Spring in AZ = Nice; Spring in CO = Brrrr

A while back, Kade and I got the itch to go someplace warm. We called up my brother, who lives in Arizona, and invited ourselves over for a visit. Packing was interesting--I didn't really have much time to prepare, because I'd been at my sister's house until the week before we left. Luckily, Maryn had exactly 7 short sleeve shirts (from clearance racks last summer) and Ailee had a few clothes left over from Maryn's baby years. Most things were either too big or too small, but we made it work. Maryn was especially excited to wear summer clothes. Wow, the things 4 year olds look forward to.
We flew down after Kade got off work on Wednesday, and made it in just in time to put two tired kids to bed. On Thursday, for our first order of business, we went to a Spring Training Game: Mariners vs. Giants. The kids spent most of the time fighting over who got so sit where, spilling water bottles, and eating cotton candy.

I think I caught a few moments of the baseball game.

Mostly, though, I was basking in the warmth of the sun, and took pictures of everyone. Maryn was good enough to give me wink as she tried out Kade's sunglasses.



Ailee, just being Ailee.


My handsome brother, Ryan. [snicker]

My sister in law, April.

Carson, my nephew.

My other nephew, Ayden.

The next day, after realizing that my skin was so not used to being in the sun, we went out for a little light hiking. I was sure to use sun screen this time. We drove out to Papagos Park, had a picnic, then hiked (and by "hiked" I mean went for a leisurely walk) up a hill.

Checking out the shade from the overhang...or cave, depending how old you are.

The kids were even brave enough to continue the climb up a rather unsteady mountain side. Luckily we all made it down safely.

Kade and Ailee, not really the risk-takers when it comes to super slidy rocks.

A veiw of Phoenix

Saturday, Kade and I took some time to visit old friends that happened to live in the area. First on our agenda was the Wilkes Family, who we met at the park. It was so fun to see them all again. I was glad baby Wilkes was good enough to wait to make her grand entrance into the world until after we got to visit.

Avery, Maryn and Carter

That afternoon, we packed up the fishing poles and headed out to the Lake by Ryan's house for some "fishing." I call it "fishing" because nobody really caught anything, and mostly the kids just whined because they couldn't figure out how to cast the line. But, I got some cute pictures, anyhow.

Maryn, showing off her stuff.

Ryan and Ayden working on their casting.

Who knows what's going on in this picture.

That evening, we went out to dinner with some friends from our Clarksville days, the Hardys. It was so fun to see them again, and see how much their kids have grown. It's amazing what 5 and 1/2 years does.

On Sunday, after church, we went out to the temple to walk around the grounds. There was a big field where the Easter Pageant stage was set up, that was full of nice soft grass. The kids all took off their shoes and ran around for a bit.

After a stroll around the grounds, and finding out that cactus needles often fall into the rocks around the cactus, we stopped for some family pictures.

The next morning, with Kade having flown home, and Ryan back at work, it was just us girls vs. the kids. So, we packed up some lunches and headed out to the zoo. Our favorite part was the Monkey exhibit, where they roamed free. They were pretty cute.

More little monkeys in front of the rhinos.

My final day in Arizona was spent shopping. I found a cute coat (and lucky I did....it's snowing here, now) and a 40 lb box of oranges to bring home with us. And yes, 40 lbs of oranges is a lot of oranges. At least we all have gotten plenty of vitamin C in our diets. That night, April and I pampered ourselves with facials, while Ryan was so good to watch all 4 kids. He's a trooper.

What a great trip. We went on a perfect week, and now I yearn for the nice weather. I think it might be a while before we get that here. Spring will come.....Spring will come.....Spring will come....