Do you have a minute? Or possibly 3,292? This is getting ridiculous. But hopefully after this post, I will be all caught up! And to think I didn't take any pictures the first week we were there! Sheesh.
Park Time!
Well, I made it quite clear that this vacation was almost as much a trip to see family as it was to get away from the snow! Collin was loving the sunshine and chance to play at the park. Shelley took us to this little one behind Dana Landing and afterward we went to Cosda Vida and got the boys free quesadillas (did you know they did that?! Cuz I didn't til now) and Shelley and I shared a sweet pork salad. OMG it was divine! Up until then I had told myself that our homemade version was just as good. Well, guess what. It's not! Not even close to the heaven I scarfed on that day.
We also did a play date with Karen and her girls one day and Leah and her kids another day. That was also the day that I snagged some Sonic for us to picnic with, and was kindly sharing my Route 44 low cal, diet cherry limeade with Collin when he dropped the cup on the cement, smashing out the bottom and subsequently gushing all my precious liquid all over concrete. That sidewalk didn't even know how lucky it was.
On another morning, Shelley and I took our kids (+Craig) to a place called Bounce U that had lots of inflatable bounce houses to play on. They also had a tube that simulated a hurricane and we thought it would be funny to watch the kids freak. It worked. We had to snag Rusty and Collin out, for fear of CPS being called out on us.
Weston also had fun with his cousins, although Secily, we learned, likes to dominate. :)
Craig has a December birthday (poor Craig) so to make sure he had his own celebration, the whole fam damly went to Amazing Jakes!
About half of us boarded this roller coaster, but I think the other half had more fun watching our faces. Man, it had some centrifugal force! When it was over, I looked at Collin and said, "Was that fun?!" He just shook his head and vehemently said, "NO Mom, that was NOT fun."
Girl's Night!
We grew up in the same ward as some fun girls. And they're still fun. I love getting together with them. We were sad Jessica couldn't join us at the ever fabulous Cheesecake Factory. We probably hogged up this table for at least 4 hours. It wasn't long enough though! As rarely as we all are able to get together, we can still pick up right where we left off. We went through N'SYNC, personal progress and crushes together, now we're tackling diapers, Pinterest and hubbies together. Love.
Scottsdale!
Last year I went with my mom and sisters for a full day of shopping in Scottsdale and we decided that needed to become tradition! Everyone needs to be hoity toity once a year, right? Going to that mall really does open your eyes to what the rich and plastic surgery altered look like.
Startin' out with some deep fried pickles at the Grand Lux!
This is where me and my caramel chicken first met. It was love at first bite.
Good old Nordi's, where many pairs of Toms were purchased. Jael and I still trying to muster the courage. In all honesty, they are not cute. Admit it. It's like wearing a canvas bag on your foot. But their comfort might persuade me to buy a pair at some point.
This really was one of my favorite days though! We have fun finding clothes for my mom and playing {fashion show} in the dressing room of Ann Taylor. All of us squeezed on a bench in front of her door. And then she's a good sport in Forever 21 while we are like kids in a candy shop.
We ended it right with a trip to Sprinkles for some ridiculously priced cupcakes. I love my mom and sisters! That includes Jael. :) It reminded me that as much as I hate being pregnant, I really need to pop out at least 2 girls so I can do this with my daughters someday!
Mesa High Track!
One morning, my mom was watching Shelley's boys, so she had the idea to take them all to the Mesa High track with the skitters and let them get some energy out. We spent more time walking/running then skittering but we all had a good time. Collin struggled with the rhythm of pushing on the skitter (it's like a little scooter that you sit on) so I sat on it, then put him on my lap and started pushing! Well that wore me out quick and after a few yards I stopped and announced, "I'm pooped!" To which Collin turned around and with a slightly disgusted look on his face questioned, "Mommy, you pooped?!!" Then he got off and pointed to the football field and admonished, "Mommy you go poop over there." I had to giggle.
