*Disclaimer* This could be the longest post ever - read at your own risk!
We recently returned from 12 days in hot and sunny Arizona. The kids did great with the travel, Kennedy adjusted to the changes like a champ and we all had a good time with family. Carter never sleeps well when we travel, so to say he was "off" is a slight understatement but he still managed to have lots of fun (in between time outs). I even survived the flight home on my own with the kiddos. Kyle left early Sunday to get back for work and I stayed for another four days. Both kids were very well behaved on the flight and the Alaska Airlines staff were wonderful - free seat for Kennedy, gate pass for my mom and a comped glass of wine for me courtesy of the first class cabin. Lovely.
In addition to spending lots of time in the pool, we played at a few parks, fed the ducks and fished at the pond in my parents neighborhood, had the pleasure of being a part of my brother's wedding, visited the newly opened Children's Museum of Phoenix, discovered Makuto's Island, spent the day at my Aunt's with four of her grandchildren and saw a few friends. Kyle golfed. A lot. So he really enjoyed his vacation too! As usual my mom spoiled us all and really did her best to make it a wonderfully relaxing vacation. I think we took some 800 pictures, so I'll try to post a few of the best here...(if anyone knows how to add a slide show, I'd love a tutorial)
Makuto's Island:Nana and Kennedy enjoyed the "kids under 3 area" while I squeezed and climbed my way through the play structures with Carter.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much Carter enjoyed this place. It was a giant indoor obstacle type place with slides, ladders, zip lines, tunnels, etc. Thankfully I was able to crawl around in there with him as he didn't love going down the slides on his own. I must admit that I was quite tired after our three hours of playing and my elbows were a little worse for wear (those slides were fast!)
Kennedy could not get enough. We are going to have our hands full with this one. She was all about the slides, crawling around and even managed to climb up three stairs on her own. I'm sure if she could have she would have been out jumping, out running and out sliding her brother!
Fun at the park:
Gettin' into his ride
Sliding with Nana
They have a great splash pad area at Desert Breeze Park. Carter wasn't a fan...
But Kennedy loved it!
Uncle Kyle and Nallely's Wedding:
Family pic - Along with a new wife, Kyle has added four kids to his family. They are all very sweet and all seem very happy. (From L to R: Pops, Kate, Kennedy, Carter, Nana, Uncle Kyle, Tony, Nallely, Cindy, Christian and Karina)
Carter was so well behaved and really seemed to enjoy the wedding. He said that his favorite part was taking pictures and drinking the bubbly apple juice.
Unfortunately, Kyle had to fly home earlier that morning so he wasn't there to celebrate with us.
I let Kennedy take a little taste of cupcake. She loved it! I have a feeling that her 1st birthday cake eating experience will be much different than Carter's.
Fun at Aunt Sandy's:
My aunt's two stepdaughters and their kids. (Elise, Jack, Gracie, Carter, Andrew and Kennedy - mom's are Kelly, Stefanie and me)
Fishing and Feeding:
We fed the ducks each night after dinner and some mornings too. This was one of our first days in Arizona and we were at the pond bright and early. The ducks are quite aggressive, though and got Carter twice because his wasn't quite quick enough with the bread.
We discovered that fishing at the pond was a better idea than fishing in the pool. A lot more open space and less bushes and trees to get the line tangled in.
Sweet
Kennedy enjoyed our nightly visits with the ducks, too.
UP!
Nana took Carter to his first "big boy movie". They went and saw Up! Carter was perfectly behaved, didn't barely move and was so excited to tell me all about it when they got home. He loved the popcorn, too!
Golfing at Carter's "course." They greenbelt behind my parents was no longer a park but rather Carter's personal golf course. He so badly wanted to go golfing with Pops and Daddy.
Being silly
Our expert crawler. This girl is going places!
Swimming:
Kennedy didn't swim too much but did enjoy the water for the most part.
His one valiant attempt at swimming. He was scared but did so great madly kicking his legs and propelling himself around the pool.
A little special? At least he looks the part :)
He wasn't nearly as adventurous in the pool as last time. He spent most of his time on the shallow step but did venture out in the security of our arms.
Check out those pink cheeks
Children's Museum:
Hopefully the only motorcycle he'll ever ride!
This was Carter's favorite part - gassing up the motorcycle!
This museum was great - about three times the size of the one in Portland.
Kennedy had a great time crawling all around. Her gross motor skills really took off during our two week trip and she's moving
all the time now!
How cute are these three? We are so thankful that Stacy and Bennett were able to spend the day with us on Monday and we look forward to more time together next week. I really love that my kids will have a cousin (or perhaps cousinS?!?!) so close in age. My cousins were 9 and 12 years older than me...so not a lot of play dates for us :) I figure this is an easier way to provide my children with sibling-like play and big family fun.
We didn't plan their matching stripes, but aren't they cute? Not the best pictures, but getting three squirming little ones to look at the camera together was a challenge!
We love little B!
Carter convinced Stacy to race around the house. Don't you just love Aunties? Carter certainly loves his!
