Arizona!

 T and I were so happy to be able to go to Arizona this year! At first it seemed kind of silly to me since this is usually my one chance to relax and since I'd just had surgery all I'd been doing was relaxing, but the timing actually ended up working out perfectly. I was 4 weeks out and starting to feel good enough to do stuff which meant I was starting to over-do it at home. The trip was perfectly timed to give me another few days to take it completely easy and when we got home I was ready to jump back in to real life.

This was our first times being on an airplane since Covid and we could definitely see the changes but it wasn't too bad. In Phoenix it was crazy busy and it ended up taking us two and half hours to get out of the airport from the time we landed. Baggage claim was packed and the lines for the rental cars were over an hour. The guys ended up having to cancel our reservation and get a small car from a little company that wasn't totally swamped. It took so long to get out of there we had to go straight to our dinner reservations. It's a cool old steakhouse on top of a hill. They have this longhorn out front. T took a picture for the girls...actually I think every one of these pictures we took for the girls. Haha.

 

 

Our view at dinner!

 

 

 

Showing the girls the room.

 

 

 The next day T was up at our 6am to get down to the conference. I was able to sleep a little longer and then hit the pool! We were blessed with amazing weather! Like probably the best weather we've ever had. There has only been one other year that it was as close to being this warm...mid to upper 70's. It was heavenly!

 

 

Saying hi to the girls!

 

 

They built an In-And-Out right next to the resort! We were able to walk over on their lunch break on Monday.

 

 

We hit the outlet stores after they got out of meetings the first day. The girls wanted to see some cacti. :)

 

 I love how gorgeous the resort is at night! We were able to walk around, though not as long of walks as usual since I was still recovering from surgery.

 

 

Tuesday was another day of meetings for T and pool time for me!

 

 

That night we went to Top Golf! I wasn't able to golf because of the surgery but I had fun watching the others and enjoying the warm evening, good food, and pretty sunset!

 

 

This was the view from our balcony.

 

 

One last morning of relaxing in the sunshine and our trip was over. It always go so fast! 

T had to take this picture for the girls...in one of the airports we found a Lego vending machine!

 

 

We spent over an hour in the Vegas airport on a layover. T and J sat down at the slot machines for about two minutes. T put in two dollars, won three, and cashed out as fast as he could hit the button. Haha. Peaches saw this picture and said, "You went somewhere fun with games?!" I'm sure it looked just like Chuck. E. Cheese to her. Haha.

One last ride on the plane! I sent the girls a text that said, "We'll be home soon! I miss my babies!" and it must have made a big impression on Lou because over the next couple weeks she would randomly stop, look at me with compassionate concern and say, "You miss your babies, Mommy?" Haha!

 

 

That night was AWANA so it was late, but the next night we gave them their souvenirs...a few clothes, a book, Cactus candy, and a Lego.

 

 

Such a wonderful trip! Thank you thank you thank you Noni for taking good care of my "babies"! :)

The Band

 Peanut and Peaches decided to form a Lego band. They created their instruments and then surprised us with a performance.

 

 

 Then they added a third member.

 

 

But then things literally fell apart. Haha.

 

 They had a lot of fun. So creative.

Funny Friday

 Happy Friday! :)

"Knock Knock!" - Part 12

Wow I am really behind on these. I think these are from 2020 when Peaches was 4.

June 17th

The girls were on the trampoline with Noni playing charades. Bug was acting out the Princess and the Pea. Noni yelled out, "The Princess and the Pea!" Peaches looked shocked. "Noni! Did you say PEE?!" 

A while later she sat down in Noni's lap and said, "I'm not tired. I'm just going to watch tired-ly." 

June 20th  

I don't remember which cat this was..."Aww, the kitty licking me! Dat so sweet! He's tasting me!" 

June 25th

Me: "Honey, your Pullups came."

Her: "Oh ok. And my shirts are coming on Friday."

 Me: "What shirts?"

