Alaina's Trip

The day after Christmas Alaina left with her Grandparents to visit family in Arizona. It was SO hard for me to let her go, I always imagine the worst things happening. But she is old enough and wanted to go and I knew she would be taken care of, so she went.

After we got her all packed up and ready to go she realized she was going to be away from us for a week, so she got sad. Which made me sad.

But I told her she could call me whenever she was sad or missed me and that made her feel better.

And then my baby was gone.


They made it safe and sound to Vegas (the driving is what worried me the most) and she wrote me an email.
"To Mom,
I went 4 weeling. We went to a Mexecan restarant and Subway. I had alot of fun.
Love, Alaina"

The next day they went to the library and got some books to listen to on the way down to Phoenix. She was good on the drive down and was happy to get to GG's house. (GG is my grandma).

The next day they went to my Aunt and Uncle's house to see my Mom's cousins. My Aunt and Uncle have an orange tree. Alaina liked to climb it and they got to pick some oranges.

Her cousin, Harper, in the tree.

They also have a pool. And even though it was like 75 there at the end of December, it was still too cold to swim. But theres nothing wrong with a little foot dip.

Its so funny to see Alaina with the orange tree or by the pool. I hold the memories at my Aunt and Uncle's house very close to me. I was once doing the same exact things at the same exact age as she is now. I climbed that orange tree and picked the oranges. I swam in that pool. It kinda blows my mind actually.

My Mom's cousin, Michael, has twins, Caden and Harper, that are a couple years older than Alaina. Harper and Alaina clicked right away and were good friends.
They went to the park one day and had some fun.

They enjoyed running into my Dad on the slide.

Silly girls.

One of the nights the whole family came over to my Grandma's house for dinner. It was a full table! It was a very special trip because my aunt (my mom's sister) and my cousin were there, who we dont get to see very often. And also Michael and Stephanie and the kids, who live in South Carolina and also dont get to see very often. I was a little devistated to not be able to go myself, but alas, being a few weeks away from delivery kept me away.
I love these people.

The cousins. I have no idea how they are related...they are my Mom's cousin's kids. They are actually the same generation as me.
Harper, Megan, Caden and Alaina.

Alaina and GG. I love this picture.

Grandma, Mom and Aunt Sharon with Miss Alaina.

GG, Alaina, Mom and Dad.

On the way home from Phoenix they stopped at a park and played for a while.

This picture makes me smile every time I see it.

Alaina got to take some pictures too.

They stopped at a rest stop and my Mom spotted a burro. So of course she made friends with it. Alaina wasnt so sure though.

Alaina saw this old beat up truck and wanted a picture taken with it. I really love how that girl likes cars. Just like Mom and Dad.

On the way to Reno from Vegas Alaina took a little nap. Nice blackmail picture for later in life.

And then she was home and we were all happy she was back. I think she learned some things and gained experience on this trip that will stick with her for all her life.