Trip to Arizona- Legoland Discovery Center

We were lucky enough to get to go to Arizona the week before Christmas this year to spend time with the whole Martin family during the holidays. One of the first days we were there, we went to the Legoland Discovery Center with my sister.

They had this cool fountain on the outside:

The kids got to see a lot of giant Lego figures:

They had a dark ride where the kids could shoot at things:

I couldn't go on the rides (being pregnant) so I hung out with this guy:

They had a Miniland of places around Phoenix and all over Arizona, all made out of Legos! The kids liked the jack hammer, boat racing, and mining parts best. It all looked really cool!

There was another ride there that the kids liked too, where you had to peddle to go up and down:

Me and Zane hung out in the toddler Lego part while the big kids did the ride:

Hyrum built the Great Wall of China, Mindi built a rainbow house, and Cora built a castle:

Zane tried to destroy a little Lego town, but luckily the Kragle had been in use there:

The kids got to build some buildings to see if they were earthquake proof and then test them. They also got to build a Lego car and race them:

They had a fun Christmas Lego center, where we made a village in the North Pole, plus some ornaments for their tree:

We watched a couple of 4-D Lego movies, and all the kids like them, though we did get a little soaked from the experience:

Cora loved the Lego friends sculptures, and so did Zane:

December 2016

The first snow! The kids were trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues:

They loved having a snowball fight and playing around in the snow:

And they loved coming in with red faces and getting warmed by the fire after they played in the snow:

Zane always wants everyone to smell his bum and check his diaper when he’s stinky. He’ll back up to someone and say, “stinky!” He also loves messes, like this one:

One evening Cora wanted to have a pretend fancy tea party with me. The trick was that we had to talk fancy, including using fancy made-up words for things, like cupcakes were “tootsies,” and Cora was “Patuta.” And we had to say it all in a very regal voice. It was pretty cute.

When we were in Arizona, Cora asked me what the yellow balls were on the trees outside. I couldn’t believe she didn’t know (they are oranges)! Having pretty much grown up in an orange grove, it is odd to me that our kids won’t really know the joy of citrus blossoms and “yellow balls on trees.”

She put these puzzles together by herself, then lined them up smallest to biggest and wanted me to take a picture:

We were all in the car on our way home from something and Hyrum told us the name of the moon right then was a crescent. He always asks, “did you know ____” when he tells us these facts. Usually, the answer is yes. Well, this time that answer frustrated him and he said, “Mommy, Daddy, tell me everything you know, right now!” Sorry, kid. That would take days, weeks, and months!

Hyrum is still obsessed with dinosaurs, so this is a pretty long-lasting phase. Here is dressed like one for bed:

This month Zane has started to line everything up in a row. I guess he likes a little organization every now and then too.

Zane also found a new favorite hiding spot (since he discovered he can open the fridge by himself :0):

We ask the kids at dinner every night what their favorite part of the day was, and Zane always says, “Gucko.” That is his favorite non-word I think!

Hyrum was upset with Ryan, and started yelling at him, “Daddy, you’re the….best.” He said it very angrily, but knew it wasn’t nice to say that Daddy is the worst!

Hyrum has been asking for a couple weeks now that when I post this picture, that I write, “Hyrum’s first time climbing a tree.” So here I go-

Hyrum’s first time climbing a tree (in Arizona):

Zane was so tired one day, he fell asleep right on Cora during his treatment:

And then later that same day he fell asleep in my arms. If only he would sleep at night a little better!