Arizona Vacation

Steve gets a certain amount of money and time off each year for Continuing Medical Education so this year we decided to head down to a PA conference in sunny Arizona! First we went to Steve's sister's house. We had a great time seeing Jill, Jason, and their twin boys TJ and Tyson. Tuesday we went to the Pheonix Zoo. It was one of the best Zoos I have ever been to. And the weather was perfect! Tuesday evening we checked into the Arizona Grand Resort. Very nice! This was the first trip we have gone on by ourselves as a family. Usually we stay with family so it was a different experience to have down time with just our kids. It turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the vacation. Just being together without having laundry or dishes hanging over my head. The first evening we were at the hotel I sat on the bed and played dolls with Ehlana for almost an hour. It was so fun.

Wednesday we had Jill and the boys over to swim and after nap time we went to Tom and Emily's house. They were are best friends in VA and they are like family to us. The next morning I took the kids back to their house and we talked and talked while the kids played. Samantha and Jaxson are cute friends. Samantha was so excited to see Jaxson but he didn't really remember her. She was a little disappointed that Jaxson wasn't the sweet, mild 2 year old she remembered. But once they got used to each other's new personalities they played great together. Ehlana, Tommy, and Eliza Delee just toddled around after the big kids.

Thursday Night we went to my cousin Cami's house and two of my other cousin's that live in AZ came over for dinner. The kids played great and we had a wonderful time eating dinner and playing games. Family is so important even if you don't get to see each other very much!

Friday Emily brought the kids to the hotel to swim and we went back to their house when Steve was done with lectures. We hired a babysitter to watch all 5 kids and went to dinner. It was a nice break! We then put the kids to bed at their house and stayed and played games until 11pm.


Here's the kids ready for bed. Except for Eliza Delee. Yes, they love me so much they named their little girl after me. It was my first time meeting her and even though I don't have pictures to prove it she is adorable!

Saturday we went out to breakfast and then went to the hotel's water park. At Denny's the kids got balloon animals witch turned out to be a highlight of the trip. Ehlana's was as big as her and Jaxson was thrilled with his simple but practical sword.






Saturday afternoon we stopped by Jill and Jason's to play for a little while before we caught our flight home. Unlike this blog post the week seemed short. But, it was great! We made some wonderful memories!