Tuscon for Thanksgiving

We had decided a year ago while everyone was in Portland for Thanksgiving that this year we'd gather in Tucson for Thanksgiving. Well, life happens. Derek and Shelby moved to the other side of the country and couldn't afford to come back so soon. Sherlyn got a new job and couldn't get away so soon. So it ended up just being us and Chad's family in Tucson but it was still a great holiday.

We flew in Tuesday mid morning and stopped at the grocery store for some supplies before heading to Chad's house. We had already reserved a room at a bed and breakfast several months ago but just a few months ago Anney texted and said she'd learned that the house next door to them rented out through Home Away. Well! I contacted the owners, not really expecting them to have an opening over Thanksgiving, only to find out that they did. So I cancelled the other reservation (even though I felt rather bad for doing so) and paid a bit extra to have the convenience of staying right next door to family. The house is the same floor plan as Chad and Anney's, just reversed, and stocked with everything we needed. Finley especially loved running next door to see us.

Anney had an appointment so had asked me earlier if we'd be willing to tend the boys while she was gone. Sure! Of course, Ari didn't know us and I was a bit worried about that and he wasn't sure at first but having his big brother there helped.  It was fun to play with them. We've missed these boys something fierce! Chad came home from work

and we all had dinner together that night.

Wednesday Chad and Anney decided to go to an early matinee and lunch so we tended the boys again. We walked with them to a nearby park and played. Ari loved being pushed in the swing while Finley and Grandpa played in the sand. I left a little bit early with Ari and headed back to the house to order some pizza. I had planned on having it delivered but couldn't get through either on the phone or online so ended up leaving to get pizza once Doug and Finley got back. It took forever but it was good and Finley loves pizza so it was worth it. We went back over to the house to rest for a few hours in the afternoon. This anemia really slowed me down and I needed to rest daily.  That night we all went to the Screamery (artisan ice cream shop). We heard an owl hooting as we came back to the house and I was wakened at about 3AM by a pack of coyotes howling nearby. It was a rather eerie feeling. It feels like we're living in an episode of Wild America sometimes when we visit here as they're so close to protected desert lands with lots of critters.

Thursday morning dawned early and I started baking pies for Thanksgiving dinner. Anney had asked for pumpkin and apple. I'm not much of an apple pie maker but found a recipe that sounded good and made two of them and they turned out to be the hit.

Several months ago Finley had decided that we should all dress as ninjas for Thanksgiving dinner. What a funny kid! Well, I decided to go along with it and found ninja patterns online and made ninja costumes for Doug and I. I was the blue ninja "Jay" and Doug was the white ninja "Zane." These are patterned after Finley's favorite show Ninjago. I had some ninja "weapns" (cheap but cute plastic things) sent to their house and told Anney not to let Finley open the package. When everyone came over on Thursday morning while the pies were baking we let him open the package. He was so excited and immediately had to start telling everyone which weapon each ninja used.

We told them we'd be over to the house after we got ready. The absolute delight on Finley's face when he opened the door and saw us dressed in full ninja gear was worth every minute of frustration making those costumes. He could hardly contain his glee and immediately wanted to start "playing ninja."

Anney cooked a turkey breast and roasted a bunch of vegetables for dinner. Chad cut some exotic fruit and they had a yummy loaf of artisan bread. It was a nice meal and so fun to be together even though we missed the rest of the gang.  Finley cracked us up in the middle of the meal though when he exclaimed, "Hey, where's the corn? What kind of Thanksgiving dinner is this?"  We all laughed. He doesn't really even like corn but he had learned a song in preschool about Thanksgiving dinner and it talked about corn in it. What a kid!  Anney was worried that it wasn't a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal and I assured her beforehand that we didn't care what we ate; the important thing for us was to be together.

