Arizona Summer Vacation, Part 1

Kaiya, Ryder, Kassidy, Riley, Kyndall, Kaydence and Rustin

After our fun trip to Arizona for Spring Break, we decided we had to go back---this time when it was warm enough to swim in the big pool! Jayson was busy preparing for a big upcoming conference at work and couldn't take time off to come with us, so we brought GG along instead. My brother, Shane, was doing an internship in AZ and living at home this summer, so we got to see him, and my sister, Tiare, flew down to spend the week with us too. We packed in as much fun and excitement as we could into the short 8-day visit!

Arizona, here we come! Thankfully, my kiddos are really quite good in the car for long car trips--as long as we keep the snacks and movies coming.

The first thing everybody wanted to do when we arrived at Mimi's house was SWIM!

Kassidy, Kaiya, Ryder, Rustin, Riley, Kaydence and Kyndall---ready for the pool!

How many quints can a floating turtle hold??

Girl's night at Cheesecake Factory with my Aunt Jeanie and her girls--YUM!

There was a movie theater near my mom's house that let kids under 4 in FREE, a fact that we definitely took advantage of! (All of the movie theaters here in Austin start charging at age 1) While we were there, we saw three movies!

Kaydence, Kassidy, Kyndall and Mimi

Riley, Kaiya, Ryder, Rustin and Tiare

Outside the movie theater

Wednesday was a big day---we had discount tickets to Jambo, and indoor kiddie amusement part. It was not very crowded and the kids had a blast riding all the rides.

The kids waiting for the roller coaster

Spinning barrel ride

Kaydence on the spaceship

Riley, Dylan (my cousin's little boy), Kassidy, Kyndall and Rustin on the Safari Train

Rhino Ride

Mimi, Riley and Kaiya on the bumper cars

Kaiya and Riley

Hippo Hug

After Jambo, we headed to lunch at McD's

Wednesday night we went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner ($2.99 kid meal night!) My kids absolutely love eating there! It was the highlight of our trip!

The kids with the Rainforest Tree Frog

Waiting for dinner




Our standard pose by the elephant podium



We must have really worn the kiddos out that day, because on the way home, ALL FIVE fell asleep---a VERY rare event!!

The next day, my mom's friend, Janene, came over to give us all a roll-making lesson. I love homemade rolls and Janene makes the best rolls ever. I have been using her recipe for a while now, but I knew if I had the "roll lesson" that I could learn something to help me take my rolls to the next level.

Janene and Rachelle



Everyone was excited to "help"

Just as we were finishing our roll lesson, Candice (aka Dr. Park who delivered the quints) arrived with her baby Lauren. It is always fun to see her!

Kyndall, Kassidy, Rachelle, Rustin, Ryder, Riley, Kaydence, Kaiya, Lauren and Candice


Stay tuned for part 2 of the trip...

Arizona Summer Vacation, Part 1

Spring Break--Part 3, the Finale!

If you missed them, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our Spring Break Adventure.

Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, so of course I woke up early to prepare a fabulous green breakfast for the family and prepare lots of fun Irish games for the day...NOT REALLY--actually I completely forgot about the holiday until my mom reminded me (which Riley and Kaiya were only too happy about, since it meant that they got to pinch me). My mom made Riley some green eggs for a snack and that was about as festive as we got (sorry kids, I'll make it up to you on April Fool's day---promise!)

Riley with his green eggs and no ham

Thursday afternoon Dr. Candice Park (now known as Dr. Candice Wood) with her mom and her new little baby for a visit. Candice was the resident doctor who took care of me during my pregnancy and who delivered the quints. It was so fun to see her! The quints especially loved the baby :-) (notice that she and her baby are wearing green and she even brought us green cookies---there is one mom who didn't drop the ball for St. Patrick's day!)

Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall, Kaydence and Rustin look at baby Lauren while Candice snaps a photo.

After our visit with Candice, we headed out to the farm. My cousin's husband, Steve, is a dairy farmer and owns a small dairy farm out in Florence, AZ. I am not much of an animal person, so I really respect anyone that can do that for a living---especially in the Arizona heat! Steve and Kiera were great to give us a tour of the farm and let us help feed the baby calves.

Kaydence, Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall, Riley, Rustin and Kaiya come face-to-face with the cows.

My cousin, Kiera, and her little boy Ledger

Kaydence, Ryder, Riley, Kyndall, Kassidy, Rustin and Kaiya

Filling the bottles for the baby calves....brought back memories of the early days when I used a similar process to fill bottles for the quints :-)

Heading out to the calf stalls

My cousin says that this little cow is considered "perfect": black face, white stripe and pink nose.

This little guy was born only a few hours before we got there.

Feeding the calves (Note: this is a rare sight---my MOM is feeding the calves. If there is anyone who is less of an animal person than me, it is my mom!)

