Worth Every Penny

We just got home from a nice, long weekend in Scottsdale. Here's how it all went down:

Stevie was running with French Toast Mafia in Ragnar Del Sol (you may remember that I did it in 2010). He left on Thursday evening and I was off on Thursday and Friday for the Rodeo so Friday morning the girls and I headed up to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.

After dropping Pancake off with Grandpa Steve (thanks, Grandpa!) we headed straight to the Phoenix zoo. We had never been there before and were ill prepared for its size but we had a great time!

**They really do have real animals at the Phoenix Zoo but Shyla was much more interested in the fake ones. She liked to look at the real animals for about 4 seconds each then continue on and she is in a phase in which she thinks every bird is "going to get Shyla."

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but my friend Rachel and her family came to our hotel on Friday evening for dinner and catch-up time. It was a lot of fun! I don't talk to Rachel as often as I should, but when we get the chance to get together it seems as if no time has passed.

The thing about vacationing with kids is that you have to plan for plenty of down-time at the hotel. We had a great room and plenty of play-time there.

There is also a playground right down the street! We went there twice!

Harper is becoming a really great crawler!

Then on Saturday afternoon we met Stevie and FTM at the finish line!

Shyla was a great helper all weekend! She liked rolling her suitcase in from the car and she discovered that she likes to push Harper in the stroller.

On Saturday evening we took a walk and ended up at a campfire where they were roasting marshmallows and making smores. Shyla wasn't sure what to think about them because they were so sticky and we didn't give Harper any so she had to eat her toes.

After the smores and playtime with the giant chess-set, it was bath-time which results in Shyla wearing the robe that was in the room. Then home on Sunday afternoon and time to get ready for the week ahead.
Shyla continues to make me laugh with the funny things she says.

• At the playground I said, "what's up buttercup?" which led to her saying, "what doing butter mommy?"
• In the elevator I told Shyla, "I sure am proud of you" to which she replied, "I proud of you too, Mommy."
• When I told Shyla that we needed to eat a good breakfast for energy, she said, "good for my bones too."

Vacations, especially with kids, can be expensive and stressful and exhausting. But, I truly had the time of my life with my girls and I wouldn't change a minute of it!

It was truly worth every penny.