Our week in Arizona

Arne and I flew to Phoenix last Friday, May 27. Erik and the girls flew in a couple hours later and we had adjoining rooms at Phoenix Mesa Marriott. This location was chosen because it was next to Mesa Convention Center where Lisa and Erik were putting on an education conference May 31 and June 1. As Arne said on our way home from Orlando, "It was a good trip." Time with all of our children and most of the grandchildren, priceless! We pray that in the future Lil E will be able to join us.

We spent lots of time by the pool as Kadin and Gracie still love to swim. A little too much time I'm afraid as all three kids were a little red Saturday night. (By Tuesday, the girls were VERY TAN!) Kadin complained of a tummy ache all afternoon so about 9 PM Arne & Erik went to Walgreens. While they were gone, Kadin vomited all over her bed. In my attempt to carry the duvet into the bathroom, for what purpose I'm not certain, it poured onto the floor making a bigger mess. A gal from the front desk helped me clean it up and then suggested we move to the rooms across the hall. We had to give up our view of the pool and while we could have moved back after the rug was shampooed and room aired out, the girls wanted to stay where we were. Probably a good idea as I noticed that window open for several days.

Kadin is getting so tall and at 10 1/2 can almost see the top of her mother's head. I went shopping with Erik and the girls one morning. Arne decided to stay at the hotel and use the Fitness Center, which I used every morning before the others were awake. We spent over two hours in the girls' favorite store, Justice. Usually high-priced clothing for kids and young adults but for Memorial Day they had 40% off and a clearance rack with another 40% off. Erik gently guided the girls to the clearance rack and they were able to find several outfits for starting school. Kadin picked out the navy and white sweater but otherwise pretty much tries on whatever Erik hands her while Gracie, the fashionista, assembles outfits, in this case four, and then goes to try them on. I bought them each a pair of sunglasses and another item.


Sunday night we went to Peter Piper Pizza where Aaron1 and Ted joined us. Ted is DD, developmentally disabled, and while he's 29, he behaves like a mature 9 year old. We kind of adopted him into our family years ago and he joined us for several holiday gatherings in Terravita. He, Kadin, Gracie and Taylor had a blast seeing who could win the most tickets. I believe it was Taylor. Back at the hotel, Erik was the entertainer, using one of Taylor's prizes as a prop...

Monday afternoon, Arne and I drove to north Scottsdale. We had a nice visit with friends, Trudy in the Boulders, Tim and Marilyn in Terravita. When we got back to Mesa, we went to Lisa's office where they were getting things lined up for the conference. Kadin and Gracie were good helpers.


On Tuesday, while their parents were busy with the conference, I took Taylor, Kadin and Gracie to Jump Street. Last year they spent almost two hours jumping on the trampolines. This year Taylor was only interested in the Dodge Ball pit so guess where the girls also spent their time. They did spend a few minutes in the foam pit. I tried to post a video but kept getting errors so you don't get to see the big foam cubes into which they jumped. :-(

Erik and the girls left early Wednesday morning. I missed sharing a room with them as our room seemed smaller and quieter. We went to the conference and joined in the lunch which was held outside. Aaron entertained.

Wednesday night, Lisa had a meeting, so Arne and I took Nick and both Aarons to the Brazillian restaurant in Scottsdale, Fogo de Chao, where Nick works as a server. Dinner includes your choice of 16 different meats, many varieties of beef. They have Gauchos who bring the meat and you can eat as much as you can hold. I had 2 lamb chops which were wonderfully seasoned and then several cuts of beef. I entered the "meat coma" as the server called it. I just couldn't eat another piece but did manage to eat dessert. Dinner is $50 plus drinks and dessert. $$$$$$ I figured it was going to be about $350 but when our bill came, we had only been charged for three salad bars and the boys' alcoholic drinks. Certainly pays to go with an employee and the best friend of the assistant manager, Aaron2. :-)

Thursday afternoon was our 4:30 flight back to Orlando. Lisa and Taylor took us to the airport and we stopped for lunch at Tempe Marketplace. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of Lisa that day as she looked more rested and beautiful than the previous days.

Our flight home was uneventful, landing at 11:30 PM. It took a while to get our luggage so was about 1:30 AM when we arrived home. I got to sleep at 2:30 and slept until 9:30! Today, I slept til 8:30. It's never taken me this long to adjust to the new time. I think getting in so late made a difference. Anyway, here we are, back in our cocoon known as The Villages. :-)