his keens and any type of sandal whatsoever. Thanks to Grandma, who saved the trip by picking up some flip-flops for him at target.They are now his favorite go-to shoe. I just love that he can put them on by himself.

We absolutely had to stop at the train park. Cole has been talking about it since going there two years before. He begged to go on the Merry-Go-Round, so we got him all situated. As soon as it started moving he yelled for it to stop, and gripped that horse harder than I've ever seen him grip before. I spent most of the first half of the ride convincing him that I would not let him fall off.  Then he later freaked Bennett out and convinced him that riding it was a horrible idea, right after we had bought Bennett tickets to ride....so guess who had to use the tickets? Yep, Kyle and I were the lucky ones. We got a few odd stares, and I reconfirmed the fact that I do not like rides that go round and round and round.

Cole kept seeing kids with balloons, so of course he no longer cared about trains. We HAD to hunt down balloons and Grandma and Grandpa sweetly treat each boy to a balloon color of their choice. Bennett's sadly lasted about five minutes before he let it slip from his wrist....sad day for him. But he was fine because he proudly took over Davis' purple one, only for the balloon to come untied from his string...that was tied tightly to his wrist.....

We played in the caboose, Davis woke up from his nap, so he got to join his brothers. And from the look on his face, he was beyond ecstatic, Cole on the other hand....

And Bennett refused to move from his "Mr conductor" platform.

Is there anything cuter than chubby little feet and chubby little toes in saltwater sandals?

No. There's not. Except for maybe the cute little baby wearing them. 

This park is seriously amazing. They have a miniature train ride, and lots of different areas to play and explore. The boys always love the playground, it's huge and has areas for all ages.

It also happens to be not to far away from a particular burger joint, that we, along with the rest of America cannot get enough of.

The only way we could convince Davis of wearing the hat was to give him a "taste" of Grandma's milkshake. We thought he was only getting a wee bit through the straw, because they are really thick. Turns out he sucked it pretty much dry.

And he wouldn't even consider letting that straw leave his lips.

Happy camper right there.

We also, spoiled the boys with an ice cream trip later in the week. And all I can say is...Salt & Straw, you have ruined us. The boys loved it, of course....but all I could do was dream about how much better Salt & Straw was and how much I wanted some right that minute.

Cole was so sweet though, and kept sneaking over to share his ice cream with the littlest. Who unfortunately had been asleep when we ordered. Good thing he has such a generous big brother, who did so without us even asking him to.

Some of my favorite moments happen when we are all just chilling at the house. The boys love to play in the backyard. And we are always on cactus alert, to make sure no one falls on one.

Davis was never without a ball in his hand. Either kicking it or throwing it.

And I mean, really...those thighs, no shirt, diaper and sandals. Perfect Arizona attire. He was just so happy all week long.

Give the boy a shovel, and he will dig for days.

And Bennett, who would not let me take a normal picture of him the entire time. But he would act out different emotions, the kid is so  expressive!

He brings so much energy wherever he goes. I just love him so much.

And Cole. Such a good big brother, always thinking of others, balloons, and showing off his muscles.

We made sure there was plenty of time to relax, snuggle and rest. Especially since we were finally getting a short break from illness.

And of course, we ended our time at a park to get the wiggles out before getting on the plane...which was delayed...which was not fun....which made for the longest plane ride home....ever. I felt like a royal circus.

The second we all boarded the plane, everyone was getting buckled up. Davis leaned over and spewed puke all down my leg and on Cole's. Cole, of course started screaming, "DAVIS THREW UP ON ME, GROSS, SICK, EWE IT'S DRIPPING ON MY LEG!!!" I quietly tried to shush him,  not wanting to bring even more attention to the matter, while cleaning up the mess. We were already getting enough stink eyes, and there were several wearing face masks. Perhaps we should have thought of that.

Then Bennett figured out how to unbuckle himself...so that was fun, the entire trip I'm trying to re-buckle him, while holding a tired, unusually fussy, crying baby. We played pass-the-baby-back-and-forth-across-the-aisle for about 2 hours straight. During which I turned my eyes from Bennett for two seconds, only to turn back and see him strip out of his t-shirt and it getting tossed in the air. I'm sure the passengers behind him were confused or scared or both.  I spent the next 10 minutes convincing him to put it back on and not to strip down any further and that yes, he still needed to keep his seat belt buckled. We let them have juice and crackers and whatever else the flight attendants tossed their way. I was beyond caring, just as long as it kept them occupied and happy.  I finally convince Davis to stop screaming and go to sleep after I nursed him for the 50th time. How I really wish I could remember some of the other comical things that happened, because I remember thinking, this would make a great story...later, not now....but later after my head hits my own bed.

All in all it was such a fun trip. We love our time with Kyle's parents and coming home is always a shock to the spoiled littles systems. It's always hard to get back into routine and for them to understand that we aren't going to have treats and ice cream everyday. Lots of battles and of course sickness quickly followed. But how thankful we were for our time away, we needed the breather. Next time though, Arizona, I'm counting on you to shine your hot Arizona sun for me. Until then....