Patrick's:: October in ARIZONA

This post isn't finished... but I have been working on it for hours... I'm going to bed now.. but I will finish it up later!

Day 1
The trip started off a bit rocky; I got an email from Jana on Tuesday, Oct 11^th letting me know I was all checked in for our flight. I was a bit confused, thinking, Who checks in for their trip 8 days ahead of time??? I emailed Jana, saying, Why are we checking in so early? We don't leave until next week?Jana's response? “Oh honey, you better get packing! We leave tomorrow morning!!”

That’s when I had to kick it in high gear! Yikes. I thought we were leaving the next Wednesday. I had planned on using the next week to get our “old” (feels SO good to finally call it this!) house all packed up so that while we were gone, Ryan could move it all. Now, I would be leaving Ryan to do the packing and moving. OOPS! That Tuesday evening, Ryan skipped class so I could get the boys packed, run a couple errands and get SJ’s haircut.

The next morning, Ryan and I were up bright and early, loaded the truck with BOB, 2 car seats, luggage, the kids, coffee and headed to Jana’s to pick her up. We were off to the airport, Ryan parked, he got a gate pass and we were all golden! We made it off the ground without a hitch. J

At the airport- Jana and I well rested and ready (??) for our week as a team!

Ryan and the boys-

He was pretty sad about leaving the boys for more then a week.

The flight down was a bit crazy…. But that was to be expected. John had a seat, SJ was a lap child. Jana and I took turns with each little guy. Reading books, singing songs, watching videos and walking the isle.

Stephen was thrilled (WAY more thrilled then I was) that there was a dog across the isle from us.

John and Stephen snuggling.

Nick, the driver met us at the gate. We loaded up in his car and headed to Scottsdale. Ahhh, the warm sun. After a bit of a mess with the alarm system, I settled the boys in, got unpacked and the relaxing began. Jana went grocery shopping and made dinner. We went to the park that was really close by. They have a splash pad too- they were great ways to cool off and move around after the flight!

Once we got off the plane, SJ was sleeping before we even got to the luggage carousel. haha

Day 2

The Beaches came up to spend Thursday with us. As always, it was a BLAST! We love the Beaches. John (well, all of us) have really missed them since they left MN after spending most of the summer here.

The kids swam, beaded, and ran around. We quickly (well, possibly too quickly) took over Jana and Steve’s retirement home. :/ Jana and Katie went to Walgreens for some chips maybe (???) and came back with a playhouse for the kids to color and play with! They loved it!! John, a bit too much. It didn’t last long, bit while it was standing, it was a hit!

Stephen and Isabelle snuggling after SJ woke up from his nap.

John beading with his animal beads... before they ended up all over the floor!

A bunch of playhouse pictures! :)

That afternoon, Jana and I noticed that Stephen had been crying a lot. SJ is a very content little one, we knew something was off. Jana suggested that I take him to the Dr. So, we headed to the Stat Clinix- there was a very little wait. The Dr. said SJ had a double ear infection. He suggested we get him on Tylenol/Advil and antibiotics. Off to Wal-Mart to get his Rx filled and pick up dinner- chicken and pasta.

Everyone was patiently waiting for dinner… a late dinner at that! We went to bed early so the next day we would be well rested.

Day 3

Chrissy ran a couple errands while Jana and I took the three older Beach kids and the Patrick duo to the park and splash pad. It was great fun!! John sure found a place in Isabelle’s heart and vice versa- Isabelle is so sweet and patient with little John. Following him, helping keep him safe and showing him all the neat things AZ has to offer.

Our handsome son John- he is getting so big, I can't handle it. :(

John and Christian at the Park

Lots of kids at the park!

SJ playing at the splash pad. :D

John and Nanny at the splash pad! :)

We had a late lunch of PBJ sandies, chips, and fruit and then my 2 took naps because we had a big night ahead. Aunt Jackie and William invited us to Cracker Jaxs (I think that’s what it was called!?) It was a mix between Circus Pizza and Grand Slam? We had pizza and Icees for dinner. Then it was off to the races! John had his first driving lesson. And, if it is any insight into how his driving will be in the future, he is never driving again!! HAHA. John paid no attention. He couldn’t reach the pedals, and the man running the track helped John around it once and then he was done. Maybe next year? The race track was a bit short lived, but inside by all the games we had a blast. The boys ran from game to game pushing the buttons, watching it light up and then on to the next. That kept them entertained for at least an hour. We did quickly melt and Jana and I knew our time was done. Beaches, Jackie and William stayed to play! We headed home, Jana sang John to sleep as per the usual on this trip. I rocked Stephen and we all went to sleep.

