ARIZONA!!!!

Cruz drinking his apple juice getting ready to go to Arizona!

Shawn, me, Cruz, Alegra, and my mom went to Arizona for a few days and it was AMAZING!!! I think I loved it so much because I have been craving warm weather, and Utah has had the latest snow season. It snowed 3 feet in the mountains last Tuesday, I went skiing in total powder on Wednesday and then was basking in 80 degree weather on Saturday....that is a pretty good week!! We left Friday night after work. We stayed in this very fun hotel that had a lazy river, a kiddy pool, a wave pool, and 3 large slides. Unfortunately Cruz was not tall enough for the slides and they would not let us take him down on them. He kept putting his hands up tall and saying, "but I am this tall!!!" He always wants to do what the big kids do! We hung out at the pool on Saturday and Saturday night we went to Old Town Scottsdale for some yummy pizza and the best dessert ever at Oreganos. Sunday we had a very enjoyable afternoon with my Aunt Nina (my dads sister) and 4 of her kids that live in the area. Kristen and her husband and 3 kids, Michelle and her husband, Courtney, and Whitney and her husband and 2 kids. Cruz had a blast playing with the kids and it was good to catch up with family. On Monday Shawn went to his training and we played at the pool some more. In the afternoon we went to the Phoenix Zoo, which was incredible. I wish we had planned for more time there, it seriously is amazing! That night our friend Monica was in AZ on business and she was staying at the famous Biltmore Hotel (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). We met up with her and had dinner with her. Alegra was such a gem the whole trip but she did have a total BLOWOUT on our way to Monica's hotel. Shawn and I both heard her make some noises that sounded like poop but I saw the line of cars on the freeway and I didn't want to take the time to stop and change her so I told Shawn I would change her when we got there, besides, Alegra had never had a blowout. We go to get her out of the car when we pulled into the parking lot and there was a pool of poop sitting in the car seat (that she was sitting in) that had leaked out from the diaper. I felt HORRIBLE!!! Poor little girl. It took a while but we got everything cleaned up and luckily ALL were patient. On Tuesday we did a little shopping at the famous store I used to hit when I would visit friends in AZ, back when I was single. The store is called Last Chance. It is Nordstroms total clearance place. If you are willing to work, you can find really good deals! It is a little harder to work at shopping these days with a baby and 2 year old, but it was still fun to go there and be in the madness of people trying to find deals. I did get a pair of Uggs for 1/3. of the normal cost, that was pretty good. That afternoon we played at the pool and went around the lazy river some more. That was Cruz's most favorite part. Between Shawn, me, and my mom we probably took Cruz around it about 60 times that week!! That night we met Shawn and his coworker Aaron in Old Town Scottsdale for some authentic Mexican food, it was pretty good too! Wednesday we made our last visit to my oldest (Chicago days) and dearest friend Bobbi. Her family moved to AZ about 5 years ago. It was fun to see her and see where she lived. Cruz had fun playing with her girls too! We went home that night. The weather was amazing, the food was delicious, the kids were on really good behavior, the family time was incredible, and Arizona was outstanding!!
Dad and Cruz hanging out in the hotel room!
Sweet little girl in her sweet swimsuit!
Shawn and Cruz on the lazy river!
The girls watching the boys on the lazy river!
More lazy river :)
Cruz having a blast at the pool!

Cruz lovin' his sister. Part of the reason Cruz was so excited to go to AZ was that it was warm enough for him to wear his most favorite outfit, his soccer outfit. I don't know what we are going to do when her either grows out of that or it shreds to pieces because we have washed and worn it so much!
Phoenix Zoo!

I was terrible at taking pictures this trip. I think I just got lazy and didn't take my camera out, but I don't want to do that again. I didn't capture lots of our fun moments down there, oh well, live and learn!

One more thing, we have lost Cruz's white blanket. It hasn't been as tragic as I thought it would be, but who knows, the tears might still come. I think one of the maids picked it up with the towels when our room was being cleaned. We had left it in the bed from the night before and I bet she thought it was a towel and threw it in the dirty towel pile. We left all of our information if they find it, but they send their towels out to get cleaned, so I don't know if we will see it again! So far though, so good on Cruz's part!