Trip to Mesa AZ

We finally were brave enough to use our flight benefits that we get through Brandon's work. He's been there almost a year but we've never flown anywhere. First it was because I was pregnant and I didn't want to go into labor in another state. Second it was because I didn't want to fly with newborns.

Now that the girls are 8 1/2 months old we felt like we could try flying with them. So Brandon got us tickets for a flight to Phenoix to visit his brother Brian's family in Mesa AZ.

The trip got off to a smashing start - literally. Brandon smashed his finger with a cart at work around midnight. He went to the hospital and got 5 stitches - one through his finger nail! Then he came home at 4:40 AM and picked up me and the girls.

We got through the ticketing counter and the security lines okay. Brandon was detained by the TSA because of the metal brace on his finger. His clothes tested positive for explosives (?) so he was able to experience a pat down. While he was gone with that I hurried and put the girls back in the stroller and shoved our stuff back in our bags.

We had to fly standby but there was plenty of room on the plane. We couldn't share a row because there are only 4 oxygen masks per row. If there was an emergency we wouldn't have enough masks for 3 adults and 2 babies. So I sat with Charlotte across the aisle from Brandon and Lydia.

Lydia fell asleep during take off, and Charlotte fell asleep right before landing. It was a short flight so nothing really eventful happened. It was a lot better than our last trip to AZ 3 1/2 years ago. That time we drove the whole 15 hours with a 9 month baby along for the ride.

Once we landed we got our gate checked stroller and our checked car seats (all baby stuff flies for free) and got on a shuttle to the rental car place. Here are the girls in the baggage area of the shuttle.

We rented a Nissan Versa. It was such a fun car to drive. We felt like we were cheating on the Jeep. But we really enjoyed this car.
We drove a few miles over to Mesa and went straight to Bryan and Kara's house. We let the girls take naps. Brandon took a nap too since at this point he had been awake for over 24 hours. This is Brandon, his twin brother Bryan, his twin daughters, and Bryan's son Owen.

Then all of us went to Falcon Field Airport. Bryan has wanted to go here with Brandon ever since he moved here. We were lucky and the B-17 Sentimental Journey was there. We were able to take lots of pictures and walk through the plane.

Here I am crossing the area above the bomb bay doors.

Brandon coming out of the pilots door.
Brandon in the cockpit. He and Bryan built a model B-17 so it was fitting that they would get to see one of these planes in person.
The girls even got to play with an airplane.

By this time we were super hot so we went to Kara's grandma's house to use her pool.

Charlotte and Lydia loved the little baby floating toys.
After that we went back to the house and let the girls take another nap. Kara was able to borrow two pack-n-plays so the girls each had their own beds. Brandon and I went on an adventure to find a pharmacy so he could fill a prescription for his hand. We had fun just cruising around in the rental car.
When the girls woke up again we all went out to dinner at a Southern BBQ restaurant called Lucille's. The staff was very nice and got us seated and found us three highchairs. One of our hostesses was a twin. What's crazy is that her middle name is Lydia and her twin's middle name is Charlotte. How random is that?
I love this picture of Lydia. She liked sitting on her highchair and being apart our table.

We went home and put the kiddies to sleep. Us adults stayed up talking and joking. The next day was Sunday. Here I am feeding the girls.

And these are their Sunday dresses. This was the first time they wore them. They are on the border of wearing 6-9 month clothes.
Church was good, but we missed our branch. It was kind of weird to be in a normal family ward. The RS teacher had a perfectly planned centerpiece.

Sunday night we had dinner at Kara's parents house. We haven't been to their house since Bryan and Kara's wedding 3 1/2 years ago. It was great to see her family again too. They were so nice and accommodating when we came down for the wedding.

Here is Bryan's dog, Tootsie, helping clean up after feeding Lydia. Tootsie was so cute. She actually made me want a dog. She was so good with the girls. Every night she slept on our bed. And she rode over to Kara's parents house in our car.

Monday Bryan had to go to work. So we spent the day relaxing. Here are the cousins playing.
We also went swimming again. The girls and Owen are only 2 1/2 months apart.
Owen can really crawl, stand up, and sit. But that didn't stop the girls from playing with him.
Monday night we played Apples to Apples and then watched some Bryan Regan. Then we went to sleep. This morning we left for the airport. We returned the car and got through security and everything. We were hoping to make the 1:45 flight back to Salt Lake, but it was full. Now we are waiting for the 4:45. We've walked around the whole terminal (which is a lot cooler than the Salt Lake Airport. We did that so the girls could take a nap in the stroller. Now the girls are playing on the floor, and I'm blogging. It's been a really great vacation and I'm glad its not quite over yet.