arizona trip, part 2

The next day we went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. When you walk in there is a giant climbing structure that's kind of like a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse made out of industrial materials.

Brooklyn loved it. Laura was nice to tag along since Austin's not a big fan of heights. :)

There was a system of pneumatic tubes that you could put little cloths into and watch them go through and shoot out somewhere else. Brooklyn thought that was pretty great too.

She thought about everything was great. Like this big xylophone she played with Grandpa.

She was definitely spoiled to have Grandma and Grandpa all to herself. (Though that's not to say we wouldn't have loved to have other cousins there too -- we would have!)

She loved the play kitchens (surprise) and made quite the pizza (more pizza to come).

She also made some kind of soup.

But her favorite part was the play ice cream stand. She could have played there for hours and hours...

...and was kinda bummed when that wasn't an option.

But we found other things to keep her busy...

...like a giant water noodle forest...

...and a flower garden. She had a great time.

Afterwards we went across the street to a place called Pizzeria Bianco, which Grandpa had heard had some of the best pizza in Arizona.

And it was good. So good in fact, that we couldn't resist digging in before snapping some photos.

As far as thin-crust pizzas go, we had to agree with the reviews -- it was really quite good. But...

...Grandma said she likes Austin and Laura pizza better, so we couldn't resist the challenge and made ours the next night. We did a BBQ chicken pizza that turned out great...

....and a four-cheese pepperoni pizza that had a classic taste. Food critics would probably still side with Pizzeria Bianco, but we think we make a pretty mean pie ourselves. :D

The next morning Austin wanted to make breakfast for everyone and suggested orange juice might be nice to have. Hey...

...we know where to find oranges!

Egg, turkey, and pepper jack on sourdough with hash browns and BBQ sauce... topped off with freshly squeezed orange juice. Not a bad way to start the day.

We went to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. It was the first time for all of us and we weren't sure what to expect. We were pretty impressed. Of course Austin loved to see the guitars -- from simple vintage Martin acoustics...

...to crazy electrics from the 60s and much much more.

One of our favorite exhibits was a room that was full of old music players. They were essentially giant vintage self-playing bands in juke boxes. (If you've ever wondered what the word 'Nickelodeon' means, you can find out here.)

Some were very ornate...

...and others were more simple. It was pretty fun.

They had a hands-on room geared towards kids where they could try some different musical instruments.

Brooklyn and Grandma had fun with this xylophone type instrument.

70s and sunny. Or, in this case, moony?

Clear skies, warm weather, beautiful sunset, and a cactus. Arizona summed up nicely in one photo (from a moving car, no less).

And no trip to Arizona is complete without going to...

Chino Bandido! It's our favorite.

We had a great time visiting Austin's parents. We were lucky that they didn't have many missionary meetings the week we were there, and they were able to spoil us with so much time and attention and fun activities. We are so lucky they were assigned to serve somewhere close enough to visit so often! 

Now it's their turn to come visit us when they finish their mission this summer :)