Poppy Visits Michigan

It was so great having Poppy in Michigan with us! Saturday was a day to readjust to the time difference and get settled back in. We all slept in late! That afternoon we took a walk in Kensington in the muggy Michigan heat. We all got pretty sweaty but we fed some fish and turtles, saw some cranes and even saw some wild turkeys so a good time was still had. 

Sunday was church day. Steven had some major coughing issues Saturday night and we thought Poppy would stay home with him but 10 minutes before we needed to leave, Steven decided he wanted to come so Poppy came too. And because my van hates church, it decided not to start when church was over. Once again, Tyler thought he had solved the problem but nope. That van refuses to be fixed and is the bane of my existence.

Monday afternoon we took Poppy raspberry and blueberry picking at Spicer's Orchard. The Brandley family joined us on our berry picking adventure. Despite the hot temperatures I think Poppy was in heaven because he does love his berries and he was definitely the expert on which ones were ready for the eating.

Not only did Penny want to hold the bucket but she wanted to devour all the raspberries that were in it!

Lucy adores Wesley, although she calls him "Lesley" due to her speech impediment. Today Steven and Lucy had this conversation:

Steven: What's your first name?

Lucy: 2! 

Steven: What's your middle name?

Lucy: Lucy!

Steven:What's your last name?

Lucy: Lesley!

Seriously Wesley is her favorite!

I think it's safe to say that Benny is a fan of Wesley as well:

Tuesday we went to the mall and got Lucy an overpriced haircut. They took an inch and half off and straightened her bangs but it looks pretty much the same to me- lesson learned. Then that evening we all went to Guernsey Dairy and had dinner and some ice cream. We are such a big group that we actually had to sit in 2 tables. Poppy sat with the boys at one and Tyler and I with the girls at the other. Lucy managed to poke herself in the eye with a straw. When we noticed how bad it looked the next day, Tyler got concerned. As I was consulting the all knowledgeable google about what to do, Steven got concerned and asked "If Lucy dies, you're going to have to make another kid." Nice to know that Steven finds her so replaceable.

Wednesday morning was spent at Target with Poppy spoiling his grandkids. Seriously- they are so spoiled! That evening we picked up some Subway and had dinner at Mills Pond.It was pouring down rain as we picked up food but thankfully the rain listened to me and stopped and did not come back! Mills Pond was such a pretty "beach" with clear water, pebbly sand and trees on one end. The kids had a blast playing in the water and I even got in for once. Poppy did not have a swimsuit though so he just watched us from the picnic table. The weather was good and so was the scenery so I think it was some nice R&R time for him.

Thursday we decided to go the Science Museum in Detroit. I was weary of going because our van has been giving us issues, especially when it has to sit outside in the heat for awhile. But the morning was cool and I decided we would take the chance. I'm glad we took the chance! The kids really love the Science Museum and I think Poppy found some of the exhibits interesting.

Thursday afternoon I went with Poppy and a few friends to the Farmer's Market. He got some muffins for Grandma but my friends were disappointed that Granny had not made any apple pie that week.It was a beautiful day and we all sat outside in my front yard socializing for a bit.

After a burger from The Burger Joint, we all stopped and got some ice cream from Main St. Apparently ice cream every night is a must when you are hanging out with Poppy ;)

And once again all our fun times came quickly to an end and Poppy had to go back to Arizona Friday morning. We were so sad to see him go. Though my kids may not always show it, I know they love him loads and miss him lots when they are apart. Lucy even woke up this morning asking where her Poppy was. We hope that Poppy will come back and visit soon!

Our Final Week

Sunday morning I took the boys to go meet little Lily Mae:

After our hospital visit, we went to church with my parents. Penny was super fussy and made it a pretty miserable Sunday for me but the rest of my kids did spectacular. Ben loved the teacher he had there and told me that she had just moved to my parent's ward. I asked Ben where she had moved from and he proclaimed, "I don't remember where which planet she moved here from!" That kid is too funny!

Sunday night we went to Tyler's parent's house to celebrate his mom's birthday. The party had a Kung Fu/Sumo Wrestling theme and of course since it was a Hatch Birthday Party, costumes had to be worn. Here is his mom with her BF Michelle:

Awkwardly blowing out the candles in her sumo suit:

After the cake, Tyler's mom and friend did some Kung Fu dancing and then the kids got to dance as well. Lucy really got into it!

