Our AZ Trip

I know. I'm a loser, slacker blogger person. I've been home for almost 2 weeks & I haven't blogged about my trip to AZ. I could say that I've been resting & recovering from vacation. The truth? Just lazy, I guess.


Anyway, the flight was OK. We flew from Peoria to Mesa on Allegiant Airline. I found tickets on Wednesday, June 3rd for $29 to Mesa. Crazy, I know. Our flight home was only $79, so I ended up bringing the girls with me.
Adam & Amelia were really good on the flight. Adam listened to his mp3 player & Mia played her vsmile or listened to my mp3. Adelaide & Allison, however, had ants in their pants. They were up, down & all around. Luckily (kind of?), we were all the way in the back by the lavatory, so the multiple trips were no big deal.

Adelaide fell asleep for about the last 20 minutes of the flight & Allison faded quickly after that. Finally, right? Whatever! Then they were grouchy when I had to wake them up. Then, a little weird, this plane opened & unloaded from the rear & the sides. Great! Now, instead of being able to take my time collecting my kids & stuff, I was hurriedly trying to get 4 kids + stuff out the door & down the ramp.


Bryan's family picked us up, and we went back to Katy's (his sis) house for swimming & pizza. It was a lot of fun. We were sad that Bryan couldn't come with us on this trip, but I think I had a lot more flexibilty in my stay than I might have had otherwise. I mean, I was able to go spend a couple of days with my friend, Jessica.
Jessica is one of my oldest & best friends. We've been friends since my freshman year of high school. Her kids are similar ages to mine & we just have the same twisted, sarcastic sense of humor (and EVERYTHING else). We had tons of fun with the Cowands.

We took some pictures while waiting for our movie. Yup, the 2 of us took 8 kids out to the movies to see UP. It was fun, and they were pretty well-behaved too. Bonus!

Liam thought he was big stuff as he held Allison on his lap, so I could put his shoe on.

Kieran is about 4 months older than Adam. It's funny how they can NOT see each other for a LONG time, then get along famously like no time has passed - Just like their Moms.Aren't these guys cute? Liam is 8. McKenna is 5, and like the brothers, she is about 4 months older than Amelia.Rub-a-dub-dub...4 little girls in a tub.Someone got a little over-zealous with the bubbles. Poor Allison.

Liam is THE sweetest kid you could ever meet. He has a neuromuscular disease called Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT). He has some medical issues, but he is an AMAZING little boy. It was difficult for me for the first little while, being with the family. I just want to scoop him up & DO something. He has such a sweet smile, and loves to cuddle. It was all I could do not to bawl. He's just so dang cute.

The girls had a 3 night slumber party. Whoo-Hoo!!

I thought it was hysterical that Adelaide, Amelia & McKenna ALL fit in this bed. I'm even MORE surprised that they got any sleep.

Allison & I slept on the couch.

While @ the Cowands', we played a little Rock Band. Let's just say, Adam was less-than-pleased with Allison's assitant-drummer skills.

Allison? She thought she ROCKED!I was happy that I happened to plan our visit, so we could attend Liam's baptism. Aren't they a great looking family?? P.D. - Jessica - McKenna - Nolan - Liam - KieranGood Buddies -After the baptism, we went to the park for Liam's birthday party. The kids played & had a blast. Amelia spent MOST of the party playing in the sand. I know, most of our playfrounds in IL are covered in wood chips. - NO CONTEST.Adelaide cracks me up. - She can make friends ANYWHERE, just give her a minute.Photography by AdamSelf-PortraitWe attended church with the Cowands on Sunday, then went to my Uncle's house for dinner. It was really great to be able to visit with some of my cousins for a little while. Then, we went back down to stay with my inlaws.

The kids were very excited to go visit Grandma @ the school. They thought the big scorpion was SO cool.Grandma has a kitty at her house. She feeds it, and it hangs around. Of course, true to form, Amelia & Adelaide were afraid of it. Allison thought it was the best thing @ grandma's house.
Mia & GrandmaWilliam, Ricky & Jenny (his girlfriend)Grandma 2 (Bry's grandma) & William

I was SO grateful to Grandma 2 for letting us borrow her car. It was SO great to have wheels to get around town. One of our errands was to go buy some Dr. Marten boots for Bryan. While @ the mall, the girls enjoyed taking abreak to play. What a cheesey grin.

I love this one! Good smile Adelaide.Adelaide had a GREAT time climbing.Peek-a-boo Mia.What a sweet smile.Can you see Adelaide climbing back there on the car?? Adelaide the dare-devil.Allison loves playing with "babies" - Which includes anyone near her age or smaller.These ladies drive me crazy with their bickering, but they sure are cute when they play nice.Another cute pose.Allison is a total copycat.One of the fun things we did with the inlaws, was go to Pump-It-Up. The kids had tons of fun with the cousins. Here's Adam coming down the big slide with his cousin, Ryan.

Amelia LOVED the big slide. Eventually, Adelaide did too.

Whoo-Hoo!! Go Mia! Allison had a fun time too. She ran around & played in the moon-bounce. Cute Cousins - Griffin & Adam

Allison & Grandma-2 - We love you Gram!

Bry's brother Alan. Nice smile, Allison.In AZ, we were SO thankful Aunt Katy had a pool. We enjoyed cooling off.I also liked hanging out in the hot tub one night, when the pool was just to chilly.Smile Mia!Did I mention that Allison had to go inside one evening, instead of swimming with us? Let's just say that she was less-than-thrilled.

Altogether, I really enjoyed our trip to AZ. We spent time with family & friends. I was even able to visit a couple of amazing gals (Stef & Rachel) that I haven't seen in a LONG while. It was SO great.

We left Adam with grandma to spend some more time there. I know he's having a great time with his cousins. I miss him & he'll be home soon.