10 on 2sday

It's the Arizona edition!!  We flew out to AZ for a family reunion to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday.  It was a great trip, stressful at times, and worth every moment!  Here are some of the highlights and shenanigans...

1.  We made a few discoveries about our children (mostly Brynn):
a. Brynn likes to dip her fries in ketchup... and eat the ketchup.  And now she likes to dip everything into anything.



b. Brynn no longer appreciates the confines of her crib/pack-n-play... it became a really fun game at nap time and bed time to keep climbing out...

c. Brynn was more comforted by strangers while on the airplane... the flight out she sat in the lap of a perfect stranger during our decent, she wanted nothing to do with me or Dan, but was totally content sitting on the lap of a very kind lady looking out the window ~ and on our flight home she was so tired, but wanted nothing to do with us again, and thankfully our flight attendant was wonderful and held her until she fell asleep, and a little longer after that! 'Cause this peace & quiet didn't last long...



d. Brynn has zero problem with taking off and leaving us.  (which, I might add, is completely frightening)  My brother told me he watched her push the (heavy) double doors open, walk out, check every door that would have led to the great outdoors, and never once looked behind her to see if anyone was following her.  I am so thankful my brother happened to see her... Then when we were outside, she made her escape attempt again, although this time I was watching her like a hawk.... through the lens...



e.  Avery DOES NOT like getting pictures taken where she has to sit down... (so we got creative to make sure she made it into some of the pictures)



f.  Evan was more than happy to let his new friend learn how to share toys (and he was GREAT at it!)...



2.  I got to meet an "old" friend for the first time ~ she wrote a blog post about it too, which was super sweet ~ you should check it out!!



3.  We realized how much we truly love our minivan when we borrowed my Grandma's car during our stay... kids being able to touch each other in the car is SO overrated...





4.  The weather was a little funny, when we arrived in Phoenix, it was a bit toasty (aaahhhh!) ~ and we spent our last few days in Sedona, where it was colder than if we would have been in Iowa at the same time... (which may have been why we got some funny looks while being outside in the pool/jacuzzi... crazy Iowans)





5. This is just strange and funny to me... makes me glad I don't have to deal with this problem...



6.  Chasing 3 children going in different directions through an airport when one person had to stay with the bags... a logistical challenge!  'Cause the novelty of watching the planes didn't last very long...



7.  Having 5 out of 7 days with no regular nap time for our kids... a parental challenge!

8.  We have a very polite family... and instead of saying, "Wow, your kids are obnoxious!"  Everyone said, "Wow, your kids never stop running, do they?"  Nope. They sure don't. (see #1e & #6)

9.  Family, fun & fellowship ~ although, Dan and I realized we had very few truly meaningful conversations while out there (refer to #8), very challenging when the only quiet time we get (nap time) was either spent in the car trying to drive our kids to sleep (refer to #3 & #7), or in a separate location from family... but the time we did spend with everyone was such a treasure that I will never forget.  We had all 31 family members in the same place at the same time, and it was awesome!



10.  My Grandma ~ an amazing lady, to say the least.  My cousin, PJ, took this picture of her - and I adore it.  I think he perfectly captured the love and compassion in her eyes...  and she made this whole trip worth it and then some!