Trip to Arizona: Time to go Home

Playing with Daddy at our Phoenix hotel.

Saying "Good bye" to Erika.

Our fun trip to Arizona has finally come to an end.  We are back home with thunderstorms and tornado warnings now.  Both Ethan and I have the beginnings of a cold -- a pretty good sign that it was time to get home.  Yesterday, we spent some time saying goodbye to Sangita and Erika before driving up to Phoenix for the night.  We took our car back last night as well, so that we could just take the hotel shuttle to the airport in the morning and not have to worry about the car return (since our flight left at 7:15am).  It worked out nicely, since the Phoenix airport car rentals are so far from the airport terminal and we would have had to ride a shuttle anyway.  Getting dropped off at the front door of our terminal was much nicer.

The flight home was uneventful, except that it was very bumpy meaning the "fasten seatbelt" didn't go off for almost the entire flight.  Ethan was pretty good.  He kept acting hungry but didn't want to eat anything.  Luckily, he was able to sleep most of the flight and we kept him entertained with toys for the rest of the flight.

Fun while returning the rental car.

It was sad to leave Arizona, as it always is, but it will feel good to sleep in our own beds tonight.  As a side note -- Ethan had a huge smile on his face when he saw his mobile over his crib when I put him to bed!

Trip to Arizona: Leslie and Rob's Wedding

Ethan at his first wedding!

Yesterday was Leslie and Rob's wedding and it was a beautiful day!  Everything for the wedding turned out perfect:  beautiful bride, handsome groom, awesome weather, great location, delicious food, fun friends, and exceptional wedding cake (one of my favorite parts of wedding)!

Leslie, Wendy, Leslie's mom, and I started getting ready early with hair and makeup.  Somehow, the stylist managed to get my short hair into a beautiful up-do (courtesy of lots of bobby pins) and the airbrush makeup looked great on everyone.  We took pictures in the Chef's Garden at Westward Look -- a really neat spot for some pictures with lots of greenery and mountain views.

Cayne and Ethan...relaxing before getting dressed for the wedding. 

The wedding almost started on time (although the wedding party tried to head out to make it start on time, we were told to go back and wait a little while by the wedding planners) but once it started, it was lovely.  No one fainted, the temperature dropped to a nice and cool level, and the ceremony was so sweet.  It was so much fun to watch my good friend getting married!  Ethan had fun at the wedding too -- he didn't make too much noise, which was good.

The Newlyweds!

The reception was fun too.  Like I mentioned, the food and cake were delicious and we all had a great time celebrating Leslie and Rob.  Wendy (one of the bridesmaids) became Ethan's date and they had a blast together, although Lisa still got to have dinner holding Ethan.  Ethan had a blast dancing to the music (luckily, it wasn't too loud, and we weren't too close to the speakers either).  His feet were stomping all night long...even long after we had left to put him to bed!

We're going to have to watch Ethan around those bottles!

Ethan's date for the night.

Ethan has lots of new friends!

Dancing with Daddy!

Dancing (and flirting) with the bride before bedtime.

We had such a fun time, we didn't want to leave.  All our best to the happy couple!!!

Congratulations Leslie and Rob!!!

Trip to Arizona: Tucson

I think the little Buddha will be just fine without his mum for the night.  

For the past couple of days we stayed in Tucson, introducing Ethan to old friends.  On Thursday, we had fun showing him off to my old colleagues at the UA (just being back on campus felt nice) and the boys got to hang out by themselves while I had my nails done and then went to a bachelorette dinner at Pizzeria Vivace with Leslie and friends.  It was a fun day and night of catching up and celebrating Leslie's upcoming wedding!

Wait!  Mom!  Where are you going without me?!

Erika, Sangita, and Barbara

Leslie, Wendy, and me

Today, we had lunch with Tim and Diane Bowden at Tohono Chul Park and got to introduce Ethan to them.  It was a little warm (and sunny) but we had a good time chatting and eating delicious food.  Ethan had fun with the Bowdens too!  After lunch, we had a fun time visiting with Erika for a short time before heading back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.