It was a warm day! Shed those shirts!
Sedona
On New Years Day, we drove a couple hours north to Sedona to be
with the Evans at a time share that they have up there. Sedona is known for it's pretty red rock. It is quite scenic. And this year it was beautiful weather too! We took the kids to a park to play for a while, then spent the evening eating and playing games. We were staying in the room right next to the one everyone was hanging out in, so it was really nice to be able to put the boys down to bed and just hang out with the adults and play games for a while.
About an hour after getting home from Sedona, we were off to Tempe Town Lake to go on a big bike ride with my family! We had never done this before, but it was a lot of fun. In fact, it may have been my favorite activity of the whole trip. Minus the bike seat I was sitting on. Oh the hiney! It was mighty sore!
My mom was worried about it getting cold after the sun went down, so she put on THERMALS under her jeans! So funny. It was in the 70's. Possibly low 60's at the end.
Just look at that sun! I loved riding through the desert landscape. Reminded me all over again how much I love Arizona. A desert rat to the end.
A big thanks to Reddin and Karen for letting us borrow their bikes! The infant seat and trailer were perfect. We need to invest in this stuff.
I'll bet you're wondering if we even rode, or just took pictures all day, huh? :)
At the end, we rode down Mill Ave. to get some Five Guys for dinner. I must say, I was impressed. Not a burger gal but I really liked mine. And they had those cool new soda fountains that give you a bazillion options. Raspberry Sprite, vanilla root beer and peach Fanta, coming up!
After riding back to the cars, we drove to get some frozen yogurt at Yogurt Land. Soooo good! I miss frozen yogurt!
Hot Tub it Up!
'Tis better to hot tub than not to tub :)
-Adrian Dayton
The day before we left we finally got the hot tub warmed up for a dip! It was a pretty warm day, so at first we just got it so it just felt like a heated pool. I gotta say, it was niiiice.
Then the boys got restless and started running around and taking dips in the shallow end of the pool. Straight crazy. I couldn't even put my foot in without shivering. But they were having a ball.
Then Collin followed Lane to the top of the rock steps leading to the slide. We all screamed, I chased him back down and that was that. Not 10 min. later, Rusty runs to the top of the slide, we all scream and he takes no heed and starts down! Trav ran and bless his heart, jumped in! Well the slide wasn't wet so Rusty didn't even make it all the way down, but Trav pulled him in anyway so he could get the heck out of there. The water temp was about 43 degrees. No biggie. We turned the heat up in the hot tub after that.
Glorious sun. I want you back.
Random!
One day I found Collin with every pair of underwear he owned on. And I had just done laundry so we're talking nigh unto 10 pairs.
Weston turned into a good little eater! He was loving pieces of bread and....... wait for it....... a bottle!! Yes! Grandma got him taking a few ounces from a bottle and when we got back to Buffalo I kept trying and he's now a full fledged bottle drinker. I can't tell you how happy I am. The first time I held him and he was drinking from a bottle, I was euphoric! Words aren't adequate. It was like I was released. And I know he's 11 months, but that kid will be getting a bottle for as long as I can manage. Who knows, we may even be seeing a fat roll soon.
This was not an uncommon sight later in the afternoon. The boys stayed up late nearly every night so Collin slipped back into the habit of an afternoon nap.
Grandma Time!
My mom was so great to help with the boys. I would have gone nuts without her. She gave tons of baths, took them on walks, got them yummy food (as in fast food.... Collin started knowing that he could ask Grandma for a hot dog and she'd go get Freddy's for him!) and watched him many a night so Trav and I could either be with his family or go see friends.
I walked in one day to see him getting a piano lesson and loving it. He only started crying when he saw me.
