arizona in october=still hot

For Fall break, we were itching to get off the island...and so despite the hot weather there, we decided to fly out to Arizona to visit Mitch's family.

Luckily, Kaden got his own seat!
And I opted to bring his carseat on the plane with us.
May I recommend all parents who fly with infants to, if possible, bring the carseat on board!
When he fell asleep shortly after take-off, it was BLISS being able to relax and forget the fact that I was flying with a baby!
And the fact that he flew beautifully? BONUS!
Here we are in Arizona...with Mitch's parents.
Ok, so this picture is just Mitch and Kaden.
But, doesn't the background look Arizona-y?
NO? Well, I just thought it was a cute pic of Kaden.

And...as per usual, Mitch's mom LOVES to shop at thrift stores.
And also per usual, she finds these articles of clothing that I would NEVER buy...but that my girls L-O-V-E.
This trip, it was Jolee and a Tinkerbell dress.
She literally wore it EVERYDAY!
So much so, that it got so beat up and frayed, I had to throw it away as soon as we came home.
shhh...don't tell Jolee.

In my in-laws back yard...the girls played with some water guns Grandma got the kids.
Can you see Kai hiding in the trees?
Wouldn't YOU hide from 3 girls with water guns pointed at you?!

Jolee...well, she chose a more stationary target to shoot water at.
Yes, those are ceramic bunnies.
Poor things...

While we were there...Kaden learned how to do this.
You can bet the first thing we ordered upon arriving home?
A baby gate.

Sunday after General Conference, we decided that a perfect Sabbath activity would be to visit the Temple grounds in Mesa.
The girls were surprised that it looked just like the Hawaii temple!
Well, minus the ugly scaffolding, of course...

Yes, I'm pretty sure that water is nasty.
But it's on Temple grounds, so should be alright...right?

Dinner on Sunday was barbecue hamburgers.
I made the burger patties... while Mitch grilled.

In between bouts of shooting at planes on his iPad.

Grandpa and the baby boys.
You wouldn't know it...and it probably doesn't look it...but Kaden (9 months old) is 8 months YOUNGER than baby Boston (17 months old).
And in case you were wondering, yes, Kaden is heavier.
But, we haven't told him that yet.

Don't want him to develop any self-esteem issues, you know.

The next day we hit the splash park.
Unfortunately, the one we usually go to was already closed for the season.
What season, I wonder?! Since the weather was still in the upper 90's...but anyhoo, we headed out to this one. It was older, and smaller, and a bit torn up here and there...but the kids didn't mind. They had a blast anyway.

We brought a swim suite for Kaden...but decided to let him go with just a diaper instead.
Less laundry, right?

One thing I absolutely had on my agenda while there was to visit this place.
Joe's Farm Grill
It being showcased on Food Network's Diner's Drive-ins & Dives...I really wanted to check the place out.

And let me just say, Guy's recommendation didn't disappoint!
We had the BBQ chicken pizza and Ahi Sandwich. Oh, and the onion rings.
All showcased on the show.
And all delicious!

Probably goes without saying, but these two were inseparable.
Kinda like Jolee and her Tinkerbell dress.

Which is no more...but at least while in Arizona, was the ONLY outfit she wanted to wear.

Speaking of inseparable...here's Kaden and Boston.
Do you think they are looking at each other and thinking..."Hey, you look familiar...!"
Just so happened Lynn had bought the EXACT SAME outfit for Boston that I bought for Kaden!
Great minds DO think alike!

See?
Hahaha...

While in Arizona, we opted to rent a smaller car...and rely on Mitch's family to take on that extra person so we could save a few bucks.

Mental note for next time...pay the extra $$ and rent a minivan instead.

Here's Anna helping out in the back seat.

One thing Mitch really wanted to do was take the girls to Bass Pro Shop.
Not that Mitch is an outdoorsy person or anything...
I mean, we've NEVER gone camping, fishing, hunting, ATV-ing or anything else that has to do with the outdoors.
BUT apparently, that doesn't mean he doesn't like looking at outdoorsy stuff!

The store is actually quite HUGE!
This giant fish tank was my favorite part.
And Kaden got to look a catfish in the eye...and live to tell the tale.

Not that he can talk. Or, that he'll actually remember it when he finally does begin talking.
But whatever.
He saw a catfish that was bigger than him.

Another item on my personal agenda was to eat some frozen custard at Nielson's.
On our way there, Jolee wanted to wear these bumble bee antennae.
Yes, another thrift store find courtesy of Grandma.

And the custard was heavenly.

In case you were wondering, YES, we did eat at In-n-Out.
I just completely forgot to take a picture of the food while we were eating.
So sue me! We were hungry!

Crazy thing while we were there...Arizona got blanketed in a huge dust storm.
I'm talking, HUGE!
Ok, so this picture probably doesn't do justice to the reality of sand blowing everywhere!!
But did we let that slow us down?

Or stop us from visiting my all-time FAVORITE store?
No.
No visit to Arizona is complete without a stop at Trader Joe's.

Even Kaden likes Trader Joe's!
Particularly the colorful (and noisy) chocolate covered sunflower seeds.
Yum!

And with that...our short, 4 day trip was over.
It's always fun to get away and travel to the mainland, visit family, and do some fun shopping...
but it's always nice to come back home as well.

The flight home was great!
Kaden slept for most of the flight!
And look! No hands!

I took TONS of pictures, as usual...and to check those out, click HERE!