 Her: "My shirts. They are coming on Friday."

Me: "What do you mean?"

 Her: "I don't have any shirts in my drawer."

Me: "I didn't order you any shirts. If you don't have any left that just means Mommy needs do laundry." 

Her: "Oh. Ok. You can go do the laundry."

June 29th

She very precisely lined up her shoes in the mudroom. "Look Mommy! I parked my shoes!"

July 1st

Her: "Is this my baby blanket?" 

Me: "No. I don't know where that one came from."

Her: "Well one thing is for sure. I am going to fold this blanket!" 

August 21st

This one has become a family phrase in our household ever since she first said it...we were in the car heading to a water park for the day and she excitedly yelled out, "Step on it Daddy! But watch out for police cars!" 

That same day we were on one of the big group raft rides. At one point we went through a dark tunnel and the raft did a big dip. The big girls screamed and she yelled out in the darkness, "Girls! Don't worry! Remember God is with us!!" 

August 25th 

Grandma and Grandpa were over at our house and we were having dinner. I think she had put Peanut's shorts on and they were way too big. She was wiggling all over the place and would not sit down. Grandpa looked over and said, "E, do you have ants in your pants?" She stood up and looked down at her too-big shorts. "Huh?" and right then they slid off and fell to the ground. Everyone cracked up.

:)

Chuck E. Cheese!

 Pretty birthday girls!!

 

The birthday girls got to do the "ticket blaster" and capture extra tickets in a hurricane. :P

 

I think we messed with the system...they wanted us to get our pizzas and do the "birthday show" early on in the party, but I asked if we could get our pizza at the end (at 6pm). 

 

They agreed to delay the pizza but couldn't handle postponing the rest so we had everybody come sit down and do the birthday show which definitely wasn't as exciting with Chuck E. on the "video call" instead of in person, but Peaches enjoyed it. I think Boo was more embarrassed than anything...such is the life of an almost-teenager. :P

 

 

 

They had to get up in front and do a song/dance. 

 

 

Then we sang happy birthday and let them blow out their candles.

 

 

Peaches wound up and did a huge blow! Haha.

Then the kids ran off to finish their two hours of play time. When the time ran out they came back to the table for pizza, ice cream, and cake. Then it was time for presents! Peaches got this adorable squishmallow from her friend A!

 

 

Boo got some fun new fidget toys and a huge box of make your own slime!

 

 

Aunt Karen gave them money, water bottle stickers, and t-shirts!

 

 

 

 

Auntie N and family got Peaches this fancy microphone...we didn't realize that it was supposed to go with a karaoke machine, but thankfully our Echo works with it. 

 

 

 They gave Boo a t-shirt that says "We built this city on rock and wheat", a reference to their favorite game Catan.

 

 

Boo got some pretty jewelry, a wallet, and a diary from her friend K. K gave Peaches a gift too...so sweet! 

 

 

Their friend R made them bags! She did such a good job I didn't realize they weren't store bought!

 

Mama, Aunt J, and Uncle K got Peaches a unicorn stable with six pretty unicorns!

 

 

And they gave Boo the Seafarers expansion kit for Catan! 

 

 

Peaches got a new Barbie set from W, R, and M.

 

Noni bought Boo a new bible! The binding on hers was broken.

 

 

They party was technically over at 6 but we ended up staying until 7:30! And then we had to drop off R so we got home late, but Bug really wanted them to open her sister gifts so we did that quickly before bed.

 

 

They went together and got Boo the other part of the expansion kit for Catan.

 

 

And Bug got Peaches Frozen Monopoly, combining two of her favorite things! 

 

 

Sweet sisters!

 

 

Boo and Peanut had the next day off from school because of semester break and we ended up playing a two hour game of Frozen Monopoly before I called Uncle. Haha.

 

 

The birthday aftermath...cards, games, and toys on literally every surface in the kitchen and dining room. 

 

 

Phew! Another great birthday in the books!