Tonight was Leslie's Rehearsal and Dinner.  The ceremony will be fun.  Apparently the minister thinks the either Wendy or I will pass out in the heat (fat chance) and that the wedding will not start on time (also not likely).  Dinner was great -- at Macayo's, where I think you can get some of the best margaritas ever.  We had fun because Ethan was being held (and watched) by other people the entire night...meaning that Cayne and I got to actually enjoy eating our food and talking with other people in peace.  Usually one of us gets to eat while the other takes care of Ethan.  I had fun because I got to see Wendy and Lisa again, whom I hadn't seen for years and years (and Cayne got to meet them too, finally).  Somehow, I didn't get a picture of them with Ethan though!  Lisa must have been missing her boys, because she loved holding Ethan during the dinner (she's also had more practice doing that and eating than we have).  Cayne got to meet Leslie's parents too (I think they were much more normal that he expected, considering all the stories!!).  It was absolutely a fun time and a great kick-off to the wedding festivities tomorrow!

Getting ready for dinner at Macayo's!

Trip to Arizona: Tubac and Tumacacori

Today we headed south of Tucson toward the Mexican border to visit Tumacacori National Historic Park and Tubac.  Tumacacori was Ethan's first-ever visit to a church, and even though it is a Spanish-style mission ruin, it is very impressive.  Ethan even went inside his first ever Ki, a traditional Pima Indian dwelling, and it was amazing how much cooler it was inside the mud walls compared to outside -- at least 10-15 degrees cooler!

Ethan inside the Ki

This is what the nice and cool Ki looked like. 

After exploring the mission and grounds, we were about to head up to Tubac to look at some art when we realized that my diaper bag was out of diapers (uh oh!).  We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with the closest real grocery store or drugstore over 10 miles away in Rio Rico.  So we decided to take a chance and see if the small "gourmet and specialty" grocery in Tucac would have a small pack of diapers.  Well, we were lucky because they did (and it worked out for us because we knew we'd need to buy some more diapers to get through the trip anyway).  So Ethan is now in Size 3 diapers. :)

Once we got Ethan changed, we headed into the shops at Tubac.  It is always so much fun to look at the beautiful and creative things for sale there!

After we got back to Tucson, we headed to Anne and Steffan's house for drinks, snacks, and lots of catching up (somehow, we ended up not taking any photos though, sorry!).  It was a fun day!

Trip to Arizona: Casa Grande Ruins and Tucson

Today we left Sedona to head down to Tucson where we'll spend most of our trip.  We'll spend a few nights at Sangita's house before checking into the Westward Look Resort for Leslie's wedding.  On the way out of Sedona, we stopped for a few more photos of the beautiful red rock formations.

Playing with Cayne in our hotel room.

We had to stop for In N Out burgers on our way through Phoenix...after all, no trip to Arizona could be complete without Mexican food and In N Out Burger!  We also stopped at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  Ethan got his first slathering of baby sunblock there -- even though technically he's not supposed to have it until he is 6 months, I decided the sun was just to hot and bright to risk sun damage, even though we weren't outside with him for very long.

Ethan inside the Salado Indian ruins.

Then we headed the rest of the way to Tucson and introduced Ethan to Sangita, who made us a delicious Indian dinner!  Sangita completely doted on Ethan and he soaked up all the attention!  It will be a fun few days!

Trip to Arizona: The Grand Canyon

Ethan's first National Park!

Today we left Sedona early in the morning, driving through Oak Creek Canyon to get to the Grand Canyon, Ethan's first National Park!  We stopped at the scenic overlook of Oak Creek Canyon for a few photos before continuing up past Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.

Oak Creek Canyon

Once we got to the Grand Canyon, we stopped for pictures in front of the entrance sign (of course!) where Ethan was as popular with the other tourists as wildlife!

They were excited as if they had seen a little bear cub!

We went to a few overlooks and then found a bench overlooking the rim for a quick picnic lunch before taking a few pictures and heading to the visitor's center for our passport stamps.

Patches of snow were still on the rim!

Another tourist admiring the "wildlife."

The view from Ethan's stroller

A PERFECT spot for lunch!

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to see the volcano and walk along the Lava Flow Trail accessible portion -- it was a really neat walk.  We had planned to go to Wupatki Indian Ruins and Walnut Canyon but by the time we finished with Sunset Crater it was already 5:00 and the other two sites were closed so we'll have to plan on seeing those some other time.

Cayne at Sunset Crater

Lava Flow

Ethan on the Lava Flow Trail

The San Francisco Peaks are in the background