Quick Trip to Phoenix

The first weekend in May was my brother Adam's graduation from Thunderbird, a top international business graduate school in Phoenix, AZ.  I could not miss that!  I booked my flight for a really quick weekend trip on my own.  Then we realized that Glenn had a friend from high school getting married back East that same weekend and Glenn had planned to go.  So I had to rearrange our plans a bit and added the boys to my travel plans.  The flight there was actually not too bad.  Finn was pretty happy and Tate was so excited to visit Adam, Cami, and Baby Abby.  He talked about it all week and at one point even told me, "Mom, I don't want to leave."  

"You mean you don't want to go to Arizona, buddy?"

"No, mom.  I don't want to come home from Arizona."

Ahhh, well, that makes much more sense.  I should have known that leaving AZ would be a dramatic event when I had this warning before we even left. 

We got there late Thursday night.  The kiddos were bushed but still had a hard time getting to sleep.  This is how tired Finny was.  

 He let Auntie Mallo give him some VERY rare snuggles.  He was too exhausted to resist.  Gotta love when that happens.

 The next morning we woke up and got ready for Adam's graduation ceremony.  I was so impressed with the school.  It was small, but really prestigious and the student body was incredibly diverse.  They literally came from every corner of the world to study there.  I'm so proud of my brother.  It has been a tumultuous 2 years for his family and the fact that he was able to graduate from this amazing school, get a great job offer, and be such a sweet husband and daddy through it all is pretty darn awesome.
Here's Ad with his ladies, Cami and Baby Abby.

Tate and Finn were pretty good through the ceremony, thanks to Star Wars Angry Birds on Mom's phone for Tate, and tons of snacks and laps to crawl over for Finn.  At one point Tate was busy playing and Mallo asked if he would like to sit on her lap.  His response was, "Um, sure.  I'll be right with you!"  Awesome.
 The graduation party party:  Finn, me, Tate, Mom, Ad, Cami, Baby Abby, and Mallo with her sassy hand-on-hip pose.

 It was a hot AZ day and the boys crashed for a bit post-ceremony cooling off and waiting for lunch to be ready.

We had a delicious meal, provided by Ad and Cami and then changed and went swimming for a bit.  The water was pretty cold, but we were hot enough that it didn't stop us.  Tate had a ball.  Swimming until his chin started shivering, then getting in the hot tub for a bit, then diving back in the pool again.
That night we went to Outback to celebrate Ad's graduation.  
Ad and Cami were incredible hosts.  They planned meals for us, bought snacks for the kids, planned fun activities, and even stood in line at the library for 3 hours one morning to check out free zoo passes for us.  They were so great to help with my busy boys and treated us all so well.  They made this quick and busy visit so enjoyable.
The boys had a hard time falling asleep again that night.  It's just too fun having so many people to chat / play peek-a-boo with in the same room.  Mal and I woke up early to get in a nice jog together then we got ready and headed to the zoo.  Finny slept for the first half hour or so in his stroller.

 Tate was spoiled and loved by everyone.

 I got to get some snugs in with this sweet little lady.  I can't believe how easy it is to get her to smile.  She is so sweet and happy and man, are her cheeks delicious!

 We only lasted a couple of hours at the zoo.  We got there at 11 and left around 1, so needless to say it was wicked hot and after 2 hours we were wiped out.  But we did get to see some pretty cool stuff.  They had a monkey exhibit that you can walk through and get really close to the monkeys.  Close enough to touch them, but you're not allowed to.  They had lots of play grounds and climbing things for the kids and a splash pad as well.  We hit up their farm area and the boys got to play with some goats.  Always a huge hit.

After the zoo we sat around Ad and Cami's apartment for just a couple hours before they had to take the boys and I to the airport.  It was a rough farewell.  Tate was VERY upset about leaving.  I thought he'd get over it, or at least get distracted eventually.  Nope.  He was upset to the airport, through the airport, and kept remembering on the flight and on the drive home, until he fell asleep, that he was mad at me and that he wanted us to turn around and go back to Arizona.  My favorite moment happened at the gate as we were getting on the plane.  He had cried on and off all through the airport and when we got the gate the woman taking our ticket asked him, "What's wrong, little guy?"  His little lip started quivering, his eyes welled up and he said, "I don't like when vacations are over." And started sobbing all over again.  She got down on her knees and hugged him and sympathized with him.  It was very sweet.  Another favorite was being told, "Mom, you are not invited to my Star Wars party (the theme of his NEXT birthday party.  Yes, he's planning it already).  But Dad is, but you are not!"  Okay, sorry you feel that way.  Good to know what happens when you're upset with me.  

Fam, thanks for the great, though much too quick trip! And congrats to Ad on your graduation.  So glad we were able to make it!