After the dancing their was a pinata for the kids and surprisingly, no injuries! And here's Lucy swinging with her cousin Broden and her cousin Kyle:

On Monday Mecca was still in the hospital because of her blood pressure, so we took Oliver and my kids to the Sea Life Aquarium in Tempe. I had been missing sea animals and AAA gave us a pretty good discount so I thought we should give it a try. Though the kids rushed through (it wasn't super huge) I still think they enjoyed it- Lucy wasn't afraid of these fish like she was of the fish in the Bass Pro Shop. I don't think it would've been worth it if we had to pay full price for the tickets though...

Penny really wanted to get at those fish!

Treasure!

5 Crazies:

Tuesday I met Karen and her kids at the beach pool at the VVL Clubhouse. I miss that pool- it is so fun! I had a great time chatting with Karen and Steven loved being reunited with his buddy Colin, it was like no time had passed since they last saw each other. And Ben was once again having a blast in the pool- I guess he just had to gradually learn to love water again. When it came time to go, Steven left with Colin so they could have some more time together. I went back to my parent's house and me and my mom went to the Gilbert Temple to do an Endowment Session. That temple is so pretty and so much bigger than the Michigan one. It was nice to not feel so squished in a session.

After the session I picked Steven up. Aren't they just the cutest friends?:

Then my mom took me out for a (super early) birthday dinner at Arriba's- oh how I love and miss AZ Mexican food! We brought Penny along to give Poppy a break and the server mistook Penny for a boy so I quickly put on her hair bow. He then apologized and said his girl had the same problem so he pierced her ears. Ha ha! No ear piercing for my babies- way too much effort ;)

That evening I took the girls for a quick visit to Mecca's house so that they could meet little Lily. Lucy was immediately in love and wanted to hold and kiss Lily lots and lots: 

Penny was not enthused and got super jealous every time I tried to hold Lily- Trouble! 

After the kids went to bed I had one last hang out with Rebekka. We got Frosty's and strolled the Target Aisles. It was super fun! We talked about our dislike of the movie Frozen, we looked at ridiculous greeting cards and determined which ones were of worth and which ones stank, we talked about my children's obsession with Minecraft and we even discussed the merits of place mats ;) Always fun to hang out with someone that knows you're a dork and just doesn't care!

Wednesday we made another trip to Bounce U. This time Mike & Oliver came and Lucy came as well. At first Oliver and Lucy were not impressed and frankly too scared to go bouncing with the older kids. But after some time one of the bounce houses got a little less populated and Oliver and Lucy got brave and ended up having some good times:

Ben got brave this time and went on lots of the slides:

After we bounced our hearts out, we grabbed some lunch at Chick-Fil-A:

Wednesday night we met Tyler's family for dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids had fun playing games, chowing done on pizza and they even got to meet THE Chuck-E-Cheese-- such a creepy large mouse if you ask me but surprisingly Lucy was not scared of it in the least.Here's my kids with Tara's kids (Melissa had to leave early with her kids because Kyle decided to strip himself in the middle of the place):

Thursday we met Grandma Hatch for lunch at Oregano's. The pizza was super delicious- Steven had 4 slices! It was nice for the kids to get some one on one time with their Grams for once and I had a good chat with her.

Thursday afternoon I took all the kids over to Mike & Mecca's house for one last hurrah! I know we are a lot to take and we were pretty happy that they put up with us. We sure do love them!

And then like that, our trip was over and it was Friday and time to fly home. Poppy flew with me so I wouldn't have to fly alone with 4 kids. I am so grateful for that! Check in and security went really well (it pays to fly with an old guy ;)) and then we got to our gate and had to wait and wait and wait...Not only were we super early because everything went smoothly but our flight ended up leaving an hour late. By the time we got on the plane both girls were pretty irritable. Poppy managed to get Lucy to sleep which was awesome. I failed to get Penny to sleep which was not awesome. She was shrieking, crying, kicking, screaming- it was miserable. We still had an hour left and I was really close to a nervous breakdown when this sweet off duty flight attendant that was sitting next to Poppy offered to take her. I willingly gave Penny up and wouldn't you know that 5 minutes later this lady had Penny sleeping. That was such an answer to my prayers. I know I would have had a full out melt down if this lady hadn't got Penny to sleep. Albeit Penny only slept for like 20 minutes but it was enough to make the rest of the flight bearable. Needless to say, it's going to be a long time before I willingly get back in a plane with that girl!

