Spring Break

We had a fabulous spring break in Scottsdale that was a much needed family vacation (first one of a family of 4!). We had no problem keeping ourselves busy and we ended up wishing we had some more time there. When we first arrived, Kellen made it his mission to pick all the fruit off the trees in the yard and to inspect/monitor the pool. It was nice to have him preoccupied because it took our first day there to recover from our overnight drive. 

I decided to get Kellen some goggles for the pool and found some Cars dive toys. What a difference that made! Kellen was obsessed with looking for the cars and diving to the bottom of the pool to get them. We are totally impressed with the strides he made swimming this week! He was floating on his tummy, face in the water for 5 seconds. He was jumping off the steps and kicking to Steve. He was swimming around the whole pool with a noodle under his arms. Jae enjoyed floating around in the pool too.

We went to the Rockies vs Royals spring training game Monday afternoon. It was hot and I'm not sure Kellen watched any of the game but we enjoyed sitting in the sun and eating/drinking cold things.

Jae decided to take a nap during the game and I found a huge sangria to pass the time. I was betting on the fact that ballpark sangria wouldn't be too strong and it wasn't but it sure did taste good!

There is an amazing park about 1.5 miles from the house. It has a train station, train and great playground. We woke up early, walked to the park (passing Starbucks) and spent a few hours there playing. 

Ready for a night on the town (not really, just dinner)

Kellen loves playing games.

We really enjoyed the Phoenix Zoo. The weather was cloudy and windy (a good thing!), they have lots of shade, good exhibits and splash pads. I've decided the Denver Zoo MUST get some splash pads. 

 What a cool Big Horned Sheep exhibit!

 And Squirrel Monkeys

Loved the Andean Bears (who knew they existed?!) 

After Kellen warmed up to the water, we knew we needed more appropriate attire. 

How can you go to Arizona without a hike in the mountains? We are bummed that Kellen is too big to wear on our backs so we had to find a "hike" he could do. Not much of a workout but he made it 2 miles on an easy trail at Lost Dog Wash. He ate it once but was distracted by the cactus ball stuck in Kona's foot and luckily neither issue was a big deal. 

  I love being around the kids for an extended period of time like this. It is so fun to get to know their little personalities again without the stress of work and school. Kellen is night and day compared to a year ago. He logical, polite, and is excited about everything. Every morning he popped out of bed and exclaimed "morning mom, morning dad." He ate breakfast and got dressed without complaining knowing that it was going to be a fun day. Jae is very mobile and persistant. She tried her best to crawl into the master bathtub every time we turned our backs. She is standing and cruising more and more, we think walking is becoming appealing to her. Both kids slept so good all week, I think they were just so exhausted every night. Jae thinks that everything Kellen does is hilarious, it is so cool when they play and giggle together and when he takes care of her. We're in the home stretch, Jae turns 1 in a week...ahhhhh!