Arizona

We had lots of fun on our family vacation to Arizona last weekend. The same airline that has cheap flights, just added a new destination- Mesa! We were excited to get out in the sun. Kent found a great resort that had a golf course and water park on site. Our room couldn't have been located more perfectly with our patio walking right out to the water park and the front door opening up to the courtyard pool. Ethan and Kent woke up early to do some golfing then we all went and enjoyed the weather poolside.

This picture I love. I can't tell if Ella is pointing at Ethan as if she is embarrassed to be with him, or if she giving me the "cut it" sign to stop taking her picture.

Now that he put his goggles up, Ella is okay to accept him as her brother.

If Cannon isn't sleeping- he wants to be.

Maybe we should've given Ella a spray tan too..?

The kids took a break from the water to play on our iphones. Hmmm...

My old roommate, Rhonda, (she's also a close friend of the Copeland family) lives in Arizona. We were so happy that she took time to come hang out with us while we were there. She made the weekend so much fun. At first, our little Ella wasn't sure what to think of this person crashing our family vacation. Rhonda bought Ethan and Ella some ice cream to try and win them over. Ethan was hooked right away, but as the pictures will show, it took Ella a little convincing...

...and that is the smile that changed the weekend. Ella had let Rhonda in. Rhonda had no idea what she was in for as Ella's new bestie.

Once Ella realized how fun it can be to be friends with people, she introduced herself to a little girl at the pool and had some good fun playing with her. Ella is quite smart, she found a girl that was older than her and would throw the toys in the water to make her new friend dive for them. Luckily the girl thought that was pretty fun.
Ethan was happy that Rhonda was there to throw the football with him. Kent was happy too because he was able to lay out and relax while Rhonda did all the work :)

After Rhonda got to know Ethan better and saw how much he LOVES sports and football, she gave him this signed BYU ball from the bowl game. Thank you, Rhonda!

Rhonda's friend told her about a fun place to go with kids. We are so thankful for the recommendation because we all had a blast! First of all, you have to wear socks, but we were all in flip-flops so we had to buy socks. Love it! This place has massive tunnels and bridges that lead to places that leave you wondering which way is up. Rhonda sat with Cannon for a bit while Kent and I tried to keep up with the kids. I never have felt so old. I have the bruised knees and scabby elbows to prove it. Kent and I looked ridiculous but had a great time laughing until it hurt. I loved it when Kent's back button got stuck on the net and he couldn't get through, creating a traffic jam of kids wondering what was going on.

Then Kent sat with Cannon while I went AGAIN with Rhonda and the kids. It was just as hilarious the second time, but my elbows were not happy with me.
We had fun eating at Benihana's. Ella didn't care for the food, but had was very entertained with the exciting show.

Lots of yummy food on our trip.

Yummmm!

Breakfast at the Waffle House. That is an experience in and of itself.

Breakfast at Mimi's. Rhonda was so great to let the kids hang on her, talk her ears off, sit in the backseat of the mini-van rental, sing Barbie songs with them, splash in the pool with them, and overall love them.

Even though the kids were SUPER excited and hyper, we had a wonderful family vacation with our little family of five. We are glad that Rhonda spent so much time with us, it wouldn't have been the same without her. We are looking forward to flying her up here to babysit our kids so we can go on a weekend get-away without them.