Visit with Gran'da -- Part 2

We had an EARLY flight out of here last Friday morning. But it was great because we still had the entire day once we got to Phoenix. We even got breakfast burritos on the way to my dad's house (since Carlos O'Brien's wasn't open yet--our traditional home-from-the-airport stop). But Brian didn't have to worry, because we went there for our mid-day meal. My dad and Yvonne have a pool so of course my girls were ready to get in. That is how we spent the rest of our evening and then called it an early night.

Here's VonVon with her two Bella's





On Saturday we took a drive up to Flagstaff. My dad and I both have a fascination of Route 66, but because of modern developments there isn't much of it left where we could get to in a day's drive (with two small children no less). So, we had lunch at the Galaxy diner on Route 66. Brian drove on the motorcycle with my dad. He loves this picture because he thinks he looks like the guys on Chips.





Then we made our way toward Sunset Crater. It was incredible learning about the volcano and seeing how it still affects the land today. We stopped by the visitor center and Olivia finished the task to be sworn in as a Junior Officer.


There was two incredible parts to the trip to the crater though...
1. The ancient ruins. My kids really liked this part.






2. Seeing the Painted Desert. I was blown away by the size of that thing...and we only saw it from a distance! As the sun set, it was shining across the desert and it was amazing! (even though it was a partly cloudy day and we didn't get to see it as colorful as it normally is)





On Sunday, we went to church with VonVon and once again saw 'the other' Isabella and her sister Sienna (Daniel and Elena's daughters). My girls love them! We had lunch at Papadeaux and then Brian and I got a FANTASTIC gift... Are you ready for this?

THEY WATCHED THE KIDS WHILE WE WENT TO IKEA----ALONE!!! HA!

I am in LOVE with Ikea! We had such a blast and seriously, if we had lived closer, I would have bought a TON more!

On Monday, Brian and my dad golfed while I met up with an old friend from high school, Tammy. We went to her house for lunch while our girls played. It was so nice to see her again. Then, she and her husband, Ian (also from my old youth group), and daughter, Faith, came over to my dad's house for a cook out. There were several people there (Yvonne's family is very large)...and at one time there were 4 2 year olds! And get this part...3 of them were named Isabella! Here is a cute picture of the 3 Isabella's (my Bella, Daniel and Elena's Bella, and Yvonne's niece's Iza). Aren't they cute?



Well, of course, the evening couldn't end without a dip in the pool and ice cream cones! Yum!



(Here's my Bella swimming with floaties...finally. Isn't peer pressure great?)



Tuesday we went to Arizona Mills Mall and found some great deals (I LOVE a bargain!). The girls also rode on the carousel and for once, they BOTH loved it!



Then that evening we went to Pipe Organ Pizza in Mesa. I had been there once when I was in junior high and was excited about going again (especially with my family). Yvonne came with Elena and the two girls as well. We sat on the upper floor which was nice because it was basically empty for almost an hour and our girls could dance and play.





We almost didn't go to bed that night. Our alarm was set for 2 am to get ready for our trip home...yes, you heard me, TWO A.M.!! I was up at 1:30 waiting on the alarm to go off. But we made it, safe and sound... We all took a 4 hour nap that afternoon in our own beds.

Thanks for the trip, we had so much fun!