Spring break part one (Arizona)

We headed out late Sunday after the baby blessing / lunch. Unfortunately we had 7 plus hours ahead of us and snow in our path. As we made our way south we kept hoping for a break in the weather, however it just kept getting worse. For over an hour Casey was driving around 45 mph and white knuckling it between Fillmore and Cedar City. It finally broke just before St. George and the temperature kept rising as we headed to Vegas. The kids were troopers all along the way (just a bit cranky around dinner time). We pulled into our hotel around 12:30. It took a bit for the kids (especially Alice) to go down so sleep was minimal, but we made it!

Vegas was our meeting point with Brett and Vanessa. We all left that morning on our spring break adventure! Our first stop was the Hoover Dam. We walked along the bridge and got some energy out with the kids.

We hit up an old mining town (Chloride) around lunch time. More wiggle time opportunities for the kids. While the wind was bitter and the sites a bit wah wah, the kids didn't mind. We found a playground and a falling down jail to keep kids entertained.

 

Next we made our way towards Phoenix, spotted countless cacti and lots of desert. We had dinner at Cody and Mia's home.  After dinner we went on a walk around their complex the kids dipped their feet ( some more than that) into the pool and we chatted together. We stayed over at their apartment while Brett and Vanessa stayed at a friend's in Phoenix.
Tuesday we went out to Saguaro Lake. We had lunch and hiked around the Lake. Vanessa,  James, and Thomas made it part way. Mia, Max, Kendal, Becca, and I made it a bit further then turned back. Peter and David headed up the adventure with their dad's and Alice tracking them, they made it the furthest but not quite the end. Poor David met up with a cactus on his way back.

  After our hike we went to a Train park. The kids loved the play ground. There were some full size train cars to see and there was a neat building full of model trains and lands. (Papa would've been in heaven!) Peter was captivated and even got to go into a side room with one of the "engineers / model builders". After the museum the kids got to ride a little train around the park and a carousel. Alice enjoyed the train ride, but didn't like going up and down on the horse.

Mia, Cody, and Max joined us all at Organ Stop Pizza for dinner. It was so cool!! We walked into a packed room, got the kids sat down and the organist played Star Wars; the kids went nuts. The experience was great and exceeded all expectations!! He even played Bohemian Rapsidy that Casey requested. We went back to Cody and Mia's for ice cream. We spent Wednesday morning there as well before we headed out. There wasn't enough time with them, but I'm so glad we got to see them!