Arizona Vacation

We had a wonderful time visiting Grammy and Grampy in Sun City Grande, Arizona. It was sunny and in the 80s and 90s every day. The boys loved ditching the coats and wearing shorts and took every excuse to be outside for what felt like the first time in years after our winter. The boys probably would have been happy to spend the entire vacation at the pool and playing in Grammy's desert garden with the bunnies and quail, but we did make some special trips as well. Everyone enjoyed being spoiled by Grammy and Grampy!

One trip was to the Arizona Science Museum in Phoenix where once again our Ecotarium membership saved us some cake. We were able to get into the museum for free. There was a very cool exhibit on the human body with very hands-on activities. The huge nose that sneezed out foam balls competely freaked out Liam, and he wanted all family members to say away from it.
We missed the neighborhood egg hunt, but we were able to attend the Egg-Stravaganza at the Surprise Baseball fields. There were thousands of kids in attendence for the event which took place in three baseball fields, one for inflatables and two for egg hunts, or rather egg rushes. All age groups had their own alloted time to enter a field. The field was completely covered with eggs and candy. The kids lined the perimeter of the field and waited for an announcement to rush the field and grab as much candy and eggs as they could get. In about ten minutes, all of the eggs and candy were gone.

The Easter Bunny also made a special trip to Grammy's garden while the boys were at church on Easter Sunday morning. After a lot of searching, I think we found most of the eggs that he hid, but there might be a stray egg still lurking. The boys had to work fast before the candy melted in the hot sun.

On Easter afternoon, we returned to the pool for some special extended kids hours. The boys spent about 3 hours swimming with little break. Here is a shot of Liam doing his favorite swimming style, the backstroke, in his bubble and Sun City Grande--approved suit.

After swimming, we returned to Grammy and Grampy's for Easter dinner with Gary, Gina, Jessica, and Michael. The Brothers YZ were, of course, enthralled with their beautiful cousin.

On our last day of our trip, we went to the World Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium. The desert heat and terrain combined with the lush planting made for a true safari feel to the zoo. The wide array of animals and birds was impressive. The Brothers YZ and I took a ride of the Sky Ride which gave a great view of the animal enclosures. Liam and Evan had a chance to feed the giraffes from a special deck. They also loved the petting zoo with deer, goats, and a baby llama. After a few hours in the heat, the aquarium was a welcome change and was also amazing with fish, otters, sting rays, penguins, alligators, frogs, etc. At the end of the day, Grampy treated us to a ride in the log flume which went by monkeys and birds and through tunnels of fish and ended with a plunge. (I was the only adult crazy enough to venture on this ride.)

I am happy to report that the Brothers YZ were just as good for the flight back to Boston as their flight to Phoenix despite some waiting in the airport with a delay. A big thank you to Nana and Grampa for picking us up at the airport!