Greetings & Happy Turkey Day from Arizona!

Craig, Will & I spent Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday - Sunday) visiting my Grandpa and his wife in Scottsdale, Arizona. We had been trying to organize this trip for several years and I'm grateful that it worked out when it did, since traveling with two kids will be considerably more challenging. The airports were surprisingly quiet on Thanksgiving Day but very busy on Sunday with everyone returning from the holiday weekend. Our visit was very enjoyable, though the travel days were quite exhausting. Will unfortunately started showing some cold symptoms just before we left, which escalated into an almost constant cough/sneeze/runny nose for most of our trip. He was still a trooper despite being terribly off his schedule and lacking sleep. But after a low grade fever on Saturday, I decided to check his mouth to see if that ornery 4th cuspid tooth had broken through... and sure enough, it had. So that was a relief to know the root of his symptoms. He was a crying, whining mess on the flight over but thankfully slept quite a bit on the flight home. This week we're just going to be very good about bedtime and hopefully get him (and us!) back on track quickly.


The weather was a little cooler for this time of year (upper 60's - low 70's) but still a very welcome change from our midwest weather. The skies were beautifully blue every day with lots of sun. We were so kindly welcomed and made very comfortable for our stay and the food was delicious! We had a full course Thanksgiving dinner upon our arrival and Will loved the turkey. Lorraine and I swapped cooking tips and recipes quite a bit. (For example, I have GOT to start making my own salad dressing more often! It's so simple and so much better than bottled dressing.) And Grandpa got to spend some one on one time with Craig, so they got to know each other a little better. We also visited with my Uncle David and his two beautiful kids.


Here are a bunch of pictures of our trip:


This is on the flight over. (I should have turned the flash off.) We actually planned to have Will in our laps since he's under 2, but got so lucky on BOTH flights to have an extra seat unclaimed to allow us some extra space. I can't imagine what it would have been like without that - Will was climbing all over the place!



Grandpa & Lorraine live in a housing development that surrounds a man-made lake. So all the residents have little boats that they take around through the "neighborhood". They even dress up the boats with lights for the holidays and have a contest of best decorated boat.

Here's a view of their house from the water:



Here's a view inside the house, looking down on the living/dining room from the open upstairs balcony. The kitchen's in the bottom right corner.



And here's our guest room:



This is our first morning in Arizona - Craig reading Will a story.




Will got such a kick out of playing hide-and-seek/ peek-a-boo with Grandpa and Lorraine, running in and out of their laundry room and beside a foyer table.






After breakfast, Grandpa took us out on a boat ride tour. Will got to help Grandpa man the ship.

An Ohio State fan in Arizona!

We paused so Will could check out the ducks. Grandpa brought along some bread for us to feed them.

Later we took a scenic drive around Arizona and got to see some pretty neat views and elevations. It would be especially cool to check out some of the hiking trails there. Maybe another time... when we don't have a toddler along... and I'm not pregnant... and I have more than just a pair of wedge heel shoes packed. LOL

I just LOVE this picture. Craig was carrying Will over to a photo-op with a cactus and Will was making such a Craig-face: irritated and determined at the same time. I feel like I'm looking at the front and back of Craig - they look so much alike (minus the hair color, of course).

So here's a couple pictures of Will's first experience with a cactus. This one is just his size!

On Saturday morning, Grandpa and Craig got up early to take a ride in Grandpa's airplane to a town called Payson for breakfast. Grandpa is a pilot and Craig got a birdseye view of Scottsdale and the surrounding towns.

Will & I hung back and checked out the back yard with the lemon tree and swing and watching the boats.

Later that day, we met up with David and the kids and went to the Phoenix Zoo. Will was very clingy, wanting to be held instead of pushed in a stroller. We obliged him since he wasn't feeling well.

This was hysterical! Two lions lounging in a rather revealing position...

Flamingos and a Squirrel Monkey. We were able to walk right into the monkeys' habitat for some close up viewing!

David and his daughter Anna retrieve their Geocache (sp?) box inside the zoo. Sort of like a treasure hunt, they get information online with latitude and longitude marks, and then use a GPS to find a small container that people interchange little trinket prizes. Then you log your find back online and the next person is able to find whatever trinket you leave. Pretty cool, I think!

Finally, on the flight home, Will fell asleep. Mostly he slept on me, but towards the end I had to use the restroom so Craig took him and he stayed asleep.