AZ Family

You know what? My family is heavenly!
We just got back from visiting our families in Arizona and despite the 110' F temperature, loooong drive with kids, and the unavoidable post trip illness, I would go again tomorrow in a heart beat if we could.
Before our trip we were lucky enough to have my Sister-in-law, niece and nephew visit us for a couple of days. It was a lot of fun, we went to the beach, did yoga, and enjoyed wonderful food (basically the California experience). I especially love how fond my kids are of her and how Jonathan thinks his cousin Zeke is the coolest.
We were also able to visit with a creative friend from our USC days before we left as well. It was wonderful because having conversations about story telling and Art isn't something we get much of in our new area (probably because we need to branch out a bit)
We almost didn't go to Arizona the next weekend, though.
Right before I was ready to pack the kids in the car, Sam started throwing-up. I was crying because we had already paid for a hotel that night and it was non-refundable and I imagined us having to stay home the whole week of vacation passing the flu around. Luckily, I quickly figured out that it wasn't the flu and that he is allergic to or just can't handle something in the happy tot food packet I had given him for lunch. I was so happy that we didn't post-pone the trip because it ended up going smoothly.
Now that we are home, the kids are already asking when we can see their cousins again.

cool abandon gunnery by the bridge

Us at Heart's Desire with Jill's family

On the way home from the beach. Claire is yelling/singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" while everyone around her is passed out.

Sam Crawling on dino foot prints

We promised our oldest that we would stop by the LA Natural History Museum on our way to Arizona

Mostly he wanted to see the Dinosaur show

After catching a chicken by himself he said "I want to be a chicken hunter when I grow up"

Claire absolutely adores her cousin and will actually let her do her hair (I can't touch it) so she can look just like her.

Oh, did I mention he's WALKING!