Arizona. It's Hot There

Randy and I flew to Scottsdale, AZ for a dental seminar.  Arizona in August is a bad place to be.  It was 110 degrees!  It was so hot that when we'd get into our car that had been baking in the parking lot all day,  it didn't feel any different than outside.  Everything was as hot as an oven.  But that didn't matter because we spent three days indoors at a seminar where the AC was blasting.  I should've worn a sweater but the cool air kept me from falling asleep.  When we got home, everyone kept asking me how my trip was and seemed to expect me to enthusiastically describe a great vacation.  It was definitely not great but I guess it was a vacation from my kids, so that was nice.  We seriously sat all day long in a seminar.  We went out to dinner one night with a bunch of dental people I didn't know and after an hour of small talk and dental jokes that I didn't understand,  I knew I was in for it.  I finally escaped to the dark (but still hot) parking lot and talked to my sisters via Marco Polo until Randy finally finished dinner.  The best part of the whole trip was going to dinner the next night with Randy's best friend from college and his wife.  The last time we saw them was when Marcus was six weeks old.  Randy and Joe were hilarious and I really hope we have another reason to go to Arizona to visit them.  In the winter, of course.

The very boring dental seminar.  Of the three days of information, I'd say three hours of it was useful.  But they served us great food so there's that.

I took this picture because of the clouds.  They're so tall and puffy!  We don't get clouds like that in WA.

We had time to kill before our flight home so we checked out the Gilbert, AZ temple.  It is huge!

We also met up with good friends from Rhode Island who have moved to Arizona.  It was fun to see them and reminisce about our RI adventures but Randy has the pictures of our friends on his phone and the chances of me actually getting them on the blog are slim to none.  Oh well.

While we were snoring it up in Arizona, my boys were home, hanging out with their cousins and Uncle Toby.  Through a weird series of events, my sister needed me to watch her kids while she and Toby went on an Alaskan cruise and I needed someone to watch my kids while I was in Arizona, but she was at girls camp.  Thus, Uncle Toby ended up taking care of my kids while I was in Arizona and when I returned I took care of his kids while he and April went on a cruise.  Strange but it worked.  

Uncle Toby knows how to play

I loved seeing these pictures of the kids at the beach, watching the Blue Angels fly overhead.  Meanwhile, I was chugging down Diet Dr. Pepper to stay awake at my seminar.

Lake Washington and the Blue Angels

I had a great week entertaining the kids and their cousins.  They were the perfect excuse to get out and do something fun each day.  I love when my sister's family visits us each summer because they love it here and it reminds me of the way I used to feel the first few years of living here.  Now I'm used to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest but when they come I remember not to take it for granted.

Sunday Fun Day

Playing duets together.  They struggled.

We went to Pine Lake almost daily.  My boys get sick of it.  I don't know how that's possible.

We go after the lifeguards leave because that's when the fun begins.  Lifeguards ruin all the fun!

We took them to a nearby farm/petting zoo and this is the awkward photo of that experience.

Summer nights in the backyard are my very favorite.   

Per tradition, we went to Seattle to play in the fountain.  It wasn't warm or sunny but that didn't stop the boys.

Each of these boys doing their own thing and I love it!

The City Center playground never disappoints

After a quick lunch at McDonald's we stopped by a new park in Bellevue that I wanted to try out.  It didn't disappoint!  The playground was huge and there was even a large splash pad area with waterfalls.  The boys had so much fun because they broke all the safety rules which meant the other moms looked at me with horror while their kids wished they could have fun like my boys do.

Ethan the climber.  See that mom looking at me to see if I'm aware of my son's behavior? Yes I was and no I wasn't mad.  See her daughter trying to climb up after Ethan?  Happens every time.

The kids had more fun sliding down next to the slides instead of on them.  Henry was in heaven!

This is Meydenbaur Bay Beach on Lake Washington and it's a new favorite discovery of mine.  We had originally planned to go to Rattlesnake Lake but it was closed because the police were searching for a DEAD BODY!  I'm not even kidding.  How gross is that?  So this beach was Plan B and I was thrilled to discover how awesome it was.  The park is fun, the beach has beautiful views of yachts and mansions ($5-$28 million dollar mansions according to the Zillow app), and the lifeguards allow us to take our paddle boards out.

Eventually the sun came out and we had a great day at the beach.

Henry and Karissa are just the cutest!