On Saturday, June 29th we flew to Arizona. We had a bit of a stressful time because the friend I had arranged to take us to the airport forgot to pick us up. I sent her a text, then called her, and then called her husband...About a half hour later, when we were in our car (another friend said she could take us if we went to her house) she called apologizing profusely and saying she was on her way. Lucky for us (or a tender mercy depending how you look at it) our flight got delayed by an hour (we got the text when we arrived at the airport) so everything worked out. We also had a tender mercy when checking in baggage. The line to check in for Delta was giant and a worker randomly picked people to go to the Delta Priority Line (which was super small) and we were picked- it was so nice. After checking in the baggage and going through security (where Tyler's backpack got searched because he had packed a big bottle of lotion) we had dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then waited for our late night flight. The flight itself went very smoothly but by the time we got to Arizona it was like 2am our time and we were pooped. Penny was the only one who slept on the flight and she had only slept for about a half hour. Needless to say, we all went to bed upon arrival at my parent's house.
On Sunday we went to church with my parents in the morning and then Mike and his family came over to my parent's house that afternoon. The kids all fought over who got to hold Matilda- they love babies.
On Monday we got to go to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Amigo's. It was just as good as I remembered and I am kicking myself for only going there once the entire month we were in Arizona. While there Lucy took a bite out of her chip and declared that she had a chip beard. She had to of course get a picture with her Poppy and his real beard.
I bought my brother and my husband the same shirt so I made sure they both wore it to the party. But then I was feeling left out so I wore a green shirt and joined the matching party. We are just the coolest.
On Tuesday we went to the Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. This is a community pool that's a lot of fun. It had 2 slides, a whirlpool, a mini lazy river, a splash area/playground for the littles and of course, a pool. The kids really had a lot of fun at the pool and I am really liking how independent they are all getting. Steven, Lucy and Ben are not super amazing swimmers but they are all good enough that they can stay floating. and safe And Penny always has her puddle jumper so she can paddle around no problem. It was nice to be in a pool (that actually wasn't freezing) and just watch the kidlings play.
On Wednesday we went to what used to be the $1 theater when I was a young thing, to what is now just the cheap theater. They have totally replaced all the chairs and now have recliners. It is still not a fancy theater (it doesn't look like it's ever been redecorated) but it does have nice seats which was a pleasant surprise. We saw the movie "Secret Life of Pets 2." The kids all seemed to enjoy it and it was entertaining enough but definitely nothing special.
That afternoon/evening Grams helped me bake my first ever banana cream pie. This was the trial run for Tyler's birthday, he had requested one instead of cake. Besides letting the pudding burn a bit on the bottom, it turned out pretty yummy and I was quite proud. I even made homemade whipping cream which is really good and super easy to make- why have I never made it by hand before!?
Thursday was the fourth of July. In the morning my brother's family came over and my mom made her traditional french toast. After breakfast Mike, Poppy and me went to go see "Men in Black 2" as an early birthday celebration for Poppy. It was a fun movie and I enjoyed it. That afternoon we had a BBQ with my family and then later in the day we went to go see the fireworks at Higley High School. We met Mike and 2 of his kids plus Logan's whole family at a church parking lot to watch them. We had some fun times when the sprinklers went on in the lawn next to us- grateful it was them first because then we knew we needed to get out of the grass. Also super fun when Logan's kid, Kyle, bit into his glow stick and then flung it around. When he flung it around, some of the stuff inside flew into his eye and he had an epic meltdown. His eye is fine thankfully. I know my kids are far from perfect but I struggle a bit with Logan's kids. I am easily annoyed by them.
The firework show itself was nothing spectacular and actually pretty short but our kids seemed to have a good time. An added bonus was that we saw several other firework shows on our drive home.
Friday was Poppy's birthday and he had wanted to take the kids swimming again that morning but the pool wasn't open so we went to a splash pad at Espee Park instead. It was not super impressive and the kids were getting really bored until I saw someone playing with a water bottle and decided that was a great idea. I gave each of my kids their water bottles and they filled them up and started to make "water pictures" on the hot ground. It was cheap entertainment and kept them there a little longer. Steven made a pretty cool smiley face in the bottom right picture.
After the splash pad the kids all ate lunch at my parent's house and then per Poppy's request, we went to DQ for ice cream. Poppy was determined to completely sugar up my kids while we there. Oftentimes he would offer them a popsicle after they had just eaten a treat.
That evening we went to Red Robin's for dinner and then had cake and ice cream to finish Poppy's birthday celebration.
Saturday morning we did pictures with my family. We did them at 7am and that was such a wise choice. It wasn't super hot so we weren't sweaty and red faced in them. After the pictures I had planned to hang out with my friend Rebekka who was only in town for the weekend while Tyler went to his cousin's wedding luncheon and reception with the boys. Plans went a little awry when my mom got something stuck in her throat.She could still breathe but it was very painful. While I took Tyler and the boys to an Olive Garden in Anthem where his cousin was having his luncheon, my mom went to the Emergency Room. After drinking some Coke and some patience, it went down and she was still nice enough to watch my girls so I could go hang out with my friend.
It was really fun to see Rebekka and 2 of her sisters (Fiona and Yamina) who were there visiting as well. We enjoyed a good chat, then took her brother Parley to Bookmans. He has regressed a lot since I last saw him, he's not talking at all now. He also kept trying to put things in the shopping basket that he wasn't allowed to buy. Still we had a good time. After Bookmans I joined her family for dinner at Cafe Rio. I really enjoyed catching up with her family. I am so glad that she was able to be in town while I was there so we could get together. We had lots of good talks about kids and parenting in this modern world.
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