Day 5

Well, here we are

the last day of our trip.

Tomorrow we head for home.

On this final day in Arizona

our to do list is short.

 First stop....

Trader Joe's

 This store does not exist in Utah.

Friends on FB are always talking about this place.

I must go see it for myself! :)

 

 The second I step through the door,

 

I am in love!

This place fulfills the hippie, 

peace lovin' flower power child in me.

 Immediately I can see it's time

to send Matt & the boys

off to do something else.

I want to enjoy this experience and

get to know every item in this store.

Yes, I know it's selfish

but....

How often do I get the chance

to shop without 3 little monkeys

hanging all over me?

Not very often. 

Didn't get to spend much time here

but relished every moment of it, 

and spent a good chunk of money.

 

And it was so worth it! :)

...........

Okay, enough about that!

Next we drop the boys off with Elly.

Matt & I are going 

on a date!!!!

Just the two of us.

ALONE!

Crazy......I know!

Way back...

when Matt & I lived out here,

a place we loved to hang out was

Mill Avenue

In sweet memory of our time in AZ, 

We chose this as our date destination. 

This was a much needed break

from everything.

We strolled up & down Mill Ave.

  Revisited some of our favorite shops.

Ate lunch at Five Guys Burgers.

Laughed, reminisced, and 

enjoyed a perfect afternoon 

together!

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Time flies when you are having fun! 

Before we knew it;

our date was over and

we were back in a mini-van

with 3 crazy kids!

...........

Now back at our hotel,

Matt takes the boys swimming

one last time while I

sit by and watch.

We are meeting Elly for dinner at 7 this evening.

Of course Crew falls asleep on the drive over.

We all thought this would be a good thing;

he should be rested and ready to eat.

However...

Crew completely lost his mind 

at the restaurant.

Matt & I traded off eating 

and dealing with Crew.

Finally, 

totally embarrassed now by 

the scene he is causing,

I sit the rest of the meal out

in the van with him.

FUN!

After listening to him cry

for what seems like,

forever!

I decided to jump in the

driver seat and drive him around.

As I am getting in the drivers side,

he starts freaking out again.

This time yelling,

"No! Daddy's seat!"

over & over again.

I find this pretty funny,

then tell him it's okay.

I get him settled down.

We take a short drive around

before I park back at the 

restaurant to pick up Matt,

Cody & Landen.

I get out to let Matt drive

and.....

guess who does not approve?!

Crew. 

Really, by now it's so funny.

We are all laughing about this,

even him.

Next, it's goodnight!

...........

Tomorrow,

We have a long drive ahead of us.

Day 4

Can't believe we are already on day 4!
This trip is going by too quick.


Today-
Matt & I thought it would be fun
to drive by our old apartment.
We also wanted to 
show the kids some of the places we loved
to hang out at, where we worked,
and so on...


As it turns out,
  the boys have zero interest
in seeing what their boring,
old parents used to do.


At least...
Matt & I enjoyed a little reminiscing 
of our previous life together.

B.C. Kids! :)


 Our  first apartment.
Ahwatukee, AZ

The place was brand new when we lived here.
Not much has changed.
Except...
they did change the name of the complex,
added the orange paint along 
the first floor apartments 
and the trees are much bigger now.

We lived on the third floor.

We absolutely loved living here.
Many, many, many good times. ;)


Next we drove by,
Arribas Mexican Grill.
Mmmmmm!!!!

This restaurant was always our first
pick when going out to eat. 

Arribas is also the restaurant
we celebrated at after we got remarried.

Yes....
we loved each other so much,
we got married twice!


.........


Now that we have bored
our poor children to death;
we surprised them with a little
trip to the...


Lego Store!!!!!!

Before our trip,
back when we were planning our 
vacation for spring break,
the kids didn't want to go to Arizona
because it didn't have a Lego store.

...or so we thought!  

Well, 
since we have not lived here for 7 years;
I decided to look it up on my phone yesterday
just to see if maybe, there was in fact 
a Lego store after all. 

And there is!

At the Chandler Mall.

Perfect..
I wanted to go to the mall anyway to
see the store where I used to work.

We kept this news a secret
until we got inside the mall.

While Matt & I were trying to 
see where the Lego store was
located; Landen spotted it.


It was so fun to see how excited
the boys all became once they saw
what their surprise was. :)


If any of you out there are not aware;
our kids are Lego enthusiasts.

So many Lego Heads!!!!

Here is where you can build your own guy!

We all had fun doing this.

 This is the funny guy Crew put together.

Landen made a crazy clown guy.

Crew also had fun just scooping
the Lego heads over and over again.

 I love this wall.

 The boys spent all their money
that they each had been saving
up for our Arizona trip.

 Crew, just doing his own thing. :)

Landen-the proud owner of a new Lego construction set.

This is what Cody & Landen purchased 
with their own hard earned money.

Crew picked out a Lego guy that I am
pretty sure is already lost.
 so sad! :(

 After spending an hour or so at
the Lego store, we are famished.

Next stop.....

Chicks O'lay

(Chick-fil-a)


Our cute boys call it that.
We think it's pretty funny!

After a quick lunch,
we head out to Scottsdale.

We are meeting Matt's sister,
husband and their boys at...

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park

This park is a great place to take the kids.

Would not mind one in Utah. :)

This is a fun train ride 

the whole family can go on. 

The short ride

takes you around the park;

the kids love this!

  You see beautiful lawns with picnic areas,

and several playgrounds.

I love Crew's little hand waving at the kids.

The train was such a hit with the boys. We rode it a few times.

 Other cool things to do:

ride the carousel,

visit the little museum,

browse the gift shop,

and more.

Cody was impressed that his cup could fit in his pocket.

All the boys loved hangin' out

at the playgrounds.

I tanned my legs & chatted with Jamie.

It was so nice! :)

I am once again mad at myself

for not taking any pictures with

Jamie's family!?!?!

Cody found him a nice spot in the sand and never left it.

Landen did a little of everything. But he really liked this roller slide.

This is the only pic I got of Crew. He took off and I didn't see him again.

On our way out of the park,

poor Cody was run down by a train!

 and Landen's legs were no longer working

Guess that means it's time to go!

................

To complete day 4 of our trip

we head on over to 

John & Angela Ferrin's home 

in Gilbert AZ.

We absolutely love this family!

It turned out to be a big ol' party.

So many of Matt's relatives were able

to come out and see us.

John grilled up some tasty burgers

and took us on a fab tour of thier new home.

All the Kids,

(49- according to john) 

were running everywhere.

It was loud and crazy 

and so much fun!

 I was so busy laughing, 

eating and having a great time;

I took no pictures.  

(super sad face here)

  :(