Tucson

So as I mentioned in my previous post, we flew out to Tucson for Mima's big 60th Birthday. Mima is my Mother-In-Law and a very special lady. We booked our tickets back in March and vowed to keep it a surprise. I am not a very good surprise keeper, I can keep secrets, but when it comes to surprises I have a hard time not sharing so this was NOT easy for me.

We flew into Phoenix as the flight was much less expensive and we needed to book a rental car anyways, so why not just fly there and drive the two hours to Tucson? The flight to Tucson went off without a hitch. The boys did great watching Sesame Street, having crackers and apple juice and coloring with their color wonder markers. The last 15 minutes Aaden got a bit antsy, but all in all the two hour flight was a breeze. We got our bags, hopped onto a shuttle to get the rental car, picked up a rental car and made our way to Tucson. The boys were able to take a nap on the way there so it worked great. We were even able to stop at a Chick-Fil-A for a quick drive through lunch. The boys enjoyed nuggets and "frey-fries" as a special treat in the car.

We showed up on Mima's doorstep the night before her Birthday and I am such a sap, I couldn't help, but to shed a tear. We visited for awhile, and then went out to Sonoran Hot Dogs with Mima, all the kiddos and my SIL and her fiancé. Then made our way back to the hotel, where the bedtime fun began.

The next morning we had breakfast in our room. Gabe came back with waffles and fruit loops. Well wouldn't ya know it, Fruit loops were a very un-healthy hit. We spent the morning running a couple errands and party shopping with my Brother-In-Law at Costco then went back to his house to clean up and decorate. Thankfully the boys were able to take a nice long naps in their cousins beds, and I must add... they went to sleep nicely in toddler beds (probably something we will need to buy very soon.) When the boys woke up, their cousins were there and they were able to play play play in the backyard. Then it was party time! We had carne asada along with rice and beans and my Sister-In-Law made a beautiful cake, she is so talented. The kids played, the grownups visited, the cousins took a bath together and we tried to get some family and cousin pictures.

The next day we went to a Splash park where the boys were able to play around in the water. They were not as in to it as I thought they might be, but they had a good time on the dry playground. We had a little picnic then packed up and went back to the hotel for swimming. Now that the boys DID like. Those guys had NO fear and jumped right back in where they left off. They sure do love that water. We had a great time splashing around with my Brother and Sister-In-Law and little Julia and Gabriel. Aaden had some cuddle time with Uncle Chach and Noah had a little #2 incident in the swimmy diaper, which gave us all a good laugh.

Later that night we treated Mima, Monica and all the kids to a local buffet dinner where the boys were FINALLY able to sit down in a highchair for the first time and EAT. Poor guys had not really had a nice filling sit down meal the WHOLE time, HUGE fail on Mommies part. We called it an early night and got the boys into bed just after their normal time (this was jelly bean night.)

The last day we headed over to visit with Mima before we left then treated my Brother and Sister-In-Law to an AMAZING sushi buffet before we headed to Phoenix. The food was SO good and I was able to eat a bunch of it because it contained shrimp and not raw fish. Even Gabe commented on how much I ate, and the boys loved it because they got their favorite, Chow mein. We said our goodbyes after a great meal and drove to Phoenix where again the boys were able rest. We got to the hotel in Phoenix and swam the say away just our little family of four. We had a low key super easy dinner at Denny's and called it an early night. Not without a little #2 incident in the empty bathtub, again silly Noah. The room in Phoenix was MUCH bigger, which was nice.

That night I started to feel crummy and my throat was on fire. Gabe brought me some tea from the lobby and Noah and I both feeling crummy only got tidbits of sleep that night. We had to wake up at 5 for our flight and that morning was my Birthday. I will spare you the HORRIBLE details of the rest of the day and just break it down... SICK, flight delay, flight delay longer, restless kids, SICK, ready to board, flight cancelled, flight re-booked with a lay over, tears, SICK, lots of airport walking, crummy lunch, SICK, tired kids, horrible kids, miserable LONG flight with a delayed layover, temper tantrums, tired kids, tired parents, SICK, lost bags, found bags, extra charges for car storage, a no good yucky birthday. We FINALLY got back home 13 hours after waking up in Phoenix. At that rate we could have driven home. Thankfully my best friend had made a homemade lasagna, salad and french bread and we were able to stop by her house for a quick bite, crack the first smile of the day, have a cupcake and open a Birthday gift. Thanks to her my day was somewhat saved. When we got home I was THRILLED to find that my Mom had recovered our dinning room chairs for me and cleared out some of baby H's room. Happy tears and some more smiling. I LOVE having things magically done for me, that is my ALL time favorite surprise. So the Birthday was some what salvaged and another plane trip is MANY MANY years off. All in all we had a great time, and hopefully someday I will be able to laugh about the worst Birthday ever.

Next year I turn 30, I am saving all the celebrating for then. The wheels are already turning. No offense to my kids that I love oh so much, but I am thinking a kids free friends weekend. Maybe Reno?