arizona in two days...

I think we're pretty crazy.
Who packs up 4 kids, drags them across the Pacific Ocean on a 5 1/2 hour flight, for a mere 2 day trip? Flying stand-by no less?!
Yes. We are not your average family.
But then again...who takes over 200 pictures on a 2 day trip?
Yeah, I'll admit it. We're probably not normal...

So, as I mentioned, I took over 200 photos while we were in Arizona.
I've managed to post only the highlights...but coming from a girl who takes too many dang pictures...you can bet this is gonna be a long post.

For such a short trip, I contemplated staying home and just sending Mitch and the girls (like I did last year), but at the last minute decided to throw caution to the wind and take my chances with our extremely rambunctious, wandering, wiggly little boy.

Upon first getting in the plane, he made sure he knew where all the exits were.
No doubt in case he got bored and needed to deplane ASAP.

And then while the plane was still on its ascent, he promptly fell asleep.
As did Mitch.

Mid-flight.
He did remarkably well.
Of course, I wasn't the one chasing him up and down the aisles and hovering in the galley area with a boy who refuses to sit still.
Sometimes, it's good to have a Daddy's boy.
Yay, me!

5 1/2 hours later...we arrive!
And Kaden is happy.
Which means Mommy and Daddy are also happy.
Yay!
And you'll notice I don't say anything about the girls.
That's because our girls are pretty seasoned fliers. They always do great on flights.
This time was no different.

Day 1:
Since technically we arrive in Arizona after midnight...I shall consider the following day, our first day.
Here the cousins gather with Grandma and Grandpa Seavey.

First on our agenda: In-N-Out.
Of course.

Kaden's first In-N-Out french fry.
The verdict?
He liked it!
But then again, it's food.
Kaden does like his food.

Man, that's a lotta little kids!
And I should apologize to the worker who had to clean up after us.
But, in my opinion, they're asking for trouble when they pass out stickers to kids...you know what I mean??

I decided to try my burger "protein style" wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun.
Good news: It was delicious!
Bad news: I was still pretty hungry and probably indulged in several too many french fries to compensate.
Oh well...

Yes....that is Boston with a french fry up his nose...

Ahh, and these two are just so cute.
They were literally inseparable the entire time.

After In-N-Out, it was time to hit my ultimate favorite store...Trader Joe's.

Where I make my kids earn their keep!
Just kidding...

Grandma insisted on taking all the grand kids to the dollar store.
And since she only has a small SUV, I drove them to TWO different dollar stores so the kids could pick out useless junk er, I mean toys.
Here they are on the merry-go-round outside the store.
With 2 too many kids, but who's counting, right?

After shopping, it was time to dye Easter Eggs.
I am ashamed to admit it...but I don't dye eggs for Easter.
I'm not a huge fan of hard boiled eggs...and since eggs are SO ridiculously expensive in Hawaii...we usually forgo the dying of eggs ritual and just go straight to hunting for candy filled plastic eggs.
Much tastier, in my opinion...

So, this was my girls' second time dying Easter Eggs. Ever!
(and for Jolee...it was her very first!)
Shame on me, huh?

Here she is drawing something with a crayon...

Can you tell? It's an Easter Bunny.

And here they are...all bright and colorful...and ready to be hidden, seeked, and eventually devoured.
But not by me.

It was a LONG and fun-filled day, but with only two days of exploring to do...we had to cram everything in!
So, late at night, we dragged the kids to a gelato place that Mitch says is the best.

And yes it was!
Well, okay, I'm no gelato connoisseur, but it was pretty tasty!
And Kaden sure agreed.

The unfortunate side effect of eating gelato, of course, is that we were all FREEZING cold when we got out of the shop! And all the way home, too.
Good thing we came prepared with our jackets!
The 65 degree evening weather was just too much for us locals...

Day 2:
Started off the day with the "HUNT"

While we distracted the kids upstairs, Takuya went around and played Easter Bunny in the front yard.

We ended up buying some candies to put in plastic eggs as well.
Not smart when the weather hovers in the upper 80's with the sunshine blaring down on us.
Most all the plastic eggs had melted chocolate inside.

We ended up putting all the kids' eggs into the fridge directly afterwards to prevent a chocolate catastrophe!

During the hunt, however, these two had NO desire to go search for eggs.

No, they were too busy cruisin' the driveway.

Kela with her chocolate bunny.
Wow, just looking at it makes my teeth hurt...

After hunting for eggs, eating some, and getting chocolate all over a few fingers in the process...we headed out to Bass Pro Shop to let the kids participate in the Easter craft activity there.

They painted some sun catchers.

Jolee was quite sad and disappointed when Kela laughed at her "purple carrots."
She wanted to redo another sun catcher because she was so upset.
But after Google-ing it and showing Jojo some real purple carrots, she seemed pacified that she had, in fact, painted some factual carrots instead of some make believe vegetable.
Girls can be so sensitive!
Thank goodness for Google!
And my iPhone.

Anna and Kela with theirs.

A cheapie craft, but fun for the kids nonetheless.

Another fun thing about this huge store is all the ATV and boats they have on display.
Kaden loved driving them all!

And speaking of displays...Kaden found this raccoon in the camping department.

Whom he made fast friends with.

Not to mention coming face to face with some seriously gigantic fish.

Have I mentioned that Jolee doesn't like pictures very much?
No...apparently, she's not a fan of the camera.

One thing I tend to do on travel is plan our days around food.
I love Hawaii...and all the different types of food there...but when it comes to good ol' BBQ...there we fall short.
So, when it came to planning our trip to Arizona, the first thing I thought of was where we could find some real good barbecue.
We hit up Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert...and it was GOOD!
Had to jog a little extra that night because of it, but it was so worth it!

Towards late afternoon, while Mitch napped with Kaden, I took the kids to the pool for an afternoon swim.
It was HOT!
The only shade I managed to find was behind the skinny pillar of a gazebo near the kiddie pool!
The kids mostly stayed in the kiddie pool. Kela and Kai braved the big pool for a little bit, but after Kai swam a little too far from the edge (and Kela managed to save him by pulling him to the wall all by herself-which would have made me proud of her...had she not been the one to encourage Kai to swim away from the edge in the first place!!), they mostly stayed in the hot tub or the kiddie pool.

Here they are playing Ring around the Rosie in the pool.

Before leaving...Mitch helped swap out a few of the broken ceiling fans in his parents house...

While the kids rode bikes...

...had a "stand-off"
er, I mean, wandered off...

...Played with a scooter...

...and even rode a skateboard.

*Whew! Talk about a whirlwind of a trip! It was super short, but jam-packed with lots of fun activities, good food, and great family time.

All too soon, it was time to say Aloha Oe to Arizona.
Kaden didn't want to leave!
Just kidding. He just loves to wander around aimlessly.

Some may say he likes to run away from me, but I like to think he just doesn't like to sit still.
Which was why we were so shocked that he slept nearly the entire flight back home!
Sure, he had his wiggly moments...but most of the flight he slept in Mitch's arms.
Poor Mitch, but yay me!
I got to watch 2 movies on the digi player! :P

The flight from Arizona to Hawaii leaves at 8AM...which meant that we had to wake up super early just to make it to the airport in time. Not to mention time enough to drop off our rental van as well. So, after a loong day, finally making it back home was a big relief!
A relief that was short lived since we had to get ready for church shortly after landing...but tiredness aside, it was a great trip and we are so fortunate to have flying benefits through Mitch's work!

As I mentioned in the beginning of this ridiculously long post, I took a ton of pictures.
To check them all out (if you have the time, that is) then check 'em out HERE!