Trip to Hell, I mean Arizona, and Back Again

Well made it through another trip to Arizona and had fun, excitement, drama, adventure, frustration and all the other emotions of the rainbow. You name it we had it packed into four short days – lol

Friday

Had to be up to Philly by 3am - Theresa did not mind she sleep in her car seat - well she did mind that all of the places we stopped to get a snack/breakfast were actually closed - at least we beat the rush traffic.

Whew checked three pieces of luggage filled with crap for my sisters and nephews/nieces plus two carry-ons - I thought the march from the parking garage to the check in would never end - plus stupid signs say Delta is in terminal D noooooooooooooo Delta check in is in E - crap sign makers, you come over here and wrangle 5 pieces of luggage and a 5 year old (although for being 5 and excited Theresa was very very good I must admit - I ran around more than she did - :-P ) through two terminals....

Flights were not bad - transfer in Atlanta went well and then got into Phoenix around 10 something. Met two sisters (and 6 kids) so packed our flock (or whatever you call a group of Carltons - lol) into a mini van and first visited with a friend of mine who was in Phoenix to see her parents - oh we had fun at that McDonalds - of course it is the restaurant fault for having no playground - so of course the kids bounced off the ceiling - lol

Then we hit an outlet mall as we headed back towards Tucson - that was pretty cool found this movie I had been wanting to see - the Incredible True Story of Two Girls in love - now just gotta watch it - hehe - but hey I got it - wah and hoo - also got matching Madagascar sandals for the three girls - gah and phooey matching things for the kids whew

Also got to stop at every bathroom in the mall - I MEAN EVERYONE - between all the kids and my small bladder (and the fact I am always drinking tea - go ice tea - haha)

Picked up a mood ring at the rainforest Cafe in the mall - had lost another ring early in the week and was waiting for all the kids to go through the gift shop and saw them and decided what the hey. It is silly but I like it :)

Then headed to Tucson and met up with the third sister for dinner at a buffet place. Let's see that would be dinner for 5 adults (well 4 adults and me - hehe) and 10 kids. Funny thing - people kept coming to sit by us and then moving - hmmm wonder why ;-D

Saturday

Up early and headed to the Historical Society or Cowboy Museum as Theresa calls it. We managed to make it through the museum with out breaking anything or being thrown out - although it was a challenge to see who would break first the kids or us... and we still trying to figure out how Chris - the three year old ended up behind the ropes and in the stagecoach when no one was looking.

I have awesome pictures from the trip and will put them up on the web - let me kow if you want link to them.

After that we split up - some sisters had birthday parties and such so we did some shopping for the party we were planning for Sunday and then kinda chilled for a few hours.

Went to a Krispy Kreme donut shop for the first time. They were making regular glazed – oh all that icing, grease and the like – but whew wheee they were good…. Arteries hardening as I speak, adding poundage to my body (which needs to lose about 15 pounds not gain any – 15 pounds – I can do it, I can do it – I will do it I have a reason and motivation now – so will do it….)

Then we hit Pinnacle peak also called Cowboy town by Theresa – it is a western themed mini park with a big steak house, shops, staged gunfights, a little train and the main area is like an old west town complete with wooden walkways.

We shopped a little (got this cool guitar thingy and some picture frames) and then watched the gunfight which was so corny I could not stop groaning, I mean the jokes were baaaaadddddddd real baaaaaaddddddddd. When the first time you see the sheriff is him coming out of the outhouse a large piece of toilet paper stuck in his pants… well it went downhill from there - lol

Then that night went to the Cactus Moon (see previous post) – I only had a little to drink and was the DD to take my sister home – I took her home to her boyfriend trying to help them patch things up – not sure how long that will last…..

Sunday

Picked up some party games and favors at the Dollar store and then headed to Peggy's for Theresa's birthday party. They have a small inflatable pool so the kids swam, ate and played games. It was pretty fun. I was silly a lot doing the games and stuff, like when we were making puppets and I was down on the floor surrounded by all the kids making puppets right along with them.

I am too silly and immature – some day I may grow up – lol

That night just kinda hung out and relaxed a little, sorta.

Monday

Two of my sisters drove us back up – we ate at the Cracker Barrel and I got these two t-shirts – one is Woodsy the Owl form the 70s saying Give a Hoot Don’t Pollute. The other is the tootsie pop owl saying How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop (I was joking I should cross out tootsie and put my name in there – ooo that'd be bad)

The nonstop flight was not bad – but got back like almost 10pm to Philly and then had long drive home – wheeeee and whewwwwww I needa vacation from my family trip

:-P