More family in town!

We were thrilled to have lots of Will's family come down this past month to visit us! Just 2 weeks after his dad and grandma came (see last post), we got to host his mom, sister, and our cute niece and nephew. Sadie was in cousin heaven! Her and Charlie were born only 3 weeks apart and Sadie has always had a special bond with him and Clara. We enjoyed lots of meals out, a Cubs game (which of course fell during nap time.. but we made the most of it!), bike rides, a trip to the train park, boutique shopping for me and Chelsea, birthday celebrating, a night swim, walking the Mesa temple grounds, and soaking up lots of sunshine! We sure love this bunch and it was an amazing weekend together!

Dinner at Tia Rosa's

Sadie... LOL

 Sugared the kids up with cotton candy in hopes they could make it through a couple more innings

 Love how much these two twin it in their A&A dresses

 Birthday breakfast thanks to Will :)

 Mountain biking date to start off the birthday festivities 

 

We came back home to find this beautiful display and a cake baking in the oven. Thanks Liz!

 Will and his mom took the kids out to the McCormick-Stillman Train Park in Scottsdale while me and Chelsea went to Phoenix Flea to shop. That park is so much fun with multiple playgrounds, a carousel, and an open train you can ride around the park. The kids clearly spent all of their energy there as you can see below...

 Dance party at Cafe Zupas

 Sleepy heads

 Matching girls once again :)

On our last morning together, we did a little hike up "A" Mountain in Tempe then walked down to Snooze for a yummy breakfast. It was a perfect ending to a fun weekend together!

Papa & Gigi

 Will's dad and grandma came down for a visit this weekend and helped us set up a guest bedroom so they could stay with us. It was so nice being able to catch up even more in our down time between activities and Will's work. We enjoyed eating at a few of our favorite restaurants, riding bikes, and doing some sightseeing around town. Sadie tends to take some warming up to most people -yes, even family.. since we don't get to see Will's very often :(  -but she loved showing off her favorite toys and getting extra love and attention. She will be talking about their visit for weeks I'm sure!

 Thanks for the jammies, Nana!

4 generations of Betenson's :)

Disney on Ice

 A few months ago, I bought us tickets to Disney on Ice for last weekend. I've been SO excited to see Sadie's reaction to it, since she didn't really understand what I was talking about each time I explained it. She got to wear her Anna dress and was hooked the second we stepped into the arena. Her daddy made sure she was set on snacks and got to pick out a souvenir wand. It was such a great time and the show was phenomenal! The skaters were SO talented and ever since then, Sadie has not stopped singing "Let It Go". Here are a few photos I snapped of the night:

  Taken from my IG story.. I just love her excited face!

 Afterwards, we asked Sadie what her favorite part was, and she said "Mater and Lightning McQueen". She's the perfect mix of tomboy and girly girl. We can't wait to take her again maybe next year!

Oceanside (flashback)

I found this post in my drafts from 4 months ago and am bummed I never finished posting it sooner, because this was one of the most fun trips we've taken with Sadie! The beach is a favorite vacation spot of ours and this time we met up with friends and played, ate, and relaxed the whole long weekend. Our hotel and pool had a view of Oceanside Pier and the whole ocean. It was breathtaking! We're so happy to live just several hours from the beach and to be able to take our family often. 

OdySea Aquarium

We finally went to check out the giant, new OdySea aquarium in Scottsdale and it was AWESOME! Sadie kept asking to see "Nemo, Marlin, and Dory" from the moment we got there. We found them but we also loved seeing the penguins, sea otters, and other fish along the way. It was really fun riding the carousel aquarium too where we sat down in a theatre and the chairs rotated around to different exhibits and got to see sea lions, sharks, sea turtles, and ask questions to an underwater scuba diver in the tank. It was like nothing I had ever seen before! There was so many hands-on activities and great big open views of all the fish. I speak for us all when I say, can't wait to go back!

"Dizzy-land!!"

There's nothing better than seeing a big smile on your kid's face. A trip to Disneyland definitely did the trick for our cutie pie. We joined Will's family for the weekend and enjoyed time at the park and the beach together. The park was crazy packed but we still got to see and do (and EAT) so much. The fall decor was really cool and Sadie loved getting to trick or treat in the park. She scored lots of yummy treats ;)

 I didn't want to wait in line all day for a picture with the giant Mickey pumpkin, so we just made do with photo-bombers in the background. 

I was so happy my shirt came in time for our trip! This statement couldn't be any more true. 

 Oh, hey Kobe!

 

 Sadie loved spending time with her cousins Clara and Charlie. They all look nervous here with Jasmine.. haha.
 

 

 We were waiting in line to see Woody, then Jessie came to take his place and Sadie got so excited! (She likes Jessie the most.) Of course by the time it was our turn for a pic, she was being shy. Mommy didn't mind joining for the pic :)

They spooked out the castle at night time and let the Disney villains loose.

Don't let her tired face deceive you.. she LOVED the "Buzz ride".

An exhausting night 

I was shocked at how well Sadie did waiting in the lines. She kept busy swinging on ropes and collecting rocks in the meantime and hardly threw any fits. That's my girl!

 We had a hard time getting her to narrow it down to just one jewelry box.. She picked Rapunzel :)

Her "puppy" comes basically everywhere with her. Why should Disneyland rides be any different? :)