On our last night we went and got Nielsen's with Chase and Shalyse while my mom watched the boys. When we came in late, we walked downstairs and found this. My mom rocking the baby to sleep. There was never a more natural place for her to be than in her rocking chair with whomever was the baby at the time. It melted my heart. I saw this quote that I LOVE and think fits perfectly:
{The only thing better than having you for a MOM is my children having you for a GRANDMA.}
The day we left we spent the whole morning cleaning and packing, so my mom took Collin for hours to get him out of our hair. In her letter to Elder Davy, this is how their morning went:
"That morning though I played with Collin so that they could pack. I took
him in the car to the LDS bookstore to get a little Nephi character toy but
they were out so I just bought some other things and we looked at all the
books and other stuff. As we were driving home I felt like going to Sonic
to get some tater tots. So when we were at the drive through Collin saw a
picture of some ice cream with a cherry and he really wanted that and so I
got it for him but he couldn’t eat it until we got home. So he proudly
walked in the door with his treat and showed his mom and dad and he knew
they couldn’t take it away because Grandma had bought it for him. It was
so funny. So at 11am before any lunch he was eating “Tapper Tots” and his
ice cream. Then later on Paula and Wayne came over to visit. We were
talking and I asked Collin what his name was and he said, “I’m Collin.”
Then I asked him who she was and pointed to Paula and he said, “That’s
Grandma Evans.” Then I asked him what my name was and he said, “You’re
Sharon the ice cream Grandma!” and the funniest part about this was the
huge sneaky smile he had on his face."
Love it. Grandma Icecream is quickly rising the ranks as his favorite person ever.
On the plane ride home and still to this day he will ask to go to Grandma's house. I hate having to tell him that that's not possible.
Not Pictured:
Can't get a picture of everything!
*We also enjoyed a night with Christopher and Jael, eating dinner at their place. (And picking from his wide array of perfumes and colognes! Are you sure you had to quit that job Christopher? :) They've only been in Arizona a few months and have now since moved to Utah for school. They are the family travelers!
* We finally made it to the temple! It's about time. That will be making our New Year's resolution list for 2012. Now I can completely appreciate how amazing it is to have a temple 10 minutes away, with sessions running every 1/2 hour. The luxury!
*We did NOT make it to the temple lights with our kids. My one regret! How did we not make this happen? Sadness.
*I had the best night with the Evans ladies seeing Footloose and eating at Cafe Rio. LoVeD that movie! Seriously I was dancing in my seat with every song. And it was only slightly awkward in a couple of scenes sitting next to the mother-in-law. Good thing she's the most laid back MIL ever. :)
*I was super excited to hang out with my BF/CF (best friend/cousin forever) Leah! She came over a couple of nights after I got into town and we talked the night away. (What we do best.) I think the Rocky Mountain brownies gave us the energy we needed! (no, that's not code for anything dangerous... just the richest, most decadent brownie ever) I think it was around 2:30am when we finally called it a night. Dang sleep. I LOVE Leah!
The night before we left and the morning before we took off, I had to keep blinking away the tears. I didn't want to go back to Buffalo! I just want to live by family. I think in years past, I've been sad, but couldn't let myself really divulge in that feeling because we still had a ways to go! You have to hold it in for the long haul. Now, I just wanted to fast forward through these next few months and graduate already! It's so close. But I had to give myself a little pep talk. This semester will fly by anyway and then this amazing experience will be over and that will be even sadder. Have to live in the moment!
And what a blessing, there was hardly any snow on the ground when we landed! The Shaws had turned our heat on AND gotten us a pizza for dinner. Walking into our house felt like walking into a dollhouse. It just felt so small! No vaulted ceilings or wide open spaces. And as always, the smell of a cabin permeated. Days later it still didn't feel like we were "back". Now it does. And the reality of needing to sell our house and truly figure out where we are going next, is sinking in. This is scary stuff. Sometimes I still find myself wishing I could defer to my parents to make decisions and not be an adult.
I miss this face!!
(There were about 8 pictures like this on my camera from the cutest little sis ever! Miss you Marcie Moo!)
Needless to say, it was an amazing trip!