Chrissy and I at the arcade. :)

Day 4

Most mornings, I got up with the boys (duh!) changed their diapers and we headed to Starbucks and then to the park. I wanted Jana to be able to get a little sleep and have some time to herself in the AM to shower, and get ready for our (crazy) day! J We would get home from the park around 8am; usually it was already over 80 degrees by then- WAHOO!

However, on Saturday, We all got up together and headed to a state park about 45 minutes from their house to do a hike with the boys. I was excited to get out and do some hiking, show the boys the desert and have bonding time. After all the prep work that goes into preparing the boys for a desert hike (sunscreen, water, clothes, shoes, sunscreen, hats, snacks, stop for water bottles, drive, once in the park, drive to the furthest trail because that was the most ‘kid-friendly’ trial more sunscreen) we made it about 20 yards into the hike. And, I should add that the first 20 yards were painful. LOL- We took a couple pictures and headed to a playground we saw.

Nana and John heading down the trail.

Mom and Stephen

John and Stephen After we finished with our "hike" SJ crying and JR smiling! haha

Jana had the idea to go to see the tallest fountain in the world! It was neat- we could see it while we were driving there. The water only shots for 15 minutes every hour. By the time we got there, we had to wait another 30minutes, and the boys were super hungry. We went to a little café for lunch. I will say that meal was less then enjoyable. Not because of the food, location, or my adult date rather the two little monsters we had with us! It was a hot mess, start to finish. We did however manage to get some mail out to Ryan, Papa and Gamma and Papa. Jana took JR to the post office next door with SJ and I held down forth at the café waiting for our food. When it came, Jana and I didn’t chat, we ate. And got out of there! Hahaha. We thought we would be just in time to see the fountain and head home. Little did we know while we were fighting a 2 ring circus inside the café, the fountain was spraying. Oy. We hung out on the playground, watched some kids feed the ducks and sweat. As we are getting ready to leave, because it was super-hot (100+) out. We saw the fountain and headed for Troon North- home in the desert.

Day 5

Sunday: a LAZY day. I took the boys to the park, got coffee/doughnuts and headed home.

At the Park...

I asked John to help me have SJ go down the slide. I would help SJ up the climber, get him on his stomach and then I wanted JR to "catch" (break his fall) SJ at the bottom.
So, here is JR waiting for SJ to go down the slide.

John proudly catching Stephen. :)

Then, I would tell John, "Good job! Thank you, Stephen is safe now!" However, John saw things differently- he needed to be sure SJ made it to the ground safely.....

Finally, SJ was "SAFE" on the ground! :) Thanks John!!

We took naps, ate and hung out. Jackie and Willy stopped by as we were having out afternoon snack of sweet potato fries.

We had sandwiches for dinner and the laziness continued. Ha-ha We had been on the go all week. It felt good to have a relaxing day and it fit well since it was Sunday.

Day 6

Off to the Phoenix Zoo!! Jana and I loaded up the troops and headed south to the zoo. It was hot, but tons of fun! We looked at animals, watched diggers, and had a picnic lunch (or should I say 2 few picnic snacks) And John and I went into a monkey exhibit. WOWSERS! They gave us a warning before we went in saying,. they are free roaming monkeys, 8 of them. They could bite, so be careful. I was thinking, wow, that’s weird they would let us in there if the monkeys will bite!? We went in anyways. At first we could see any of them. Then suddenly, one, two…. Four monkeys. I couldn't point them out fast enough for John. When I turned around, John yelled to me, “HE’S GETTING YOU!!!” And, boy was John right- the monkey was jumping right for me! I screamed and jumped out of the way a bit faster than the monkey (thankfully!!) EEEK. I think our next trip down I will let Ryan take John in there- ha-ha. JK!

The other Zoo highlight was the Gnome House. It was SOOO cute!!! More than any child could ever dream up a tree house to be. It was 2 floors, had a bathroom, bedroom, fireplace, slide to exit out of, and little windows with shutters. They boys would have played there all day (every day for that matter!) It was the sweetest little house.

Carousel rides….

These are randoms that I took... but can't remember exactly when they happened??