Phoenix

A few weekends ago, we went down to visit my brother in Phoenix. There is a flight that leaves from Ogden (just a few minutes from our house) that flies straight to the Phoenix-Mesa airport (just a few minutes from my brother's house) for pretty cheap (50-ish dollars one way). With that kind of a deal, it's hard to pass up the offer for a quick weekend trip. I always wish we could stay for longer, but Dave has to actually WORK sometimes so that we can go on all of our fun trips. :)

We got in late Friday night, so we didn't do too much that night, except have some way yummy pizza and stay up talking and catching up on everything.

The next morning, the babies were fast friends. It was so fun to see them play together. They would take toys out of each other's hands and not even freak out. They were so good at taking turns and playing together. I hope that they will grow up being best cousin friends!

They are only a month apart, so they have the same hobbies for now. Eating DVD cases was one of their favorite ones. :)

Saturday afternoon, we got a babysitter for the two babies while we went to Saguaro Lake. Preston and Amy just recently got a boat, and they quickly found out that babies don't have fun on the boat. So we packed up some sandwiches for lunch and a few snacks and headed out to the lake. It was only about 35 minutes from their house, so we were there before we knew it! It was really crowded, but we didn't care. We were just excited to go boating in some actual WARM water (sorry Bear Lake), and not FREEZE TO DEATH when we had to come back in the boat. I actually got in the water (strange, I know) and when I got out, I didn't even need a towel! I just dried off in the nice warm air and it felt SO good! So different from our usual Bear Lake boating experience where I never usually even get in the water and if I do, when I get out I have to sit by the heater and have it blowing on me all the way until I get back to shore. Haha. The scenery was fun too. There were cacti all around the lake! It was so different from what we are used to, and we had the best time ever.

Our little boating buddies!

Dylan is kind of obsessed with Super Mario 3 right now, and Dave had him convinced that there were red puffer fish behind them the whole time trying to get them. Dylan was laughing so hard as they were escaping the puffer fish.

We stopped in the no wake zone and swam around for a few minutes. The water was SO warm and great!

He was all tuckered out after a long, fun afternoon of boating!

Lydia was great with the babysitter and was just laughing and smiling with her when we walked back in. That does a mommy's heart good. :) After we all got showered and cleaned up, we had a WAY yummy dinner made by Amy. She is such a good cook. After we got all the kiddos in bed, Preston and Amy had to prepare their lessons for church tomorrow since they both had to teach. So Dave and I stayed up late playing Super Mario 3! It was so much fun, and we felt just like little kids again - getting all tense everywhere when we were close to dying, slamming back into the couch and yelling things like, "Come on!" "I almost had it!" and my very favorite..."WHAT!?!?" Haha. It was kind of addicting, and I stayed up until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, and I fell asleep while the boys finished the game. 

The next day we went to church. Preston and Amy both had to teach, so Dave got to go hear Preston and I got to hear Amy. Dave took Lydia and I got to watch London which was so fun! She is so stinking cute, and has the sweetest little personality ever. 

Me and my brother with our cute little best friend babies!

While the kiddos were taking naps, we played Super Mario World, and got totally hooked. Dave kept saying that this was bringing back so many memories of his childhood, playing this game with his best friend across the street. He kept remembering all of the cheats, all of the secret exits from the levels, and all the tricks he needed to win the game. We tried to beat the whole game, but we only got to the chocolate land. I told Preston he needed to save our game and that he wasn't allowed to play it until we came down to visit again!

Super Nintendo!!

These little cuties were our cheerleaders while we were playing. Mostly they just ate everything they could get their chubby little hands on.

While Amy prepared another delicious meal, we took a break from Mario and took the kids outside for a swim. Lydia was being a little whiny baby at first, but after she got used to the idea she was better. 

After we got all the kiddos into bed, we played Power Grid, a game that Dave and I gave to Preston for Christmas last year. It's kind of like Ticket to Ride and Risk mixed into one. It is a total thinking game, which Preston LOVES. It was fun to stay up late and play. After we were finished, I was so tired and so I said I needed to go to bed. Preston said, "Alright, but Dave and I are going to play a few rounds of Street Fighter". Dave was more than happy to agree. I have no idea what time he actually came to bed because I was long gone by then. 

We were sad that we had to leave the next afternoon. But, we played with the kids and played some more Super Mario World until it was time for lunch. Preston took us to this place called Joe's Farm Grill, which is a show featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, which Dave is kind of obsessed with. One of their signature items (that was also featured on the show) was their BBQ Chicken Pizza, which I ordered. It was super duper yummy. Dave got one of their more unique items - a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, with chocolate chips and strawberry spread. Let's just say that his meal was more of a dessert than an entree, but he was thrilled anyway.

Dave's sandwich.

What's cool about this place is that they use all of the ingredients for their restaurant from the farm that the restaurant sits on. 

I kept trying to give Lydia some of my pizza, but she wouldn't touch it. Dave also kept trying to give her a french fry, but she wouldn't have that either. She was more content with a puree of mixed green vegetables. Is there something wrong with this picture?? Haha.

After lunch it was, unfortunately, time for us to go. We were so sad to leave, but we really had the best trip ever. It was so fun to have a little weekend getaway where we could relax and be with family. We can't beat the price and the ease of going down there, so we may or may not have already booked another trip down there. Haha!

 (On a side note, flying with a busy, mobile baby is a little CRAZY! How do moms ever fly on their own with kids!? I could hardly do one kid with Dave right by me!)

Thanks for the fun weekend Pres and Amy! We'll be back soon!