Adventures in Arizona

You may or may not have noticed that I didn't put up a cute blog post about Easter.  And that's because we didn't really do much for Easter this year (other than Aaron's momentous haircut).  I felt pretty guilty about it.  The distinct lack of cute new Easter outfits, eggs, treats, and activities may also have stemmed from the fact that -- with the exception of that whole Halloween-pumpkin-painting anomaly -- I am not a very good Pinterest mom...  But rather than admitting that, I'm blaming it on the fact that we had just gotten home from a week-long trip to Tucson, Arizona with Chris's family.  Because we were recuperating from a long travel day, adjusting to the time change, and trying to get back into our home routine, Easter was low-key for us.

So instead of eggs and bunnies, I offer you a recap of our first family trip to the Southwest.  Unfortunately, in addition to my Pinterest deficiency, I am also apparently sub-par at camera work, so I don't have quite as many pictures as I would like.  But here's what I've got:

We have to start off by giving Aaron credit for being SUCH a good air traveler.  On the way down to Tucson, he took a short nap, and then played nicely with his toys and the iPad for the whole 4 hour flight, winning over our flight attendant and several surrounding passengers in the process.

Because he didn't get much sleep on the plane (who can sleep with so many interesting things to see?!), by the time we landed and got in the car, he was pretty much a goner.  I couldn't resist trying to give him a kiss while filming because he is just such an adorable little tired traveler.

The most exciting thing about the guest house we stayed in, at least for Aaron, was the pool!

He wasn't so sure about the jet streams (don't worry, the heat was off in the hot tub)...

...but he sure loved to make his own waves!

Little boogie boarder

One of the places we visited was the Tucson Desert Museum.  Aaron had more fun following his cousin Nate around and climbing on things than paying attention to the exhibits.

Occasionally, one of the demonstrations kept his interest.  He liked the eagle...

...but not quite as much as he liked Mom's sunglasses.

Looking for hummingbirds with cousin Alyssa.

Sharing an inside joke.

Aaron fell completely in love with his cousins during this trip. He followed them around everywhere, and wanted to do everything they did. Here are a few cute shots of them all on the back patio blowing bubbles.

Bubble chaser.

Due to our busy schedule and all of the exciting distractions, naptimes weren't quite as regular as they are at home.  So Aaron caught up on his Zs in other ways.

Thanks to Aunt Betsy, Aaron did get to dye a few Easter eggs in Arizona.

Sometimes it was a challenge to find entertainment, since we couldn't pack too many toys in our suitcase. But we got creative. Even a spice rack can be a fun toy!  Aaron methodically took out every spice and put them all back in multiple times.  Notice the tongue sticking out, indicating intense concentration.

Out to dinner on our last night
(The first shot is better, but the second one shows our growing family!)

So yeah, that's about it for pictures. But suffice it to say that Aaron had a great time.  It was really exciting to see how much he loved his cousins, and to watch him try to mimic everything Nate and Alyssa did.  He also added a ton of words to his vocabulary, perhaps because so many different conversations were going on all the time around him.  New words include: please, thank you, help, bubbles, water, milk, coffee, toys, Nate, Betsy, "Issa" (Alyssa), belly, blankie, shoes, eyes...the list goes on and on.  He also repeats a lot of what he hears.  One day I dropped an armful of laundry on the floor and exclaimed, "Oh gosh!" Aaron went around saying "Oh gosh! Oh gosh!" for the rest of the day.

Now that we are back in the Midwest, I think Aaron misses wearing shorts and seeing his cousins every day.  But he'll have more company in the house soon enough -- just 7 more weeks until he gets to meet his new brother or sister!