Arizona

Last week we barely escaped the winter storm in Seattle and flew south to Arizona to visit Grandma and Papa. Our original flight was to leave on Thursday afternoon but when we got about 2 minutes from Sea-Tac airport we got a text message from Grandma letting us know that our flight was canceled due to snow. So, we re-scheduled for Friday but the only time slot available was 7:30PM. Which also happens to be the kid's bedtime. Thankfully, both kids did remarkably well. Traveling alone with two kids was a bit of a handful but it went MUCH better than I was anticipating. A bit of a preview for our Germany trip although that will be with two adults but 4 times as long.

Both Benjamin and Josie wanted no part of sleeping. They looked out the window, read books and watched DVD's.

Our daily routine didn't change much. We typically hit a fun park in the morning

And the pool in the afternoon

At night Josie always wanted to read the book she made earlier in the day to Benjamin

Other than the sunshine and seeing Grandma and Papa, the orange and grapefruit trees were a HUGE hit. Every time Benjamin went near the window to go outside, he would demand "ORANGE!" This is a new word for him and he got a lot of practice saying it. They each probably ate 3 oranges a day.

Papa would just keep peeling and peeling and peeling.

Everyday Grandma took Josie on "surprise adventures" while Benjamin took his nap. The first one was to get a pedicure. Her first real one. She was thrilled!!

On another adventure they took the golf cart out for a spin.

I didn't know, but apparently Papa is the resident popcorn maker. The kids loved eating popcorn outside with the fruit trees and the cactus.

Grandma treated us to a movie... Benjamin stuffing his face with Papa made popcorn

The day before we left was apparently "harvest". The kids picked 40+lbs of grapefruit and we brought it home in an extra suitcase for Marty. Not quite like being in Arizona but since he loves citrus so much it was almost as nice.

Here are some of the grapefruit that made it home along with the digital scale that Opa gave us for Christmas. It sure came in handy so that our suitcases weren't too heavy to check-in.

And one final orange eating, sun filled afternoon on the patio before heading to the airport.

Thanks for everything, Grandma and Papa!! We'll be back next year :)