Sunny Escape!

Every year my friend Sarah and I create our "winter survival plan." Winter is hard for me to enjoy - no just running outside whenever you feel like it - first you have to bundle yourself up, and bundle all your kids up...and I really don't like wearing shoes...not that there aren't good things about winter but it's not my favorite. So, back to our "survival plan." This year my plan has three parts: first, you've gotta have at least one sunny escape to look forward to; second, we go run around like crazy at the Classic Fun Center on $2 Tuesdays ($2 per kid, adults are free = awesome!); third, stretch Christmas through January and then jump into Valentine's Day and before you know it you're seeing the sun again! Oh, and random exercise whenever I can fit it in with a baby - like random runs in the snow when Chad comes home early - and jump roping.

We got an awesome sunny escape over Martin Luther King weekend - Chad had to go to a work seminar in sunny Phoenix, so we (me and the kids) definitely wanted to come with him! I decided there was no way I wanted to take a 12+ hour drive with a nursing baby, so we flew over. I was super excited to let the girls learn what it's like to be in an airplane. Jozie flew to Cancun with us when she was 6 months old, but that doesn't really count. The only hitch in our plan was that after we bought the tickets Chad's company decided he needed to be there a day early to teach a class. We didn't want to pay to change all of our tickets, so I took on the adventure of getting me and the kids to Phoenix by myself. Jozie and Haven are pretty awesome, so the big challenges were going to be getting all of our carry-ons and carseats where they needed to be, and keeping Claire sane.

I parked the Pilot at Chad's mom's house, which is pretty close to the airport, and had a taxi pick us up so we could get dropped off right by the terminal. This worked great because the taxi fee was only $17 as opposed to $8/day for parking and we didn't have to take a parking lot shuttle with all our stuff. I had skycap check in the carseats so I wouldn't have to worry about them, and then put Claire and a couple bags on the stroller and had Jozie and Haven each pull a rolling carryon and Jozie carry a backpack. That worked pretty well. They were extra great because they were so excited about getting to go in an airplane. We got through security with help from the workers while Claire screamed. It was pretty crazy. When we got through that I glanced at the boards and read an arrival from Phoenix at the exact time (8:00 p.m.) as our departure and thought it was for us. We headed way down the airport. After about half an hour (including a long delay so Jozie and Haven could try out the moving sidewalks a couple times - pretty cool to move while you're sitting!) we got to the gate and discovered we were in the wrong place. Good thing I didn't want to be rushed and got to the airport 2 1/2 hours before our flight would leave. We went all the way back to where we started and luckily the right gate wasn't too far past security.

Jozie and Haven had a ball meeting random strangers, especially when they learned some of them were going to Phoenix too, and some even lived in Phoenix! We were able to check all of our carryons at the gate, so I had far less luggage to worry about on the plane. That was a huge lifesaver.

When we got on the plane the pilots let Jozie and Haven go in the cockpit and check out all the buttons - pretty cool. We sat down in our seats and Jozie checked out all the magazines, especially the safety brochure. :) Claire was an angel while we flew. Jozie and Haven had a good time opening and closing their trays to the chagrin of the people in front of them. It wasn't a long flight so there wasn't really any boredom.

I still love flying. I didn't see the inside of an airplane until I flew all the way to Sao Paulo as a brand-spanking-new missionary (there's an MTC in Brazil so I didn't even do time in Provo). Planes and iPhones mesmerize me. They are so miraculous.

We got to Phoenix at 10 pm. Chad had to be at a seminar early the next morning which made that night pretty crazy for him - we'll have to not do that next time.

The next day we went to a train-themed park that had a pretty cool train you could ride and some fun playgrounds. We played barefoot which was awesome and stayed there ALL day.

This was the train car U.S. Presidents used to use - like Eisenhower and Roosevelt. We got to check it out inside! Cool!

Just documenting the barefoot-ness here.

Friday we visited the Phoenix Zoo. It was pricey and the girls mostly just liked playing in the play areas. Not sure that I would do that again. The wife of a fellow conference attendee of Chad's came with us - she was all alone during the day with no car. It was fun to have someone with us and she bent over backwards to help out in any way she could. Very sweet. She was from Michigan or Minnesota.

Our new friend JoAnn.

Cool Little People Playground

I think this exhibit was my favorite - we got to go in the monkey cage with the monkeys.

On Friday night we drove south to Chandler to stay with my aunt Brenda, her husband Dennis, and their daughter Brittaney. It was super great to stay with them - such great hosts and I loved getting to know them better (Brenda is my dad's sister)!

My Uncle Dennis with Claire

 

Us with Brenda

We'd been telling the girls for a month or so that there would be a surprise in Phoenix. The surprise was getting to ride horses! On Saturday morning Brittaney was super nice to get their gentlest horse all saddled up and lead us (me too!) around their field. When we were getting ready to ride I asked Brenda if we could wear flip flops or if I needed tennis shoes and she laughed at me.

For the life of me I could not figure out how to get my feet in those stirrups so I gave up.

After riding horses we let Chad spend the rest of the day at an awesome car show that happened to be going on in Phoenix at the time. The girls and I hung out at the house in the afternoon and Jozie and Haven tried the pool (along with the dogs). The water was pretty cold but they, especially Jozie, were pretty determined to do some swimming!

The dog in that photo is Major. He was a sweet dog who always wanted to play fetch. He couldn't find any balls so he would put a rock down on the ground right by you and then stare at the rock until you threw it for him. Jozie played with him a ton.

Saturday night I took the girls to a western town called Rawhide. It was pretty much awesome. They rode donkeys, petted goats, sheep, turkeys, etc., and we watched a cool little shoot-out play. The best part was that night, when we ate at the steakhouse in the town. There was live country music and Jozie and Haven went up to the front and danced - they even found a super nice older couple to dance with them while I sat with Claire who was asleep. We had such a wonderful time there, and the girls left with free cowgirl hats and sheriff badges.

This turkey kinda scare me - it would go up to you and puff its feathers out at you.

We played a game in this building where you try to hit targets with pretend rifles. We were pretty bad.

These guys were super excited about getting a picture with a cowboy.

At the steakhouse. Loved this place!

What darling smiles.

This is hard to see, but Jozie and Haven are dancing with the nice couple there.

We visited a Spanish Ward on Sunday and then went up to Mesa to visit one of our Cairn Parents. This particular Cairn Parent has been so supportive of the whole project - she's written nearly every week and her answers are always very thoughtful and wise. I think about things she says quite a bit. It was really fun to get to visit.

Monday morning we packed everybody and everything up and headed back! This time I put Chad with the girls on the plane and Claire and I sat across the aisle from them. Claire slept the whole time. :)

Looks like Jozie's showing us the safety procedures here.

I'm really glad we got to visit Phoenix, and so are the girls. Now they like to play they're in Phoenix when they find sunny spots on the floor.