Arizona Sun!

Our trip to Arizona was so much fun and we loved seeing Grandparents, cousins and the sun! We drove down to Utah on Thursday and stayed the night in Cedar City then went on to Phoenix on Friday. As soon as we got to my parents house we pulled out the bikes and let the girls ride around and explore a bit. They loved being out of the car and of course being able to enjoy the outside without coats and boots. 

 The new house is amazing! We love that they got it and that we were able to be there to help make it a home. They still have a lot to go but that's half the fun of buying a new house, Craig's List has become my parents new favorite site. 

One of the best parts of the new house is the pool and hot tub in the backyard as well as the beautiful Phoenix landscape complete with cacti in back. 

Unfortunately the heating system was not quite operational by the time we got there so we could really only stand putting our legs and feet in to cool off, but any further was like stepping into an icey pond. Oh well, at least there was a heated pool just down the street.

Great Grandpa Baum made sure that the girls were safe and bought them each their own life vest to wear when they were around the pool. 

Zack flew in from Logan for Spring Break on Saturday so we were really happy to spend the week with him and Dad was able to put him to work as the pool boy. He did a good job. :)

Despite the cold water the girls couldn't help stripping off their pants and getting in the pool multiple times a day.

One of the days we went to a park in Anthem which was beautiful and perfect for the girls to practice their biking skills. We went with my cousin Julie and her three boys, two of which were highly skilled on their scooters! 

They even had turtles in the pond! Lily and Leah say that their names are Tuck, Tuck, and Tuck. (Wonder pets)

Lily and Ethan

The pool down the street was perfect for the girls and we spent many hours there enjoying the water and of course the sunshine. The girls played so much that they got pretty tired and needed to take a rest in between dips in the pool.

Zack had to take a break too and do some texting, or whatever he does on his phone. 

Almost every evening we had ice cream cones, I think it was Leah and Lily's favorite time of the day.

  

 We biked almost everywhere we went and the girls got very good very quickly on their bikes. It was so fun to see them improve and feel like they could go anywhere. We went to the park and to the swimming pool and to get the mail. Both girls can't understand now that we're home why they can't go outside and ride their bikes. I sure wish you could girls!!

One of the days we decided to go miniature golfing at Castles and Coasters. It was fun with the girls, it took a while for them to figure out idea but when they did they went crazy and really had a good time. 

I think Lily preferred walking through the miniature scenes more than golfing.

Here is Zack who had just fallen onto the ground because he and mom were trying to pass on the same pathway and Zack lost his balance and fell over the small chain fence. He blames mom and I just blame his clumsiness.

The day that we picked Zack up at the airport we met up with Great Grandpa Baum and Miles who is at Arizona state. We walked up the beach park and saw a few rowing races and then hiked up the A mountain with Miles and a few of his friends. I'm glad we got to see him that day and on Monday for FHE. We had had a fun little BBQ and s'more roast over the gas firepit in my parent's backyard, with Great Grandpa, Miles and the Snelders. So fun!

More swimming. 

On Thursday we got word that there was going to be a concert on Friday of "The Piano Guys" which is Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson (cellist) and that it would only be ten dollars a ticket, which was awesome! We decided to go and were so glad that we did! Definitely a highlight of our trip.

It was open seating so we decided to go early to get good seats.

We got very good seats and since it was a fundraiser for the LDS Chapter of the Dentistry school in Glendale the size of the crowd was not huge so it was a very personal concert and we loved it! Thanks Julie for having the hookups! 

If you haven't heard these guys before you should definitely look them up because they do amazing work and some of the most talented people. 

They came through the crowd after the concert and I couldn't help but get some pictures of my new favorite Piano Guy. :)

This is where Jon is passing on some talent to little Leah. 

 Saturday Grandpa went to a yard sale and found a kayak. Now that he has his own small pond in the backyard I guess he figured he could justify it. Andrew and the girls couldn't help but to try it out. 

We had such a fun time down in Arizona and were not too happy to leave, especially since our trip through Northern Arizona was full of snow and road closures. But we made it home to slightly less snow and hope for spring.