Arizona part 2

And the trip continues.

On Tuesday Mara and loaded up the kiddos and headed to a nearby mall to do some shopping and let the kids play on the playground there.  The shopping wasn't too successful but the kids loved the playground and the splash pad.  Unfortunately it was past lunch and they were getting tired so we didn't play for too long.  But being the kind and selfless moms that we are, we decided we would come back the next day just so they could play (no shopping) that way they would have longer. Of course when we got there the next morning they were both stuck to us like glue.  What a waste. Clearly our kindness went unappreciated.

At the playground on Tuesday. I think Jade might have been getting a little tired.

 I asked Mara to get some pictures of them playing at the splash pad...she didn't come back with much ;) but she did get this sweet modeling shot of Jade.

Tuesday night we met Ben at Costa Vida for dinner. So delicious! After dinner we stopped at a park and let the girls swing for awhile. The weather was perfect, but once again the mosquitoes were horrible.

We got one cute picture of the girls at the playground on Wednesday before we decided we might as well go home since they weren't playing.

Usually before, during, or after dinner I would stick Tatum in the high chair and give her some cheerios to keep her occupied while I helped make, eat or clean up dinner. Jade loved this. It meant she got a little snack since she could swipe some from Tatum. :) But the cutest was that she would always feed Tatum some of her cheerios. I loved watching them. Jade usually insisted that Tatum be scooted as close as possible to her.  And Tatum was all too happy to let Jade feed her.

I really wish this one wasn't blurry. And that Tatum was looking up. Oh well.

Jade loves to cheese.

On Thursday we took the kids to Kid's Club.  It's a free program at the mall where they sing songs and give the kids a toy and a snack and then they get to ride the carousel for free. It seemed like a pretty fun thing for them.  I offered to take both Jade and Tatum on the carousel so Mara could stay off with Ella.  I think she must have had a good laugh as she agreed to let me do it.  She tells everyone Jade really likes the carousel, but I'm beginning to think she just says that so she can watch the drama unfold. :) All Jade could talk about all morning was riding the 'ah-ah' (monkey). She just couldn't wait.  So I waited in line, holding them both.

Yeah, I thought my arms were going to fall off.  We were about the second or third group in line and yet somehow someone made it up to the second story of the carousel and to none other than the monkey before us. Fortunately, (or maybe unfortunately) the kind soul noticed that Jade really wanted to ride the monkey so she moved her children because she said they really didn't care what they rode.  As soon as they were off and I went to put Jade on she did the whole limp body thing on me and started crying and yelling for her mom.  I was feeling pretty cool right about then haha.  I'm sure the incredibly pregnant lady really appreciated the fact that she moved her kids for us and then we didn't even ride the monkey. Oops. So I had to carry Jade back down to the first story of the carousel and give her to Mara and then Tatum and I rode the carousel.  It certainly gave us a laugh or two.  Tatum actually did a lot better than her first time on the carousel. She even held the pole instead of clinging to me.  That's progress.

There are still a few more days to cover, but they will have to wait for another day.