After dinner was cleaned up we gave toys to the boys that we had brought: Ninjago legos for Finley and some soft cars and trucks for Ari. We played with the boys for a while and then went back to the house to rest up a bit.  We then went for a walk with Finley and Chad while Ari and Anney were resting. Back to their house and played Sorry with Finley. He did a great job playing the game. He's sure matured and learned a lot since the last time we tried playing a game with him. He's getting so big and so smart. He's learning to read, to write and do simple math.  We were sitting there playing with him when we looked out the window and saw two javelinas run by. Wow! I'd seen them asleep in the distance when we went to the Desert museum last year but had never seen one up close. What ugly critters!  We went back to our place and read for a bit to allow the kids to get the boys to bed and then went back and played games with Chad and Anney.  A full, busy and really fun day!

Friday we woke up to rain. Lots of rain. We had heard a single coyote howling outside our window during the night. Finley came over and said they were going to put up their Christmas tree and wanted us to come over. So off we went. He was just a bit excited as only a 5 year old can be this time of year. By the time the tree was up and decorated the rain had stopped so we went for a walk. Finley liked to lead the way and we happily followed. We went out mid afternoon to get "ninja food" at a local oriental restaurant. I've never seen Finley eat so well. He really liked the orange chicken and egg roll. Spent the rest of the day relaxing, resting, playing, etc. We played games with Chad and Anney again after the kids went to bed.

Saturday morning, our last day. Anney had asked if I'd take some family pictures of them so we walked over to a desert area near their home and took several. I was pleased that quite a few of them turned out well. We followed them to the Rincon Valley farmer's market (we don't all fit in the same car with their two car seats) and had fun there. It's a bit early in the season for fresh produce but I found some Christmas cards and some pasta and then we bought some pastries. It was fun to look around. Chad bought some spicy salsa. We stopped at Five Guys for a quick burger before going back to the house to play/visit for a bit before it was time to leave for the airport. It gets harder to say goodbye every time. I knew we'd see them in just a few weeks but I still cried and had a hard time leaving. I sure love my family!!

10/1/19 - Day 7

Our last day which made me sad. We decided to make the most of it and spend as much time with our sweet girl as we could. Doug went over to the house to pick her up and I went to the lobby of the hotel to make some pancakes for her. I knew Derek would have already fed her but thought she might like some pancakes and I was right. She was so adorable sitting on the bed eating her pancakes.

We thought about different things but finally decided to take her to the zoo. It's a small zoo but really about the right size for a 2 year old. Unfortunately it was the hottest day of our trip and we just about melted with the high humidity. Thankfully there were quite a few trees.  Zoë wanted to give the otter a hug and enjoyed running around and looking at everything. We had a very marginal lunch there purchased from one of the stands but it Zoë was happy with the fruit and cheese so all was well.

We went back to the hotel to rest while Zoë had her nap and then headed back to the house to eat dinner with the kids. Shelby had made a yummy stew and some corn on the cob and it was fun to sit and talk. We went to a local custard place for some frozen custard which was great. Derek had wanted to go to the location on the Erie Canal but got hung up at school so we just went to one close to their house. We'll go back to the canal on another visit. I'd like to take a boat tour of it plus look around in some of the cute shops I saw.

We came back to the house and read a story with Zoë and then had family scripture time together. It was then time to tell our little princess goodbye since we were leaving on Wednesday and wouldn't see her again. Of course I was crying and she didn't know why but I knew that it would be several months before we saw her again. Thank heavens for technology and FaceTime but it still doesn't replace those sweet arms around my neck!

9/30/19 - Day 6

Monday morning we took Zoë to the park while Derek and Shelby went to work/school.  Shelby had already left very early for work and Derek usually has Zoë on Monday until she gets home from work. We told him we'd come pick her up so he could have some time to get some things done. Derek told us about a park not far from them and it was big and beautiful. We stopped and got some juice and snacks and had a fun time there. We stopped at a hole-in-the wall place for lunch before we took her back to the house to wait for Shelby.

After Shelby got home we headed back to the cottage for the final time. The crashing waves had just gotten to use and we couldn't take another sleepless night. So even though we had paid for two more days we checked out and checked into a hotel about 1.5 miles from the kids. We went back and gathered our things up and then moved into the hotel for the last two nights. It was an expensive place so didn't cost too terribly much but we were just done with both the noise and the long drive back and forth, especially at night when it was so dark.

