De-Claire-ation of Independence: HOT, HOT, HOT

We just got back from the annual Law Family vacation where we went to visit Phoenix, AZ. It was HOT, HOT, HOT but I had a ton of FUN, FUN, FUN! First, I have to brag that I got an A on both the flight there and back. Mommy and Daddy did a good job scheduling the flights to happen during my naptime, and the flights were on time, so I spent a lot of the flight just snoozing.

Family together again

The week kicks off with laughter and never stops!

It was so good to see everyone. Gong-Gong and Po-Po were there, of course, plus Xiao-Jiu Dwo and Auntie Crystal. After us Pees got into town, Da-Jiu Zong and Melissa arrived to round out the group. The only person missing was Kirby, but she was being well taken care of at home.

The "kids" head to check out the multiple pools at the resort

Set afloat

We did lots of swimming and playing outside when it wasn't too hot. I think we averaged 100 degrees every day while we were there. We had ping pong tournaments, played chess, and scouted out all the different pools and playareas at the resort. I really liked playing in the water and even managed to get into the pool fully clothed once 'cause I'm fast. Mommy was just glad she made good use of all my bathing suits and hats!

Po-Po was excited to take me swimming

Splash area! How fun!

I managed to get into the pool with my clothes on. I'm fast; hehe.

Water, water everywhere!

Our one big group adventure was the Phoenix Zoo. It was my first time to a zoo, and the Phoenix one is great beceause it's known as a great zoo for kids, and I really liked it there. Having learned lots of animal noises, I got to show lots of them off while we walked around. I still wasn't a big fan of the part where you get up close and personal to pet the goats, but I did like making monkey noises and waving to the animals in their cages. We were supposed to go to the Botanical Garden afterwards since it's right next door, but it was SOOOOOO hot that we ended up taking a shortcut to bypass about 1/3 of the zoo and headed to lunch instead. My first gyro! Yum.

If this is my reaction to the turtle, how do you think I felt about the goats?

Uh, yup

Old MacDonald had a farm

Not sure why they call them "little" people. They don't look so little to me!
Here I am signing our family's version of "hat".

My first churro makes my first zoo visit complete

One day we all split up and did different things. Da-Jiu and Melissa took Po-Po and Gong-Gong to Talisen West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter house. Po-Po's gears started turning in her head as she toured the famous architect's property. While they were there, Xiao-Jiu and Auntie Crystal went shopping and on a date, and Mommy and Daddy took me to a childens' museum! The museum was SOOO much fun, even for a little kid like me. At first, we were dubious on why a 1-year-old had to pay $9 for admittance, but we quickly figured out that even a 1-year-old like me could have a blast. There were tubes to crawl in, science experiments to play with, noodles to run through, playareas to pretend, cars to ride ... it was great! The only downside was that the camera battery ran out about 5 minutes into the excursion, and the disposable just didn't do it justice.

Daddy plays peek-a-boo (the last picture before the battery ran out)

Okay, these tubes may be the coolest thing ever!

Okay, maybe not a future career since I don't want to actually
GIVE her the food she's buying

This one's for Auntie Crystal. What do you think? Do I have potential?

Like many recent get-togethers, we all took turns making meals. I ate lots of food and even got to try new things(meatloaf is yummy!), but I think my favorite discovery is Lucky Charms cereal ... well, the marshmallows, anyways. I like giving the other pieces to everyone else to eat.

Sitting down for yet another feast

Whoa, look at all this food!

I am SO eating this whole thing myself

Fine, I'll give this a try

What? A girl's gotta eat!

Probably the only downpart of the trip was when I turned into an alligator. We're not quite sure whether it was a heat rash, reaction to all that chlorine, or an allergy to my suntan lotion (I wore a lot of it that week), but I turned all itchy and scaly. Whoops. But a couple of days at home, and I'm already pretty much all better. Oh, and then there were the bumps and bruises (it's just so hard to contain all that excitement) and what Mommy calls "separation anxiety". Hmph.

Sometimes you just gotta take a break from it all.

Hopefully the hat will keep the sun away

Making some nice sand to eat (the first and hopefully last time)

There's no way that I could show off all the pictures from the trip in this one posting (remember, Gong-Gong WAS there plus Da-Jiu Zong got a new camera he had to try out) so you'll have to check out the rest of the pictures in the full photo album (coming soon -- hey, there's 1000 pictures to go through!).