A Saturday with Cathy

My good friend (and former boss) Cathy invited us all over for lunch and a trip to an awesome park near her house on Saturday--and boy, did she spoil us! She made two amazing lunches, one for the kidlets and one for the adults--treated the kids to an adorable white layer cake for dessert (which, as you can imagine, they loved)--had all kinds of toys to play with and space to play in, including a totally awesome fire truck and jungle safari truck that were for the kids (which they haven't stopped playing with since). Then we ventured to Cabin John Park, which was not far from her house, where we played on a whole bunch of toys, found a swing set and did some serious swinging, and took an awesome ride on a train (it was also just humid enough to make mom really start sweating--a sneak peak at summer fun around here, oh boy.). See? She SO spoiled us.

A Day with Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Tom

The original reason for our trip to Arizona was to attend Dan and Nikki's wedding, in which Daniel was a groomsman. The wedding was on Saturday, the rehearsal dinner on Friday night--and so Addison and Jackson had their first bathtime/bedtimes with neither mom nor dad present, and got to spend almost an entire day with their grandparents--another first. All reports were that Friday night's bedtime was a bit harried--I left in the middle of dinner, and that was hard on the babies--and we wore them out so much during the day, every night bedtime seemed that way. But their entire day on Saturday with banca and banca was a success--they were happy little babies and had a great time on their adventures with my parents!

They went to the train park and rode the train twice, rode the carousel twice (and loved it!), and played at the playground.

They went to McDonald's and had lunch.

They ran around and played until they couldn't play anymore.

It was fun for the babies to be able to spend that time with their grandparents--and nice for us to get out for a night and be able to enjoy Dan and Nikki's wedding without having to worry about A&J. Thanks, Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Tom--let's do it again soon!

Dan and Nikki's Wedding

Addison and Jackson with Dad, before he headed to the wedding site early in the day.

The wedding was lovely, the bride and groom made a gorgeous couple, and the party after was fantastic.

And all the while, Addison and Jackson were having adventures with Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Tom (aka Banca/Granpa and Banca/Grama)...

AZ: Grandma Kaye and Her Grandbabies

We've had such a great time in Arizona--earlier today, Rachel and Audrey headed back to Salt Lake City and we were sad to see them go (even though Audrey told me that she was ready to get home to her own crib and her daddy). It was so much fun spending time together, playing drawsomething with each other on our phones (and cracking each other up) while sitting on the couch a few feet from each other, having the babies hug and kiss their cousin Audrey. It's been a great vacation! (and my mom made Addison and Audrey their matching dresses--aren't they precious?)

AZ: The Train Park

One hot Arizona afternoon, the four of us ventured out to McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. It was highly recommended for kids our age (per my dad's research), and it turned out to be perfect for our kids. There was a train to ride, a carousel, swings, and a park, as well as big trains and train tracks to check out. We had such a good time, we went back another time or two!

AZ: The Phoenix Zoo II

We thought we were done with the zoo...when we found another water play area. The babies were hot and tired from our afternoon-long zoo adventure, but absolutely went wild once we let them out of the stroller and into the water fountains. They loved running around, chasing the water as it shot out of the ground, and getting surprised when the water unexpectedly shot up and got them. Jackson's shorts were on the big side already, and once they got wet, then were down around his ankles. Oh well--it doesn't matter one bit, especially when you see the pure joy on their faces in these pictures!