Checked into the hotel and then rested for a while before going back to the house.  Doug and I wanted to see Eastman so Derek took us on a tour of the campus (well just buildings really in downtown Rochester). The buildings are old but classic and I loved the performing venue/theater. We also saw a Chihuly sculpture and I had to take a picture of it for Jenny Isenhour. That was in the newer part of the campus. It was fun to see where he spends his time.

We told the kids we'd take them out to dinner so we ended up at a Mediterranean place on the Erie Canal. It was a fun place and fun to look out on the canal and watch the boats go by, as well as rowing teams out practicing. Zoë loved sampling everyone's noodles!

Went back to the house for a quick round of Code Name then to the hotel for a nice, quiet night there.

9/29/19 - Day 5

It turns out that staying in a cottage  on the lake wasn't quite as awesome and romantic as I thought it would be.  Yes, the view was beautiful and I loved eating our breakfast in the fun little breakfast nook/sunroom while watching the lake. However, we soon discovered that a bit of wind could really change the character of the lake quickly and loud/crashing waves could make for a long sleepless night!

Church was early at 9:30 (well, that's early for me) and so we had to get moving in order to get there in time. We decided to just meet the kids there since it was about equidistant from our place. It took us about 25 minutes to get there and that's about how long it takes them to get there as well. The scenery was beautiful through beautiful farmland but I'm sure glad I don't have to travel that far to church each Sunday. We are truly blessed and spoiled to have our church practically next door to us in Utah!

After church we went back to the kids' place and had an awesome roast beef dinner that Shelby prepared. Derek peeled potatoes, Doug shucked corn, and I cleaned and prepared Brussels sprouts so we all helped out. The meal was wonderful and the company even better.  I really miss our Sunday family dinners so this was nice!

We all rested a bit after lunch while Zoë napped and then we packed a picnic dinner and headed to Letchworth State Park. It was about a 45 minute ride. The park was lovely with a beautiful waterfall. I'd love to have seen it with colorful fall weeks but we were a few weeks too early for that. It was still gorgeous though and fun to be with family.

Got back to the house and after Zoë went to bed we stayed for a short time to play a game with the kids.  Derek and Shelby have to get up so early and Doug and I were exhausted from the lack of sleep so we didn't stay long but it was fun to  talk and play.

9/28/19 - Day 4

We had a fun family day today. We started out by going to the YMCA that Shelby works at. What an amazing facility! It was the grand opening/open house so there were tons of people there getting tours. In my mind a YMCA was a small nondescript facility but this is an amazing and huge place with a swimming pool, kid's pool/play area, several gyms for basketball, pickleball, etc, lots of studios for yoga, exercise classes, an art/pottery studio, kitchen for cooking classes, large daycare facility, and then the huge gym upstairs. I was really quite flabbergasted by it and I'm glad we got to see it. It helps me to be able to picture my family in their home, work, etc when I'm missing everyone so much!

After that we headed to an orchard to pick some apples. It was the perfect day with mild temperatures. They had a large  play area that you had to pay to get into but there were other places for Zoë to run around so she didn't care. She loved putting her face through the cut-out backdrops. We got on the wagon pulled by a tractor and headed up to the apple orchard. We had to buy a bag and then you could pick as many apples as would fit in the bag. They turned out to be expensive apples but we were really paying for the experience; not just the apples. We picked Honeycrisp apples. They were big and delicious.

After riding back down we went inside to have a quick lunch. They have quite the setup there with a gift shop and then a lunch counter. Doug ordered some veggies with hummus and Zoë was more than happy to help grandpa with his dip!  I had a very interesting grilled cheese sandwich (  ) with sliced apples and apple butter on it. Very different and very good. Of course we had to try some fresh apple cider and some apple cider doughnuts as well! 

That night we shooed Derek and Shelby out the door to have a date night out. I had bought a box of mac and cheese and fixed that for Zoë which she gobbled up.  The kids didn't stay out too late but hopefully they enjoyed a chance to get away because we sure enjoyed the time with our little princess!