Arizona

Well, one of the reasons it has taken a little while for me to do this post is because I had to get about half of the pictures from our trip off of Brent's phone and it took a while to figure out how to do it. Much to my disappointment, I remembered I had left the camera at home about 15 minutes after leaving. We didn't know how traffic would be (Memorial day) and so we didn't want to go back and risk not having enough time in case there was an accident or something. So, the pictures aren't the greatest, but I guess they will suffice.

We left on Monday at 3:00 in the afternoon and arrived in Phoenix at 3:50. Sweet! It was like we only lost 50 minutes. Too bad it really wasn't that short of a flight. Arizona doesn't do daylight savings and so they are two hours behind us. Anyway, Owen did okay on the flight. Not perfect, but pretty good. He had a rough little stretch, but I finally got him to go to sleep and we were at the very back of the plane, so I could stand up for a minute and rock him when he got fussy.

Jon (Brent's Dad) picked us up at the airport and we were greeted at the house by their four very big and friendly German shepherds. Owen wasn't scared a bit, he loved every minute of all the attention those dogs gave him. In fact, I think I was more nervous than he was about the dogs.

Monday night we just relaxed and hang out with Brent's Dad and his wife, Nancy. We showed Owen the chickens and the horses. He really liked watching the chickens, but who doesn't love watching chicken! Tuesday we headed off to Lindon, to hang out at the summer "cabin." Basically, it is just a house in a much cooler part of Arizona about three hours away from Mesa. We walked around and saw the property and once again just visited, had dinner and hung out. The weather was so nice. It was probably in the 70s, which was a change from Mesa and also a change from the hot weather we have been having in Columbia.

The next morning Brent decided he needed to take a little ride on his Dad's newly purchased tractor. He wanted to take Owen for a ride too, but after seeing Brent drive it I decided I was very uncomfortable with that idea. Owen didn't like how loud it was anyway, so I had something to justify him not going. Grandpa watched Owen for a few minutes so Brent and I could go on a little hike in the national forest that borders the property. Well, when I say hike I mean, up to the top of a hill and back, which wasn't that far. Nevertheless, it was fun to explore for a few minutes and to have time alone with Brent. After lunch, we packed everything up and headed to Joseph City, which is where both of Brent's parents are from. Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures. We took a short tour (Joe City isn't that big) before going over to Jon's sisters' house. We visited with Joan and her husband (also named Jon) and also Lynn (Jon's other sister). It was fun to hear all of them tell stories and get to know them better, since I have never met them before.

The next morning we headed back to Mesa. We went swimming, read our books, and just relaxed. Owen loved the pool. It was his first time, but I think he just thought it was a big bath. He splashed around and we had fun playing with the kick board and the swim noodles. Brent went golfing with Jon and Nancy on Friday morning, which I hear was a lot of fun. Owen and I just hung out at the house with the dogs. That afternoon we went swimming and once again, just relaxed.

As you can tell, this was a pretty chill vacation. We didn't do anything too exciting, but it was nice to not have so much planned that we couldn't enjoy just hanging out and visiting. Owen did fabulous on the way home, he sleep pretty much the entire plane and car ride home. We didn't end up getting home until 2:30 in the morning. Good thing Owen woke up at 6 the next morning and thought it would be fun to not go back to sleep! Oh well, it was a good trip, but as always it is nice to be back home and to get back into a normal routine.

Looking out the window on the airplane

Surfs up, dude.

Owen loves to when you pull his shirt up over his head, not sure why.

He was ready for a nap.

Love how happy he is in this picture!

Owen and Daddy on Grandpa's tractor

In the carrier

Owen, Grandpa Jon and Grandma Nancy

Owen and the dogs