An Adventure!

As agreed at Christmas, we took our family vacation last week.  (Fewer presents from Dad and Mom in exchange for some quality time together.)

We boarded a plane on Sunday night headed for Phoenix to visit Kati and Ryan.  They've been there five years now, so it seemed time for Shaun and I to see her.  The flight out was great; Forrest slept on Mom for most of it and settled right into bed when we arrived.  Over the next three days we did some sight-seeing in the area and enjoyed the house we rented.

Our first stop was the Dessert Botanical Gardens for a family picture.  I think this group shot turned out pretty well, considering we from Illinois were in mild shock given the 100+ degree temperature at 9:00 in the morning.

Forrest wasn't so impressed and just wanted to gulp water.  Not sure I want this photo gracing my mantel for the next year...

After that outing, some cool-down time in the pool was needed.  Our house had an amazing pool!  (The house itself was wonderful, too; an upgrade after our scheduled house had a broken air conditioner.)

We do love a good ice cream treat :0)

Dad, Joshua, Shaun, and Bill enjoyed the scenery from a hot air balloon one morning.  

After visiting a train park with Mom and Joshua, I've finally convinced Forrest to wear the adorable engineer hat Mom got for him.  I'll have to get a picture one of these days.  (As you can see, his straw fedora has seen better days.)

 

 

While everyone else spent a day boating on Lake Pleasant, Mom, Forrest, and I braved the traffic and made our way to the Children's Museum.  What a fun place!  We spent nearly five hours playing!

Overall (and not counting the not-so-fun flight home), we had a great trip.  Thanks, Kati and Ryan, for hosting us in your home town!  We'll visit again :0)