Phoenix Vacation

I'm not feeling too great, and sitting here is actually quite painful, but I still want to get down a few thoughts that have been shuffling around in my head.

First off, I would just like to thank my family for a great vacation.  We spent over 8 days together, and there was no fighting.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and get along.  Braden and Kaylee had an introduction to LONG drives, and they were troopers.  Spanish Fork to Phoenix is a long drive.  Braden drove his Grandma's car, with her and his Grandpa.  Kaylee drove my little Focus with Alyssa and Emily.  And Lori, Traven and I were in the Pilot.  Everyone did great!  The exact amount of time Emily slept is still open to debate, but I figure that's up to that car!

Our vacation rental was sweet!  Well, the master suite was enormous, so I lived like a king.  Traven ended up with his own room, as Braden preferred the air bed to having T sleep on his head.  Kaylee took the other air bed, while Emily and Alyssa shared a bedroom and the grandparents were in another.

We only ate out 3 times.  The rest of the time we cooked at the house.  It was such a relaxing vacation!  The one time we did eat out was at China Red.  Holy smokes, it was so good and the portions were gigantic.  We had leftover Chinese food into Tuesday!

We bought the POGO pass, which got us in to many events for a way discounted price.  Great idea if you are ever down in Phoenix for a week!

We did Makutu's Island, mainly for T, but it was actually Alyssa who got our money's worth out of it.  And she made Braden climb and slide along with her, so that was good.  Even Kaylee and Lori took a turn sliding.

We went to the Phoenix temple.  That helped with the relaxation part of the trip!  Of course, no POGO required for temple work.....

Some of us went to a Diamondbacks MLB game, and I loved it!  Ok, baseball games are too long, but for the part I was there, I loved it.

We did some laser tag, which was fun.  Traven really got into that.

The Phoenix zoo was a great time.  It was a lot bigger than I figured it would be.

Castles and Coasters was fun, although Lori and Kaylee ended up getting sick from a ride, so that sucked.  But some of us stuck it out, rode the rides and went miniature golfing.

On the way home, we went to the Grand Canyon.  What an incredible sight!

Sunday started the journey home.  Well except for me.  I'm in Las Vegas at a database conference.

Did I mention I love my family?  I think this was a great vacation.  Definitely more relaxing than many others I have been on.

Mike