Front: Kaydence, Ryder, Kyndall, Rustin and Kassidy, Back: Riley and Kaiya, Driver way in the back: Dylan (Kiera's son and second cousin to my kiddos)

Friday was our last day in AZ and we went to "Makutu's Island", a big indoor playplace with crazy slides, tunnels, fireman poles, etc. The kids thought it was super fun, but some of the less adventurous ones wanted me to go with them on everything. That was when I realized I am not as young as I used to be :-) My cousins, BrieAnne and Kiera, met us there.

Makutu's Island: Kyndall, Kaiya, Kaydence, Ryder, Rachelle, Rustin, Kiera, Dylan, Ledger, and BrieAnne

Friday night we had dinner outside on the patio

Papa, Riley, BrieAnne, Kaiya and Mimi

The "Goodbye" picture---it is tradition at my parent's house to take a picture in this spot before leaving

Ready for the trip home.

The drive home went fairly smoothly. I came up with a new plan for rest stops and actually managed to shave 5 minutes off our stopping time!! (It's the little things that make life exciting.) At our first rest stop, the kids were happy and well-behaved. As we paraded in, I could hear comments like "Oh, how cute!" and "That is so adorable!". By the time we got to our second rest stop, the kids were tired and ready to be done with traveling---they were not happy or well-behaved. The only comments I got were "Oh, you poor thing!" and "I'll pray for you!"

All in all, the trip was a lot of work, but a lot of fun! Crazy or not, I am glad that we did it!

Spring Break--Part 3, the Finale!

More Road Trip Pics, Part 2

Last summer, we visited my parents just days after they moved into their new house. It was a short sale home and many things were not completed on it, including a nearly finished pool. We stared at the cement hole in the ground every day of our trip, telling ourselves that the next time we came to visit, we would be able to swim every day. Well, 10 months later, the pool STILL wasn't finished! There were lots of problems with the county and permits, etc. My parents tried their best to get that pool done before we returned home, but unfortunately the closest we came to swimming in the backyard was playing in a couple of baby pools! (five days after we left, the pool was finally finished and my parents assure me that on our next visit we will get to swim!)

Getting ready to swim: Kaiya, Kaydence, Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy, Rustin and Riley

Water fun!

The little kids didn't seem to care that the big pool wasn't finished---they had a blast playing in the kiddie pools.

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

Just Chillin'---Kassidy and Kaydence

Kassidy and Kaydence

One of the kids favorite activities from the trip was a visit to the "Bouncy Jungle"---a large inflatable playplace.

And they're off!

Ryder, Kyndall & Kassidy

The big slide---fun for toddlers and parents alike! Mimi and Rachelle with Kaydence, Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall and Rustin

Kaydence

Jump!

Riley

Kaiya

The big Velcro wall blocks were also a big hit. Rustin, Kyndall, Kassidy, Kaydence and Ryder

The kids ate all their meals at a little picnic table in the kitchen.

Riley's birthday happened to fall on the day of the wedding, so we officially celebrated on another day instead. Riley's favorite birthday "cake" is the Double Cream Lemon pie from Marie Callendars. Fortunately June is discount pie month at Marie Callendars so that works out pretty nicely!

Mimi, Tiare, Rachelle, Jayson and Riley

Jayson, Riley, Rachelle, & Kaiya

Riley got a kid-sized guitar for his birthday, which he was very excited about!

While in Arizona, we also packed in visits with as many friends and family members that we could.

Rachelle & Candice with Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy, Kyndall and Rustin. Candice (aka Dr. Park) was the resident who delivered the quints three years ago. She has since married and is expecting her own baby (just one).

Shannon & Rachelle...Shannon was my best friend in high school and my college freshman roommate. It has been 13 years since we have seen each other, and it was so fun to get our families together!

Blast from the Past---this is Shannon and I moving into our dorm room our freshman year at BYU. Don't you just love the hair and clothes? How about those three-inch high shoulder pads?? I never left home without them!

We met some of my cousins at Chick-fil-a for lunch one day

One of my cousins has a new baby and the quints were totally fascinated by him!

My aunt and uncle own a Mathenasium, and since I am sure my kids are all child geniuses, we thought they could get ahead on their math skills while we were there. Actually, I think the only math they did was counting the candy pieces my aunt Jeanie kept slipping them when I wasn't looking :-)

When we realized that swimming in my parent's pool was not going to happen this trip, we found another pool to swim in. I got Puddle Jumper life vests for the quints this year and so far I love them---The kids still need lots of supervision, but I feel a little bit more secure with them wearing the life jackets!

Ready to swim: Riley, Rustin, Ryder, Kaiya, Kyndall, Kassidy and Kaydence

Ryder--the friend whose pool we borrowed just happened to have goggles in all the quints colors!

Kassidy and Rachelle

Tiare and Kyndall

Rustin, Kassidy and Kaiya

Eating push-up pops in the pool

More Road Trip Pics, Part 2