Phoenix Trip 2015 - Part 6: Adventures

We went to dinner with Sue's brother Ed and their cousin, Karen.

We found this really awesome splash pad at Sloan Park in Mesa. It's part of the Chicago Cubs Practice stadium and is really neat. Again, Austin loved playing in the water. Of course, Lydia did, too. There was a playground nearby that we enjoyed playing on after we were done with the water. 

Phoenix Science Museum 

(and Lunch at a small splash pad at the mall)

The museum was a little too old for the kids, but they found things that they loved. Lydia spun on this bar, around and around, and around. Austin played with the balls that floated in the air and they both loved being with Grandma and Grandpa. This was the last day David had to work, and he got off early so we went and ate a late lunch at the mall close by that had a small splash pad for the kids to play in.  Oh, then we tried to go paddleboating at Encanto Park, but the paddle boats weren't working so we just watched the ducks in the water. 

Phoenix Trip 2015 - Part 5: Shantel's Birthday & The MS Railroad

The reason that I first started telling David that I was going to come to Phoenix with him is because he was going to be gone over my birthday. Granted, he still had to work all day on my birthday, but it was just so much better to be in the same city as him. I didn't have any great expectations of what we'd do - but Cal and Sue made the whole day incredibly special for me. They took us out to play, treated us to a delicious lunch, made me feel special all day, and even surprised me with some mini-cake treats and some presents back at our hotel. Then Cal and Sue watched the kids after David got off of work so that we could go on a birthday date. We went out to dinner at The Vig and it was fun and delicious. I felt so loved all day and it was probably my very favorite day of our whole trip. 

We went to the McCormic-Stillman Railroad Park and it was so wonderful! Seriously, such a fun time. We'd go back in a heartbeat, and would recommend it to anyone in the area. There was a little train you could ride, a fabulous playground, an ice cream shop, and a working model-railroad museum. It was all so kid friendly, but still interesting for adults, too. The museum part had all these little trains that were set on motion activators, so when you put your hand over the sensor the train would start moving, travel around the track and return to it's resting spot. Lydia loved making the trains go and then running with them around the whole track. Austin found this little train car and played in it for almost an hour. He climbed up and down over and over and over. It's so neat to see him figuring out his little body. We all looooooooved the whole railroad park. 

We went out to lunch at Chipotle, had a birthday party at the hotel, went to dinner with David at the Vig, and mostly just had a wonderful, wonderful, day. 

Phoenix Trip 2015 - Part 4: Mesa LDS Temple & Sue's Home

When we initially started joking about how is David was going to Phoenix for work, then I was coming... and I was bringing our children - Cal and Sue mentioned that they'd been wanting to take a trip down there together because they hadn't been back since their wedding day almost 40 years earlier. They met at BYU but because Sue was from Phoenix they drove down over Christmas Break to get married. As soon as their wedding was over, they drove home. Soon after that, Sue's parents moved to St. George. They never had a reason to go back. Sue has been back many times to visit people with her mother, but they've never been back together.  So the plan was hatched to all travel down together. We rented a mini-van and made the trip. Of course, while we were down there we had to visit the Mesa Temple. We packed a lunch and ate on the grass then walked around the temple and went to the visitors center. It was fun to reminisce about their wedding and spend time in such a place of peace.  

Austin is walking better and better every day. It's so fun to see him standing on his own and taking more and more steps each time. Such a big baby. It was SO hot but Lydia got it into her head that she didn't want to wear her shoes. So she alternated between burning her feet off and crying while David carried her. 

We also took the rest of the day and drove around Phoenix to see Sue's old home, her old school, and some other places that she used to spend time at. (Lydia fell asleep in the car, but everyone else had fun touring Sue's old stomping grounds.)