A Family Wedding

Ian's sister got married this past weekend in Tucson. It's a mere 800 miles from us. Given that flights are expensive times five, we decided to drive. That long for a quick trip is no easy feat. There was an almost throw up in the car. Several I have to pee NOW's. And more how much longer's than I can count. But we made it. And, as a bonus, we ended up leaving Callum in Los Angeles with my parents on the way down. It sure made the wedding much more enjoyable not having to fight a toddler to sit still. 

Isla brought her fuji instant camera with her and enjoyed playing photographer at the wedding. She made everyone smile when she stopped the actual professional photos to take a picture of her aunt and new uncle. It was a really cute moment. Both Connor and Isla had a blast dancing. Isla was literally on the dance floor the whole time dancing was going on. Connor made friends with some other boys at the wedding, so had fun with them. Even with all the dancing and leaving the wedding at 10pm, neither kid fell asleep on the way back to the hotel. I guess we are well past that phase with them. 

^^ Connor and Isla with their cousin Hadleigh

^^ The wedding was at the sonoran desert museum, which is the cluster of buildings you see in the middle of this picture. 

^^ Look at my sister in law, all happy and in love! Hard to believe I've been with Ian since she was 12.

On a random note, I took their engagement pictures when we visited my sister in law back in June. At the wedding reception, the photographer came up to our table and asked who took the engagement photos. When I said I did, she told me how they are actually legit photos and that I did a great job. She said she often sees cringe worthy photos taken by friends or family of people, but that mine were really good. Obviously she doesn't know the extensive work I do on the daily as a momographer! And since I talked about them, here are a couple of their engagement photos. 

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Arizona Desert Museum

I have to admit, the idea of spending too much time at a desert museum had me feeling a little meh...and possibly wondering if my deodorant could handle the heat. But I was super excited to see where my sister in law is going to get married, which is at the desert museum. Once I found out there are animals at the museum, I was more excited, as I always love going to the zoo. Of course, the reptile house, with all those snakes...and so many of them shedding skin?!?...had me a bit creeped out, but the rest was amazing. The sting ray exhibit was over the top cool and I got to see a porcupine up close. Oh, and the frog and tadpole exhibit had both me and the kids thoroughly entertained. 

Isla probably made this cute old lady docent's day by being full of questions about the saguaro cactus and seeming genuinely interested in everything the lady had to say. Connor, on the other hand, didn't even want to be there for a quick photo of the view, though when the lady mentioned you can see Mexico in the distance, both seemed intrigued, though I am not sure either knew what she was talking about. 

^^ Callum was obviously thoroughly enjoying the museum

^^ Sea eels always fascinate me and creep me out a bit

^^ This not so little guy was not a part of any exhibit, but was perched outside of a cage. He had an insanely beautiful bright blue belly and didn't seem to be bothered by me getting close to take pictures. 

Aww, the sting rays. Did you know they are native to the Sonoran Desert? Well now you do! And these ones were more than happy to let us touch them. Many of them even seemed to swim right up, almost asking to be touched. And one even peeked its face out of the water at Isla. I'm pretty sure this was a highlight for all of us at the museum. 

^^ Notice anything weird? Isla wore her shorts backward because "I wanted pockets in the front mom"

And we get to come back to the museum in January for my sis-in-law's wedding! Rumor has it that they bring out some of the animals for the kids to see at the reception, so that should be fun. 

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Arizona

I remember talking about going to Arizona all those months ago. It made sense. Ian had a work conference in Phoenix, then we could head down and visit his sister in Tucson. Then we planned Four Friends Market for the weekend before. And not long after that, I found out Isla's ballet recital was the same weekend. All the sudden, Arizona seemed a bit crazy. We realized there was no way after the weekend we were going to have that we could drive the 12+ hour drive on Sunday. So, Ian flew to Arizona on Sunday and I drove with the kids on Monday. Plus, it worked out because my nephew's first birthday party was Sunday. Talk about a crazy several days! 

Anyway, the kids and I made it relatively uneventfully to Phoenix. Though kids needing to go the bathroom THIS INSTANT in the middle of nowhere when you are by yourself is no fun. But we made it, none the less. 

Our time in Phoenix consisted of hanging out in a hotel room, wondering the hotel grounds, playing at a splash pad at a local outdoor mall and a fall on an escalator while holding Callum that really could have been a lot worse than it was...and may or may not have caused a bystander to cuss (out of fear, not anger). 

After Ian's conference ended midday on Wednesday, we packed up and headed down to Tucson. It was fun being able to stay in Ian's sister's new house and just be in her life for a bit. Her house has a bit of property and she can keep her horse in the backyard. Connor got to ride the horse and loved it, but Isla wasn't interested. Callum may have liked the horse, but what he loved was my sister-in-law's cat. He tortured that incredibly patient and gentle cat endlessly the whole time we were there. He would even just lay completely on top of the poor thing. But she seemed to always come back for more! While in Tucson, we got to go to the desert museum (which will get a post of it's own) and see where my sis-in-law will be getting married at the museum. I also had the privilege of taking her and her fiancee's engagement pictures. It was nice getting to know her fiancee and I was glad to learn he has a sense of humor. 

We left Tucson on Friday and headed to southern California for Ian's brother's graduation on Sunday. Yeah, summer has been super busy so far! On the way we stopped at the Cabazon Dinosaurs. I remember passing those dinos all the time growing up (I was raise in Arizona but both my parents were from southern California), so it was fun for me to stop and explore. The kids enjoyed themselves too. 

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The Grand Canyon

^^ Connor wanted to sit on a rock so bad. We had to wait until we found a safe one before Ian took him to do it. Then he kept wanting to go out on the rocks! 

The Grand Canyon is so vast that it is almost hard to comprehend. It's not like you are looking and one canyon, one view. You are constantly seeing more and new things. Not to mention that the canyon stretches as far as the eye can see. It's one of those things that you just kind of stare at in awe.

With three kids in tow, we managed to walk about 3 miles of the rim. It really was a nice walk. Most of it is flat and it is paved. There is shade along the rim, as well as benches. It made for a good walk, especially since clouds came in after a bit, cooling things off. Plus, the further you walk from things like the visitors center, the less people there are and the more you can just enjoy yourself. When we were by the visitors center, there were all sorts of "smart" people that climbed over the fences and were hanging off the ledges to get pictures. One guy even dropped his water bottle…thankfully it was the water bottle and not him that went splat. It really makes you question how far people will really go for a picture. Especially since once you get away from the visitors center, there are plenty of safe rocks to sit on that have land under them, giving the illusion of a drop off when a huge drop off isn't really there.

After a bad experience the day before at Horseshoe Bend, I was glad for the slow, enjoyable pace of the Grand Canyon. The kids, especially Connor, really were troopers. I ended up wearing Callum and getting him to fall asleep. Then, Isla went in the stroller and Connor actually walked a fair distance before ending up on Ian's shoulders.

And we timed our trip just right. Literally as soon as we got back to our car, it started pouring. Of course, I am pretty sure I wouldn't have cared if it happened while we were out walking anyway, given how hot it was!

I really feel like our stop at the Grand Canyon was one of those things that I want to remember forever. It was a good day, void of meltdowns and minimal whining. We had an amazing view and really just enjoyed ourselves as a family.


Just to make sure you are all caught up on our trip, here's on our way there, Salt Lake City and Durango. 

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