Vacation!!!!

Okay, so vacation was really a month and a half ago (first week of March). But, we've been busy with stuff, so i hope you understand. Nonetheless, we want to immortalize our trip.

Happy travelers at the start. The kids were really pretty good the entire travel time. We had colors, stickers, snacks and a portable DVD player for Reagan. For Dylan, we got him to fall asleep. It worked out pretty well. We were thankful to meet Jim (Etter) down in Arizona after I had to lug 2 roll-behind suit cases, two car seats, my carry-on and Dylan's carry-on to the Minneapolis check-in. Lindsay was busy wrangling 2 kids (Dylan in a stroller and Reagan running free) while carrying Reagan's and her own carry-on. Our hands were full.

The day after our arrival (Saturday) turned out to be the nicest day of the trip, if you exclude the day we left. We saw the weather report on Friday and thought that might be the case, so we took advantage of it. Before our main activity, we took Reagan down the street to the playground and let her run free, outside, like she hadn't done in months! We do have some indoor playgrounds in Minnesota, but it really isn't the same. They are more like glorified McDonald's Playplaces.

Dylan was able to be outside too - without being all bundled up!

After the warm-up activity, we went to the Train Park in Scottsdale. This was recommended by several people and we would also pass along the recommendation. It was great. They had this replica size model train that we all got to ride on.

Since it was Saturday, a local gymnastics studio had set up an obstacle course, etc. as a marketing ploy. Reagan took advantage of it and brushed up on some of her skills. Yes, there is air under her feet if you look closely, really closely.

They also had a carousel that we rode at least 5 times.

All the fresh air tired us all out. Dylan was fortunate enough to be in a stroller and just drifted off.

Sunday, the weather turned for the worse. It didn't get too much better until Thursday, but we'll get there. On Sunday, we went to the Children's Museum in downtown Phoenix. It was fun. They had all sorts of activities. Reagan hopped on this motorcycle.

They had a racetrack with model cars. Here she is pulling the start lever.

They had an exhibit where they hand hung thousands of those noodles that you use to float on in the pool from the ceiling. You could run through them - which she did several times.

They had a toy grocery store and some fun ramps that you could roll balls down, but we didn't have much time to explore. And, we didn't take that great of photos in those areas either.

Dylan and Lindsay watched.

On Monday, Lindsay and Jan took Dylan shopping. They met Jan's friend DeNeal. Jim and I had Reagan for the day and didn't do anything too exciting. Later, we met up with the ladies and Steve (DeNeal's husband) for dinner. Nothing photo worthy. The weather was crap.

The shopping was good, I guess. Reagan ended up with a complete set of cars from the Disney/Pixar movie "Cars." She knew them all already, since she's seen the movie 1,528 times (and counting).

On Tuesday, we went out to Wildlife World. The weather wasn't great, but since we didn't accomplish anything on Monday, we were determined to do something on Tuesday.

All bundled up to see the kangaroos.

Eye to eye with the lizard (there was a glass wall)

And an albino alligator. They actually had 2 white gators.

And the penguins.

Jan was trying to show Reagan a beautiful bird in the aviary. Reagan was more interested in the branch she found.

The stingrays were the highlight of the trip. In case you didn't know, Reagan loves to play with the water. If you turn the sink on, she'll stand on a stool and play with the water for hours. She loves to take a bath. The stingray pond was even better. The zoo had removed the barbs from all the rays so you could pet them. After I pet one, and she touched one with her fingertips, she was looking for more.

By the end, she had both hands in the water as deep as she could. She loved touching the rays.

Dylan...fell asleep. (Don't let the sunshine fool you. It didn't crack 60 degrees and it was windy.)

Reagan tried to share a chip with this fellow. She simply couldn't reach.

On Wednesday, we were literally on Google, looking up "indoor kids activities in Phoenix." There isn't much. We found an indoor playground that was satisfactory. It was in a strip mall. They had built a kids size "town" inside. There was a house, fire station, jail, hospital, etc. built-out along the walls. There was a street that did a loop around the middle of the room. It was filled with little tykes toys - from the Cozy Coupes for the road to the medical kit in the hospital. It was cute, but I guess not photo worthy.

Wednesday night, we Reagan and Dylan got to meet Bob and Ellen for the first time!! Bob and Ellen were gracious enough to host us at their house in Scottsdale. It was a great night.

On Thursday, the weather started to turn. The sun returned and it got to about 65 degrees. We drove down to Mesa to have lunch with Jim's brother Bill and wife Doneta. They live in a retirement village where you can get around on golf carts. Driving the golf cart made Reagan's day.

On Thursday night, we went over to Steve and DeNeals' for a nice steak dinner. It was great to be outside for the 3rd time in a week! Dylan even got to sit in the grass for the first time (He may have been in grass last summer, but I doubt it).

The family:

Friday was the return trip. We had a tired traveler on the way home!