Tucson!

During tax season, my mom and I had discussed taking a trip to Tucson to visit my sister. We began making plans and suddenly the plan was for me to take both the girls and fly with my mom and dad the first weekend in April! Katrina had no idea that Taylor, Cassidy and I were along for the ride. We were so afraid of letting the secret slip that we actually forgot to tell many people that I was going to visit too! It was pretty comical.
I was excited for Al to get a weekend home alone and then he ended coming down with a horrible flu-bug. It took him out for most of the weekend. It was too bad his weekend was "wasted" on being sick, but it was probably best because he got the rest he needed and didn't infect us!

When the weekend finally arrived, everything went as planned and we even rented a minivan to accomodate all of us for the long weekend.
We arrived at K's place and the girls and I hid in the back seat of the van while mom and dad went to the front door. They asked her to come help unload and this is the shot I got of her when she realized we were in the back. It was priceless!

The rest of the weekend was packed-full with fun. It was HOT though, even for Tucson's standards.
The first full day there, we headed to a zoo and checked some of the animals before taking advantage of a pool on the same property.

Taylor with her new shades posing with the tiger:

Cassie (just barely), me, Taylor, Bumpa and K:

Great animal shots!

Taylor having some lunch with Auntie (and Godmother) K:

Cassidy getting in touch with her inner squirrel:

Swim time! This pool was a lifesaver. The best part was, it was outdoors AND covered!

Cassidy LOVES the water:

Taylor was SO excited to be at the pool. She just kept walking around giggling and singing, "I'm swimming, I'm swimming". It was adorable.

Back at the house, some down time with mommy and the girls:

Unfortunately that day may have done in Taylor. She was out for the next day and a half with a super high fever and no appetite. At first I assumed she had caught what Al had, but in hindsight, she may had been suffering from heat related issues. I'm sure we should've been forcing fluids on her more than we did. Poor baby.

The next day I headed to an art fair with mom, Cassidy, K and Todd but had to leave Tay behind. She was pretty bummed, but at least got to stay home with grandpa.

The art fair was neat and reminded me a lot of the Austin Pecan Street festival.

Cassie was worn out as well:

Amazing owl that we saw during the fair:

Eventually Taylor was feeling a little better and able to take down some food. Poor baby took a trip to Tucson and spent most of the weekend laying on the couch with a cool washcloth on her head and belly. By our last night she got to go on a special trip to In and Out Burger and Putt-Putt golf with grandpa, mommy and auntie K. That made her day!

It was a super fun weekend despite the girls giving mommy a run for her money. No one slept well because of whatever bug or heat-related issues they were having and I was very sleep deprived. I did have a lot of fun moments of course though. Like a night out dancing with mom and K and a sister shopping trip with just Katrina. I'm so glad we made the trip. Looking back, I barely remember the sleep deprivation, but have a lot of fun memories of the family bonding!