V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

That spells vacation. Which, unfortunately, is over. Time went by way too fast but we had a lot of fun. I was so worried about Sofia and the plane ride and the time difference, but everything worked out great. Sofia wa really good on the flights, only having a couple of meltdowns on the way. It's taking her a little longer to adjust back to Ohio time, but we're working on it. As we speak, Sofia is softly whimpering in her room. However, that may have more to do with the fact that I put her to bed after telling her not to scratch the walls with her nails and when I picked her up, she proceeded to rake her fingers down my back repeatedly. OW!

We did a lot over the course of a few days in Phoenix, including going to the Phoenix Zoo, the Arizona Science Center, Tortilla Flat, swimming in the pool. Rather than me write a bunch of stuff, why don't I just show some pictures!

Sofia's first day at the pool. She is totally fearless, jumping off the edge of the pool into our arms and even letting me dunk her under water. We tried to go swimming almost every day, and the water was perfect.

Sofia really liked the Zoo, but I think in the beginning she was really hot. The tram ride around the park was fun, and we got to see a lot of animals. It's so hot in Phoenix that we were at the Zoo by 9 a.m. We rode the carousel twice and saw a really neat giraffe exhibit. Sofia was a bit whiny in the beginning. However, once she saw these fountains, she couldn't have been happier. It took a couple of minutes of standing there watching the other kids before she would venture in. However, once she did . . .

. . . she abolutely loved it!

Checking out the prairie dogs.

Enjoying the Arizona Science Center's Grossology exhibit. Yes, the sign says, "Toot, toot" and yes, it's talking about farts. You pump air into the tubes and then push down on the rubber stopper on top to create beautiful butt music...it was hilarious.

This is right before the wheel barrow tipped over, hitting Sofia in the head. She liked this little play area because it had a little house and tons of stuff to climb on. One of the neatest exhibits was a weather "immersion" theater experience. You stand with a bunch of people on a raised platform in the middle of the room, surrounding by theater screens, speakers, and lights. The screens talk about and display various forms of weather (tornados, thunderstorms, earthquakes) and while that is happening, you are able to experience it thanks to rain machines, wind, and heat lamps. It was pretty cool, and I was really afraid that Sofia would be scared, but she really liked it, especially the wind.

Our last day, right before we left for the airport.

Look at those smiling faces. All in all, we had a great time (thanks Mom and Ken!). Ryan got to take his first airplane ride and we all got to experience new things!

And now, back to the real world...sigh.