Family Visit Run-Through

Last week, I was lucky enough to have my mom & 2 brothers come out for a visit. It seems like so long ago already, so I wanted to run through what I've been busy doing before I forget.

DAY #1 - They came in a little after 6:00 PM. We came back to our house, got some ice cream (Cold Stone of course), and rented some movies. Everyone was pretty tired, so it was an early night.

DAY #2 - We headed over to Dan's parents to swim in the pool. Alex & I did a lot of swimming. Helena got in the pool for a while and LOVED it! Dan's mom cooked out for us, and we all ate poolside. That night, I took my family to Tempe and walked around. We all got more ice cream (Cold Stone again).

DAY #3 - This day was real laid-back. We all went to the bowling alley. We played 3 games and then played som pool. I liked it because it felt so casual. Like my family is always around and this is just one of the things we do together. I had a really great time. After that, we went to have a Mexican dinner at Macayo's. My mom & I had one too many margaritas... it was funny!

DAY #4 - Saturday morning, my mom, Alex and I took Helena to the Easter Eggstravaganza at Surprise Stadium. We missed the hunt for kids 2 and under, but it was still nice to roam around the stadium. Helena laughed at some clowns, we had her picture taken with the Easter bunny, and she rode the Merry-Go-Round. It was nice to get outside so early before it got too hot. The rest of the day we pretty much hung out around the house. At about 5:00, we packed up some sloppy joes and headed over to the park. We played some basketball, hit a few golf balls, and threw the football around. It was a lot of fun. That night, Dan, the boys & I headed to the White Tank mountains to do some scorpion hunting. Dan had bought some black light keychains. Boy, do those suckers show up bright green under that light. It was so neat. Alex and I were a little scared out there because it was so dark. But the deal was sealed for me when Chris and I wandered a little off the path and almost stepped on a 4ft. long snake. It was so scary! I was stuck on the path after that.

DAY #5 - You can see the pictures from Easter day below. We hunted for our baskets and ate some candy. Then we took the sidewalk chalk that the bunny got us and drew on my front walk. Those pictures still grace the ground. (Not like rain will ever wash them away in AZ!) After that, we headed back to the pool and swam for hours. We headed over to Papago Park and watched the sunset from the hole-in-the-rock. It was beautiful. We all had a steak dinner (except for Alex who ate mashed potato dogs) and it was time to go to the airport.

It was hard to see such a good time end. I only hope another week comes along soon where I do so much and have so much fun. I miss you guys and I can't wait to see you again.