Arizona!

 Once we made it to Arizona we saw a lot of cactus, even purple cactus.

But the main reason for our visit was to see these guys!  My big brother and his fun family.

We rented a house with a pool in their neighborhood so there was a lot of swimming.

 

And watermelon eating.

 My nephews play volleyball, so we did some of that, too.

 And then we swam some more.

My nephew C. is the king of the photo bomb.  What a punk.

 We occasionally took breaks from swimming to have treats...

 ...Like giant milkshakes...

...visiting the library and finding fun books...

 ...Going out for pizza at a wild restaurant (anyone visiting the Phoenix area must dine at Organ Stop Pizza)...

 ...and visiting a candy warehouse.  My brother is a great tour guide.  He took us to all sorts of fun and unusual places.  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of BoSa donuts.

 And of course there was more swimming.

 We even swam into the night.

When we got tired of swimming we watched movies, and the grown-ups played Candy Crush...

 We had slumber parties.  Lots of slumber parties.

...And played games.  Our favorite was one the kids called "Boo."  It's sort of like hide-and-seek in the dark.  Lots of laughs and screams with that one.  I think I even heard some zombies on the hunt for brains.

 We spent a few days at the local water park.

And ate more watermelon!