The One with the Return to Arizona

It's actually been a long time since I've been home.  Last Thanksgiving in fact.  Even though I have been able to see a few family members since then (Lisa and Mom have both been up here to Utah) I was getting pretty homesick.  I really miss the sun during the long Utah winter!  Anyway, one day in early June Amy and I were talking on the phone and she mentioned that her babysitter was going on vacation for two weeks.  She jokingly asked me to come down and help her out and I said I probably couldn't because I had to save up my vacation days in case any of the Young Women in my ward decided to go to Girls' Camp.  None of them can ever decide to attend anything until the day before, but more on that later.  As it turned out, none of the girls did go to camp so I had a few spare vacation days.  I was able to find a decently priced plane ticket to Phoenix and surprised Amy by telling her I could come down the second week of her sitter's vacation.  I wish I'd been able to make it for the first week because everyone else got together for a family barbecue.  The week before I came!  So sad :(  That was the week of the Fourth of July though and tickets were way expensive.  In the end, I still got to go home.  Mom and Dad made another trip back up to Phoenix to come see me.  They must love me or something.  Mom, Amy and I made a diaper cake for Heather.  I've never made one before.  So easy!  Going to have to work that into my crafty arsenal.  Mom also showed us how to make veggie pizza.  It's basically raw veggies on Pillsbury rolls.  Healthy and delicious.  I need to add that to our dinner menu also.  The rest of the week was basically a test to see if I could handle four kids by myself.  I think I did a pretty good job :)

On Sunday Amy got stir crazy and decided we were all going hiking in Sedona.  We thought it might be a little cooler up there.  It was cooler than the Phoenix area but still over 100 degrees.  And no shade trees.  It was a short hike.

We forgot a hat for Sethie and he did not want to keep Ray's on.  Even though it was a totally awesome hat!

 Kaden doing some parkour :)  America's Next Ninja Warrior?

Family picture!

Seth is such a sweetheart.  He was so good the whole time and just hung out in the baby backpack.

I don't know where they got this awesome Radio Flyer trike but Dillon was a beast on it.  So cute!!

Amy has 4 kids!!  Sometimes that still shocks me.  4 kids and I don't have any yet.

Arizona is beautiful.  Our camera was being really cooperative all week and I got some great pictures.

Cute girl!

Kaden is king of the rock!

It wouldn't be an adventure without a poopy diaper.  The funny thing is we put it in the diaper bag to carry it out.  Guess who carried the diaper bag?  Me.  I forgot and then thought "Good grief it stinks!  Oh yeah, I'm carrying a bag of crap!"

Me, Kaden and Makayla on top of the rock.

Waving is my go-to pose :)

We bought some Powerades and water but even on that short hike we drank it all.  Dillon must have overdone it on the bike because he threw up right at the end.  There's nothing like pink puke.  And Seth had a runny nose.  They both slept the whole way home.  Overall, still a good day hanging out with family.

Monday was my first day with the kids by myself.  Eeek!  I have to admit I was kind of nervous.  Justin and I have been debating lately how close we want our kids to be and this was a good test.  Closer in age definitely = harder!

Twinners!  It was fun dressing them in coordinating outfits.  I don't know how but I always catch Dillon mid-air.  Seth thought this was so fun!  Don't tell Amy I let her kids jump on the bed :)

Since this was right after the Fourth, Dillon was obsessed with "Pop-Its."  I tried to stretch the boxes out throughout the week.  Dillon would have popped them all in one day!

Popping with his feet.

We slipped and slid almost every morning.  The boys love to be outside so I would spend a couple hours with them outside every day before Kaden and Makayla woke up.

Nice action shot!

Makayla joined us when she woke up.  She's such a good helper!

She made a much bigger splash than Dillon.  I don't have a picture but when I slid, I flew out the end.  Apparently this is a toy for children :)

Where was Kaden during all this fun?  Sleeping of course!

I don't know how comfortable this was.  You would think he woke up with a pounding headache.

Makayla's friend Morgan came over to play and they spent hours building cardboard towers.  Makayla is inside all of the boxes.  She has such an imagination.  Why do we even buy her toys?

  

Dillon loves playing with his Sissy.  His towers were never very tall but he loved being a part of the game.

Dillon and Fonzie

 

Seth is a great spectator.  He's also a good eater.  This is where he spent most of his time.  He ate almost 2 whole PB&J sandwiches by himself!

