Jackson's First Trip to Sunny Arizona

Back in March, we went on our first family plane ride to sunny Arizona to see Gamma, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Barry, and Caitlin.  We left Little Rock around 6:30, which meant we had to get up really early.  Jackson did really good in the airport, and I was a little concerned because we were delayed a few minutes.  But we had been talking about it for a while, so he was super excited to finally get on the plane.  

He had his player and headphones, although he wasn't too crazy about them.  As long as we had some snacks and a drink, he sat there and was good.  He did go potty, which is interesting lesson in how to get everybody in the bathroom (note:  I served as the door).  

Gamma was waiting on us when we got there and Jackson was excited to see her.  

So glad that we had Caitlin's old car seat to ride in.  That was one less thing that we had to pack.  

Ah - sun, palm trees, and low humidity!  It was still cold in Arkansas, so I was excited to break out my flip flops.  

Jackson kept saying "it feels good out here!"  Yes son, it does. 

When we got Gamma's house, the cousin's played for a little while, then we all settled down for a nap.  

Brent and I passed out for about an hour, and I don't remember if the kids went to sleep.  But after we woke up, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Around the corner from their house is the neighborhood park, and we spent lots of time there during the week.  My only issue was that it had sand instead of wood chips, which got everywhere.  

The scenery was beautiful.  I loved seeing the mountains in the horizon.  

The next day, we all got dolled up and went to town for a photo session at JC Penney.  I would like to say that my child behaved wonderfully and that he was so cute, but he had a major meltdown.  We finally did get a few, but not as many as we wanted, and I was so aggravated.  

You can see the stress from the photo shoot wore everyone in the back seat completely out.  HA!  

When we got back, we headed back to the park.  I love this picture.  I hope they will always be friends.  

If I could find a shirt that said "Monkey See, Monkey Do", I would have bought two of them for these two.  Everything Caitlin did, Jackson wanted to do.  

I love this one.  They do favor quite a bit in my opinion, and they were pretty sweet to each other.  Nobody was fussing or fighting.  

Watching Veggie Tales with Caitlin.  

Arizona is in the Mountain Time Zone, and in their town they do not observe Daylight Savings Time.  This means that every day at 4:30 or 5 a.m. that Jackson was up and ready to start the day.  EVERY.DAY.  Glad Gamma got up too to help play and read while we snoozed.  

On Tuesday, we loaded up and drove 40 miles south to Tuscon.  The drive was fun and the scenery was also beautiful. 

We went to the Reed Park Zoo to see the animals.  It was perfect weather and the kids were excited (can't you tell).  ha! 

We did have to take a popcorn and dinosaur drink break.  What's a tourist stop without visiting the cafe and gift shop.  LOL. This kid loves popcorn.  

He also got an arm tattoo and was sad to see it go the next day. 

Look what hatched! 

Panthers. 

Rhino

Such a big boy!  

They got treats from the gift shop, and Caitlin's was named Diamond and was going to have babies.  I don't know where that came from, but we weren't ready for that conversation just yet.  

We had a great trip relaxing with Brent's family.  Jackson played so good with his older cousin and they never really got on each other's nerves yet.  (not yet at least).  Since it's been about 2 months since we've gotten back, we're excited to say that they are moving a little closer to us.  Kelly took a new job in San Antonio and they're moving this week!  It's going to be fun getting to explore SA, and it's about a 9 hour drive, so it's possible to get there without selling a kidney.  

Arizona, you're a lovely place to visit and I'd love to go back to Sedona and the Grand Canyon again one day.  Maybe we'll see each other again soon.  

The Unending Winter

Ugh - it's March and there's an inch of ice on the ground right now.  We've had winter weather events since the first of December, and believe me, I am officially over winter.  I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I could lay in bed all day, eat bon bons, and watch TV.  But nope.  Can't do that.  I've got a very active 2 1\2 year old who needs to expend energy in order to go to bed at night, and we've got 1200 square feet of house to figure out how to do that.

February 8-9:  We had the perfect, fluffiest snow that Friday night.  It was perfect for playing in, and of course we did.  We had to that night actually, so we bundled up with our jammies underneath the coats.

This snow day was on a Saturday, so we didn't have to worry about closed daycare and missing work.   We also enjoyed throwing snowballs at each other. 

We tried to build a snowman, but it was small.  Jackson enjoyed kicking it more than building it.  

Who needs a snow plow when you have a lawn mower? 

The roads were covered, but not too slick since it was snow.  We were going to the church for a birthday party, so it wasn't far. 

Fast forward to Sunday night.  They kept saying on the news that more winter weather was coming, but honestly after a few sunny days and spring-like weather, I didn't believe.  Well, they were right.  It sleeted for about 4 hours straight (even had thundersleet and lightening).  Of course it didn't take long to get slick outside.  The next morning all of the schools were cancelled and there was about an inch of pure ice on the ground.  

There was just a little light dusting of snow that made it crunchy, but not enough to do anything with it. 

The sun made everything so sparkly and pretty, but sadly didn't melt much. 

And yes that is yellow flowers peeking through on a bush in front of our house.  Nothing like a March snow! 

So school's cancelled again for today (Tuesday), and I'm off work trying to entertain Jackson while Brent works from home in the back room.  The main roads are cleared off, so we may even venture out to the mall to get a change of scenery.  Maybe even hit up Chick-Fil-A if we're feeling fancy.  

I have thought the past few days though to be grateful for the downtime with my family and for a job that give me plenty of time off to use when this happens.  (Although I am most definitely ready for Spring!).  The cold may not be over yet, but at least we're on the downhill slide!