Chris’ Grandma and Grandpa Tanner were with us most of September (weekends). They flew home on October 2 and on October 3 we flew into Arizona to go on our annual Mexico trip with my family. We flew into Phoenix and my sister Beth picked us up. We went and got some dinner, (In n Out) drove by our old house in Chandler, and then headed to Tucson. We spent the night in Tucson, got up early, and went to Nogales. We met the rest of my family (all my siblings, their spouses and kids, and my parents) at the McDonalds there, had breakfast and made the drive to San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. After driving for about six hours we made it to the rental house. We unloaded and the boys went and got the boat in the water.
The kids were so looking forward to going to Mimi and Papa’s house with the swimming pool and the beach. (Its not actually Mimi and Papa’s house, but its the same condos we’ve stayed at every time the kids have been to San Carlos, and we always go with my parents so they just think its Mimi and Papa’s other house.) The kids were so excited to see their cousins and to swim! So while the big boys were putting the boat in the water, we unloaded and took the kids swimming!
There is an island that we love going to, to go snorkeling and scuba diving, and Chris has never been and hes been wanting to go.There are so many sea lions on the island, so its really fun to snorkel/dive with the sea lions! We woke up early one morning and tried to make the boat ride out to the island. (Its fairly far out, so if the water isn’t great, it takes a long time to get there.) Sadly, the water was too rough and we weren’t able to make it to the island. We decided to turn around and just go snorkeling at a nice spot not to far from the marina (Club Mead…Med???). The snorkeling was pretty good, and we all had a lot of fun. Last year when we went to Mexico Ryan was just starting to get into snorkeling, but since he hadn’t done it in a year he was a bit nervous. He loved swimming in the ocean, but was a bit nervous to put his face in. Lillian still was too nervous to put her face in the water, but she LOVES swimming with her fins on. I was so proud of how well my kids did in the ocean! That evening was spent by the pool and playing on the beach.
The next day my mom was sick, which was a huge bummer, so we went to Double Point without her. Double Point is one of our favorite snorkeling spots. The kids love it there, as do the adults! Everyone but my mom was able to go out on the boat and my dad was so sweet and stayed in the boat with the babies and little kids so his kids could all snorkel. I was able to snorkel for awhile, and figured that I had a lot of help when I had babies on our Mexico trips, so I was more than happy to help my dad out with the babies. (My dad really did a great job with the babies, but you could see it in his face how much he missed my mom on that trip. They really are a great team!) This snorkel trip Ryan was ready to try snorkeling again, and he did amazing. He snorkeled forever with Chris! Lillian loved swimming with Remmy and they were in and out of the boat throughout the whole day. I loved watching those sweet girls play together!
I was in heaven holding babies, and helping with Parker. Parker loves the water, but prefers to see/touch the bottom so he isn’t the biggest fan of the ocean. I would help hold him on my feet in the water. Parker LOVED throwing things out of the boat into the ocean. People would come and bring him shells and starfish to throw in, but he also loved throwing in masks, and shoes, and pretty much anything he could find. (It was hilarious!) Luckily Double Point isn’t very deep, so whatever he threw in was retrievable. Rylee was a little fussy, she was fed, so there was nothing her momma could do for her that I couldn’t. I made sure that Lara and James were able to snorkel and I got to hold fussy Rylee who was just tired! I got her to sleep almost right away and I was in heaven holding my sweet niece (Who I met for the first time this trip!) Me and Papa had a great time on the boat holding these sweet babies! (My dad got to hold Felicity.) Both babies were so good and it was so fun to get more cuddles in with them!
When we got back my mom was still a little sick, but she was doing a bit better. She told us she would watch kids while the grown ups went out to eat. (We haven’t really done that before on our Mexico trips.) Lara offered to stay with my mom so they stayed with the kids while everyone else went out to eat. We went out to eat at a restaurant and had a really good time. The kids loved watching movies late with their cousins back at the house!
The next day was our last day and we were going to leave in the afternoon. We thought about taking out the boat (what Chris and I wanted to do). When people asked Ryan if he wanted to go on the boat he said “I just want to be with my cousins, that’s the most important thing.” it was really sweet to see how much they love each other. We looked out the window and saw that the water was really rough! We decided not to go out on the boat again, and we just played at the pool and on the beach. Ryan’s birthday was a few weeks after Mexico, so we decided to give him one of his birthday presents in Mexico, boogie boards!) The waves were perfect for body surfing, so Chris took Ryan to do that. There were some major wipe outs, but the boys had fun!
Of course on our trip we ate lots of coconuts. We drove up to the lookout, which they had redone since the last time we were there. We only drove by because it was packed, but it looked great!
The drive home was uneventful, but we did get stuck at the boarder for a few hours. By the time we crossed the boarder it was almost 11:00 PM. We weren’t going to be home until about 1:00 AM and since we had no where to be, we decided to stay the night in Nogales, AZ. (Just my family.) It was really nice and we enjoyed that a lot! Once we made it back to Thatcher we met up with Chris’ parents and brother Michael and went to eat at R&R (My dad’s pizza restaurant).
Monday night my family was getting family pictures taken. We hadn’t had family pictures done in several years (Before Preston and Emma were married, and before Parker, Felicity, and Rylee were part of the family.) It ended up being a lot of fun watching kids run around, and trying not to get too dirty in their nice picture clothes!
We were able to spend some time with Michael and Bryan before we left, but not a whole lot since they had work and school. We were lucky to get a lot of time with Nadine, and we were very grateful that she was willing to drive us up to Mesa and take us to the airport!
Tuesday we were going to go back to Mesa so we could spend time with Chris’ siblings that live up there. Before we left we were able to spend time with my grandparents and Chris’ grandparents. We even got to go to the farm and let the kids ride in the tractor.
When we were in Mesa we met up with Chris’ brother and sister and their spouses at Texas Roadhouse, then went to Cold Stone for dessert. It was so good seeing them! I sure love my in-laws and we had a great time visiting and catching up. I wish we had more time to see them when we go down to Arizona!
That night we were able to stay at a resort in Scottsdale. We got in pretty late and the kids went straight to bed. In the morning the kids were able to go swimming with Grandma and they had a great time! That afternoon we met up with the Tanners for lunch at Forefathers, our favorite cheese steak place. After Forefathers we took the kids to Makutu’s Island, a fun indoor play area in Chandler. Aunt Ashley was able to come meet us there and the kids loved playing with Grandma and Ashley there. After that we went to Target for birthday shopping for Ryan and then we had to go to the airport. It always goes so quickly when we are with family, and its so hard to leave! We are so glad we were able to spend so much time with everyone that we love so much!
After having so much company this summer, and being sick, it was good to go home and get back to real life. It was extra nice flying home in an almost empty plane! (we were only at 33% capacity. Basically everyone was able to have a whole row to themselves.) Just a note, even if the plane is almost empty, still use headphones. People CAN still hear whatever movie you are watching! And when the flight attendant tells you to do so, don’t argue with them, just do it.