We also played beauty parlor and Dillon wanted to get his hair done.  So cute!

Kids in the cupboard.  Dillon couldn't figure out why he didn't fit :)

Love the teeth!

This is still Monday!  We fed the turtle.

And played in the pool.

And then finally they were worn out and went to bed :)

Tuesday morning we loaded up all the kids (yep, even Kaden woke up early enough to go) and dropped Amy off at work.  Then we kept driving all the way to Tucson to visit Wendy and her kiddos.  Trevy, Landon and Callie had a morning art class with Melissa so we went to Timmy's swim lesson.

Timmy loves the water!

What a cute little wave!

He's so brave!  Or a dangerous daredevil!  That boy will just jump right off- whether you're there to catch him or not!

Um can you even tell she's pregnant!  Geez.

Dillon entertained himself by throwing dead leaves.  He also picked a big booger and then stood there with it on the tip of his finger, like he didn't know what to do with it.  I thought it was hilarious!!

After Timmy's swim lesson we took all the kids to Eegee's for lunch.  I love Eegee's!  Kaden really liked the slush.  We waited half an hour and then went to one of the public pools that had a baby pool and a high dive.  Unfortunately the baby pool was being refilled (someone threw up in it the day before, eww) but the lifeguards were nice and gave all the little ones life vests.  Trevy, Landon, Callie, Timmy and Dillon had a blast jumping into the shallow end of the pool and then monkeying along the side back to the steps.  They all did really well wearing the life vests and didn't whine at all.  Kaden and Makayla hung out in the deep end where Kaden tried to convince Makayla to go off the high dive.  She didn't, but I got some nice diving shots of both of them.

Excellent technique.  9.5!

We were supposed to pick Amy up from work so we headed out early.  It also started to rain just as we left the pool so I guess it was good timing.  Unfortunately Kaden left his glucose checker at Wendy's house and we had to turn back around.  Then it started to really pour.  That morning I had left my phone at Amy's house and she had left hers in the car so we had no way to get in touch with each other!  Thankfully Wendy is on top of things and she called Ray who was able to pick Amy up from work.  We got home much later than planned but had lots of fun with cousins.

The rest of the week was more of the same- trying to keep up with two very active little boys.  I didn't get tired until Friday, thankfully.  I did notice that was when Dillon got away with more mischief, like climbing up the pantry shelves before I noticed.  Sneaky!  How do little kids know when you're not paying close enough attention?! Here are some more pictures of our week.

Dillon teaching Seth how to ride the big boy bike.

More slip 'n' slide!

We may have repeated a few activities.  That's me in the box tower.

I tried to spend some one-on-one time with my girl Makayla.  Man that is hard with two little ones!  We made monogrammed cupcakes for everyone.  Makayla made the frosting from scratch!  Note the orange and blue F in the back.  I was starting to miss my hubby a little.

The house next to Ray and Amy's is finally being built.  The little boys loved watching the big trucks work.

Dillon didn't watch too long though.  He had some popping to do!

It was a huge mess so we taught him to throw them in the street.  Sometimes they didn't pop though and then cars would drive by and stop to see what was wrong with their engine.  Too funny!!

Listen to Dillon encouraging Seth.  "Going, going, going."  Adorable!

You can see how fast Dillon is on that trike.  He rode it all week long.

Makayla posed Seth in this tractor wagon.

And then Dillon wanted to be in the picture.

Apparently Seth doesn't like sharing the spotlight.

I am such a good sitter!  We jump on beds and spread dirt all over the carport.  The kids were always clean!

 

Monsoon sky.  So cool.

 

This was so cute.  Makayla and I were outside watching the lightning and Dillon got scared for us.  "Guys, it's dark out there!"  I really wanted to catch a loud thunder but it didn't come till right after I turned the camera off.  It was so loud it woke up Ray!

This picture was too cute not to include!

What a fun but crazy week!  As it turned out Aunt Davene, my dad's older sister, passed away while I was there so Mom and Dad made a third trip up in as many weekends.  It was good to see more family again, including aunts, uncles and cousins, but definitely a sad reason for the get together.  I was glad that I had somehow timed my trip so well.  Lisa and I used to spend a week every summer at Davene's house while Mom was at Girls' Camp.  We loved to swim in her pool and she had some of the coolest toys and games that I always looked forward to playing with.  Aunt Davene has had a lot of health problems so we're glad she's no longer in pain and is with Grandma, but we will miss her.