3rd Week of Arizona Trip

Once we got back to my parent's house, I learned that my dad had a list of things he wanted to do with the kids while we were there. So on Monday (after dropping Tyler off at the airport to go back to Detroit) we got crack-a-lackin on that list and took the boys to Bounce U!

Monday afternoon my bestest friend Rebekka brought her daughter Grace over to my parent's house to play. She lives in Washington now but was visiting her parents in AZ too. It was so good to see her and to see her cute little girl who Steven refers to as "the little one." She also brought over her brother Parley (who has down syndrome) and who is now 18! Goodness! How'd he get so old!?

Tuesday we went to the "Minions" movie with all the kids (another check on Poppy's list). It was Lucy's first movie and she did great- sat through the whole thing! The movie itself was nothing spectacular but the kids enjoyed it. Later that afternoon I took the boys to a splash pad in Gilbert. There were no other kids there- just 2 random teenage girls who sat on one sprayer- so the boys pretty much had run of the place. They had a blast- I thought I was going to melt into the bench, so hot!

Wednesday morning my mom and I went and did initiatories at the Mesa Temple. It was so nice to be back in my first and favorite temple. 

Then we picked up the girls and took them to Einstein Bagels on a date. Only it was a pretty lame date for Lucy because apparently she is the only person in the world who will not eat Nutella on a bagel! She threw a royal fit so we thought why not go and buy her a dress. I mean a girl who is acting like a spoiled brat should be rewarded right!? I know, it was a dumb idea but we were planning on doing it and we must stick with our plans. After fighting about Penny being in a stroller and not her and fighting that she had to go buy the dress before wearing it and fighting about just anything...we bought the dress! And she loved it!

Thursday morning we went to the Eastmark Splash Pad with Mecca & Oliver. My kids were a bit whiny at times but fun times were still had:

Later that day we got some Frozen Yogurt and once again a certain little lady thew a tantrum, all because the frozen yogurt flavor was not up to her par. Don't let the smile in this picture fool you, she was indeed the tantrum thrower:

Thursday night I went with Rebekka and her bother Parley and her sister Fiona to see "Jurassic World" for the second time. It wasn't that I was dying to see it again, it was mostly just about spending more time with my buddy. During the movie, anytime a bad word was said Parley would mutter, "Don't say *insert bad word* Don't say it!" After the movie, we sat in the car and had a good long chat. Their car was parked next to the suburban I was borrowing and at one point it looked like someone was trying to break into the suburban. I about got out and stopped them  myself until it was pointed out that this person was just parked on the other side of the suburban and taking a smoke. I could've taken them!

Friday morning Steven and I went on a date to a food van, My Waffle Crush! It was outside of a Costco so we got to go enjoy its tastiness in their food court. Steven got one topped with Nutella (because he is a normal kid who likes Nutella) and ice cream:

I had one with some sort of special syrup, strawberries and whip cream. The waffles we got were delicious but almost TOO delicious! I felt like I had a sugar overdose when I was done eating mine! Definitely more of a dessert than a meal!

Around lunch time I met Tyler's siblings and kids at a pool. I left Lucy behind because of all the trouble she had been giving me lately. The rest of my kids had good time. Ben even got brave and started monkey crawling around the pool. The boys definitely love spending time with their cousins:

And because we just love to swim, we met Mike, Mecca and Oliver at a different pool that night. And it was there that Ben officially liked water again and was even braving the deep end (with Poppy or Mike holding him of course). When the fun was done, I had to document that we did indeed play there:

And as though my day wasn't exhausting enough I went and hung out with Rebekka once more. We got dinner at Chili's because she was craving it majorly but then she felt too nauseous to eat it (darn pregnancy problems). Afterwards we hung out at her parent's house. It was fun to revisit a place I spent so much time at as a teenager. Here's our super unattractive selfie I took:

Saturday we had plans to go visit the Phoenix Children's Museum with my family but Mecca decided to have her baby instead. Thankfully this delivery went much better for her and she got a super cute little girl named Lillian Mae out of it ;)