Thanksgiving Getaway

There have been many years when we have thought what a great idea it would be to go down to Arizona for Thanksgiving, but I always had to work a shift or two over Thanksgiving weekend which always grounded us here. This year when I found out my holiday schedule for work and I had the entire Thanksgiving weekend off we decided to take off for a little Thanksgiving getaway to Arizona. Steve and Jenna are such gracious hosts and welcomed our family along with Mike and Linda and all of their kids for the weekend. We we a little bit nervous about how Ryan would handle the 10 hour drive since he still isn't super happy in his car seat. We decided to play it safe and break up the drive by stopping for the night at the Zion house. We took it even one step further by waiting to leave at Ryan's bedtime so he would sleep the whole first half of the drive. It worked like a charm and the first half of our drive was easy peasy. All of our cross country drives too and from Omaha have paid off because making 5-6 hour drives feels like nothing now. We pulled into the Zion house late and transferred all the sleeping kids to their beds. Ryan didn't transfer so well and was not very excited about being back in a pack n' play in a place he didn't know. He and I didn't get much sleep that night and that continued to be a trend throughout the rest of the trip. Traveling with a 5 month old just isn't all that easy. The next morning we hopped back in the car and finished our drive to Arizona. Ryan napped for part of drive but the remainder of the time confirmed that we made the right decision by driving while he slept the night before. We introduced him to Baby Einstein and he liked it - for a little while at least. We finally arrived and were so excited to see our cousins we hadn't seen in months. 

Thanksgiving morning Scott and Steve took all the kiddos on a hike while Jenna and I stayed home and made Thanksgiving Dinner. Jenna is a pro and has been doing this for years. I was grateful for the experience I had preparing all the food last year so I could contribute more. By the time the crew returned from their hike our Thanksgiving feast was ready to be consumed. I have grown to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner so much more when I am the one slaving over each and every dish. 

After dinner was finished and cleaned up the kids were dying to go swimming. Steve and Jenna don't heat their pool and warned it would be very cold but the kids didn't head their warning. Mason went down the slide first and screamed bloody murder as he swam to the side because it was so cold. Miles must not have paid attention to all of Mason's screams because he followed right behind him and was not very happy when he hit the freezing cold water. Everyone else decided to play it safe and just wade on the sides of pool rather than get all the way in. The next day we drove over to the hotel Linda and few kids were staying at and swam in the pool there. I wouldn't call that water warm either, but apparently it was at least warmer and the kids enjoyed swimming around for awhile. 

The night after Thanksgiving we went to see the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple - along with every other LDS person in Arizona. It was extremely crowded, but still fun to see. 

Scott, Steve and Mike had their usual golf outing and later Scott and Steve took Tanner and Mason out for a little 9-hole golf exertion of their own. The rest of the time was spent with the kiddos playing with cousins, playing games, and visiting. The big girls all loved taking care of Ryan and Finn and Jenna and I loved having a break. Brynn did inform me, "I kind of like Finn more than Ryan because he ccan sit on his own and is easier to play with." I told Brynn we can look forward to Ryan being the same way in a few months and she was pretty excited about that. My kids still don't know what typical baby development looks like and just remember how long it took Ellie to reach the littlest milestones so they are amazed every time Ryan learns a new trick. We decided to start our drive back Saturday afternoon and then take advantage of Ryan sleeping and drive straight through the night. It worked out pretty well. It was a quick trip, but proved to be a good little getaway.

What driving at night looks like.