Ian Goes to Arizona (The 2008 Edition)

A week has passed since my last post! If there is anyone out there still checking in on our crazy life's story, I apologize to the both of you. Ian and I are back from our whirlwind trip to Arizona and ready to get back to the old routine.

We had a great time in VERY hot Phoenix. It was over 100 every day and in the 70's at night all but one night. It was a "brisk" 68 when I met my mom on the patio for coffee at 6:30 this morning.

I'll save pieces of the trip story for future posts, but in a nutshell, here was our itinerary: Friday, we landed and arrived back to the house to relax for the rest of the evening. Saturday, we headed out to a Ghost Town near them and rode an old fashioned train. We also swam in the swimming pool and played in Ian's tunnel and tent from Christmas time last year. Sunday was our "down day". We ventured out only for a quick errand, otherwise it was a day beside the pool and other Hot Wheel/Thomas Train related shenanigans. Monday, we headed back to the Phoenix Zoo for a reprise of our visit last December. It was about 40 degrees warmer and Ian was much more interested (although he insisted on being held the entire time...by me!).

We said our sad goodbyes and took off this morning. Ian did really REALLY great on both flights without a single fuss or struggle. If only getting through security by myself with a toddler were as easy! Who said carry on only was the way to go? Next time, I'm checking everything but my purse and Ian, for my sanity's sake!

I'll break down the adventures of each day in upcoming posts. For now, here are a few of my now famous "then and now" pictures. I'm always shocked when I see the drastic differences.

I realized that I never took a single picture of the plane trip the last time we went to Arizona, so I had to use the China flight comparison... still pretty amazing. What a difference a little hair makes!

I tried to stage identical pictures of some of the shots from December. Here are a few...

...Here are a few more

He did NOT love the tunnel and tent in December, but as I suspected, he loved it this time. He was in the tunnel laughing his head off before we'd finished putting it together. In the end, it got windy and we took it inside, where it became a common place to find Ian and his choo choo's.