Phoenix Zoo and California Trip

On Saturday the 8th, my friend Amanda and I took our kids to the Phoenix Zoo. The weather was nice and Tyler really needed to get out of the house! Once we got there, it took us literally 20 or 30 minutes to find a parking spot. The place was packed! But I suppose I should have expected that. I've only been there once before and had no trouble finding a spot, but it must've been on a weekday. The kids had lots of snacks, so they were content to sit in the strollers most of the time. Luckily we brought their monkey backpacks to keep them strapped in when they decided to get out. After about 2 hours we decided to head back to the car, but not before taking a train ride around the zoo. It was about a 20 minute ride and the boys seemed to like it. All in all it was an okay trip. It's such a big place that I can't imagine seeing it all in one day. We didn't even come close! I was very glad to get back to the car after all that walking...

My parents arrived on Sunday morning (the 9th) just in time for Joshua's blessing. It was a nice day. The blessing was very nice. And afterwards we had a lunch back at our place with family. I always enjoy when we can all get together. If it were up to me, we would do it more often!
Monday morning my parents, me, Tyler and Josh left for California. My sister lives in Indio which is about 4 hours away. She wasn't able to come for the blessing, so we decided to go to her! We ate Mexican food that night and something really neat happened while we were there. There was this table next to us with two elderly couples and when they got up to leave, one of the ladies came up to my mom and said, "I want to compliment you on your family." My mom thanked her and she left. I thought that was really neat. I have to admit that all of the kids were unusually well behaved. There was no throwing tantrums or food and we had an enjoyable time. The next day we went to the park. The weather was great and the kids had fun. Later that evening we made the 4 hour drive home. It was a nice visit!