Our Sort-of "Babymoon" in Phoenix

Tom and I visited our friends in Phoenix, AZ over the Thanksgiving weekend so we could become the godparents of their new baby.  It was such an honor to be asked, and I'm very happy to have a godson now.
 

We left our kids with Tom's parents for four whole days.  We've never been away from Sly for more than one night, and have never been away from Stella overnight at all.  I was worried that they might miss us or have a tough time adjusting, but I was totally wrong.  Each day we called to see how they were doing.  Stella was apparently in a better mood than ever, and learning all sorts of new tricks that I've been unable to help her do for all of her 15+ months (such as walking for real, and climbing down stairs).  Sly would be put on the phone to say hi to us, and then quickly say, "I'm done talking to you now" and hand off the phone to the grandparents!  Geez - so much for missing us, kids!

It was nice to get away by ourselves for a bit, though.  Anytime Tom and I find ourselves out without the kids for whatever reason, we joke that we're "on a date," and make sure to do the little things we never get to do anymore, such as holding hands or (in my case) actually having a car door held open for me (since Tom isn't busy loading a kid into a car seat!).  So we called this a four-day-long date, including the boring parts in the airports and everything in between.

On a date.  Tom doesn't like flowers in his hair.

Pheonix was, of course, quite different from my hometown of Pittsburgh...

Positives: It was interesting to see all the new flora and fauna.  I have never been to the southwest before, nor have I ever seen a desert in real life.  My mind kept imagining the early settlers who first came across this land, and what they must have thought about it, and how they would have lived.  There is a lot of cowboy and Native American history there, and it was fun to learn a bit about it.  Also, we ate some delicious meals.  There are a lot of great bars and restaurants to check out.

Pony express statue

Saguaro cactus

Negatives: We could sit outside in short sleeves in December.  Many people might see this as a good thing, but I don't think I could ever stand living somewhere that didn't have seasons.  Yes, I may get sick of the snow and cold come February....but at least I get to experience it each year!  And there's no grass there, except for the few places which are artificially watered like crazy...which seems somewhat ecologically irresponsible to me.  Also, there's hardly anything there that's old.  Almost all the buildings are 1950's or newer, and just not architecturally interesting to me at all.

Can't you just picture a western movie taking place here?

Believe it or not, I'm only 5 or 6 months pregnant, or so....(I lose track all the time).

Mountains!  Palm trees!

Pretty much every plant in Arizona can seriously hurt you, as we found out the hard way (Tom is doing a re-enactment)