Spring Break in Mesa!

(This is embarrassingly long!!)

 Monday
We left around 10am, Monday morning to spend the week in Mesa. It was spring break and Collin's birthday and I thought Shelley would be having her baby, so those all seemed good enough reasons to come visit!

We stopped in Gallup to look at a house and see Megan and her girls. Just so happened she was having a birthday luncheon for Brynn that very day, and we got there right when that was starting. It was fun meeting some of Megan's friends and it turned out to be the perfect break to our road trip. She was so nice to let us join the party! The boys played, we all ate, and by the time we got back in the car, they both conked out for 2 hours. Score! 

That gave me time to put in the ol' headphones and finish a book I've been dragging out for months, The Code Talkers. 

They woke up in the Heber area and that's when I realized I had a problem. I had left Farmington in a hurry, not wanting to stop for gas. I had 3/4 a tank and it only ever takes me that much to get to Mesa, so I thought I was golden until Payson, for sure. Not so much. About 33 miles outside of Payson, the gas light went. My jaw about dropped. I started watching for gas stations. Not a single one. As the miles ticked away, I realized I might literally run out of gas on the highway, with two little boys. How could this happen?! Luckily, I had just gotten my AAA card in the mail, the day before we left, but no one wants to have to use that! About 5 miles out of Star Valley, I told the boys we needed to say a prayer. I knew it would be a miracle if we made it. Every time I pushed on the gas pedal, I breathed a sigh of relief that the speedometer went up. And I kept waiting for the moment that our speed would gradually decrease, no matter how hard I pushed on the gas. I kid you not, I think I held my breath for 30 sec. at a time, for at least 10 min. The very second I started to see buildings in Star Valley I shouted for joy! I probably did a happy dance in my seat too. Collin thought it meant we were in Mesa. Nope, we were at a gas station! I know it was a serious blessing from Heavenly Father that we made it. And right when we pulled into the station, we said a prayer of thanks. I have never been so thankful! 

Then we stopped again in Payson for just a few minutes to let the boys stretch their legs, get a snack out of the cooler and water a bush. We were on the home stretch! 

I don't think this pic was actually from Monday, but you get the idea of what I was looking back on. :) Just add a lot more wrappers on the floor and about a dozen Dum Dum sucker sticks.

I called Shelley when we got close to entice her over to Mom's house so the boys could see their cousins. She called in an order to LuLu's and I picked it up for us all to share. LuLu's burritos are da bomb. I can't find just a good, bean and cheese burrito in Farmington. Doesn't sound like a tall order, but it is. The boys had a ball and Shells and Casey and I got to chat. We were staying with Trav's family this time, so finally around 9pm we had to say goodbye. We talked with "Grandma and Grandpa dogs" for a bit (Because they have 2 dogs. My parents are Grandma and Grandpa cat :/ )and finally hit the hay close to 10:30pm. These boys have late bedtimes while on vacation!

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, I dropped the boys off at my mom's house so I could go to my appointment with Harriet. I've never really spent time in a health food store, and she was running behind, so I had about 1/2 hour to read about Estrogen dominance and soak in that funky smell that permeates such a business. 

I had been "warned" about what this appointment would be like, but it still didn't fully prepare me. First, she held my feet in her hands and pressed on different spots, asking whether it hurt or not. Then, she held my hand in hers, with my thumb and middle finger touching and asked me questions. As an example, if the question was, "Are grapes good for your body?", she would then try to pull my fingers apart and if they separated, the answer was yes. If they didn't the answer was no. My fingers came apart. If the question was, "Is gasoline good for your body", my fingers would not separate. So that's the idea, but obviously those weren't the real questions she'd ask me. The real questions were about the different organs/systems in my body and if they needed help and if so, what would help them.

She prefaced by saying that she was asking my spirit all these questions. My spirit knows my body better than anyone else, except Heavenly Father. It won't lie. I'll admit, this was all really hard to swallow. In fact, I don't know if I really bought into it. I wanted to, but it was just so against the grain for me. What I think I did, was just trust that so many before me had seen her and it had worked for them. Nothing else had worked for me, so why not give it a try?

In the end, my "diagnosis" was that my spleen was only producing at 6%, my adrenals weren't working hardly at all and my kidneys and thyroid needed help. Oh, and I was deplete of calcium. So now I am taking calcium, burdock, dandelion and peppermint oil. She seemed really surprised that my body needed peppermint oil. I guess she never usually recommends it. The promise was that my blood was not good, and this would make it better. I would have more energy, less cravings, mood swing, etc. I was just really surprised that nothing showed up for my intestines. When I asked her, she redid the appropriate questions, but the results were the same. She did say I had colitis, but that it might resolve just by taking care of the other problems. She also said she might have tried to manipulate my colon, but I was pregnant, so that would have to wait until after baby was born. I really hope this works. We shall see!!

When I got back to my mom's, the boys were playing on the driveway, so we just started talking, when a car we didnt' recognize pulled up. Lo and behold, Steve and Beckah stepped out! I guess he was here visiting, but his plane was leaving in a couple of hours. Beckah is my cousin and Steve is more like our adopted brother. It totally surprised us when they started dating, but it's also so exciting. Steve might actually become a "real" member of the family, haha! It was so fun to visit with them. Then, Grandma and Grandpa stopped in to pick up Craig and Ben for their special day out to celebrate their 12th birthdays. Suddenly, it was a party! :)

After that, it was about time for Weston's nap, so my mom offered to be home while he did that so I could run errands with Mr. Collin. It was kind of weird just having Collin with me! Usually, it's either just Weston or both of them, but not just Collin. I was glad to have some one on one time with him. First we hit up Jamba Juice.... YUM. Then grabbed a hot dog and hamburger at Freddy's before making the drive out to Tempe to go to IKEA. I was in the mood to browse. 

I got a couple kitchen things and toys for the boys, but nothing major. It was more just fun to look. 

That night, the Evans' planned a birthday get-together for Trevor and Collin. 

I was not expecting everyone to get him gifts! Boy did he luck out! It was a Spiderman kind of year and he loved it.

We bought Transformer cupcakes to share and Grandpa even had a 4 candle to light up. Cousin Neil has always shown a special interest in Collin and is his little buddy. Even after we got to Grandma's, Collin looked around and asked, "When do the boys get here?!" There are quite a few girlies on that side of the family. 

Wednesday

The big day was finally here! Collin was officially 4. And oh, how he had been looking forward to being one year older. We started the day bright and early and picked up Aunt Marcie to accompany us on the day's activities. 

First stop was Midwestern Meats to get some donuts... or 2 dozen. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. These are DEE BEST donuts. Mmmm, I want another one just looking at this picture!

OK, side story. I ran in to buy the donuts while Marcie stayed in the car with the boys. When I got back, Marcie was giggling and shared what Collin had just said. I guess she was dancing with them and teaching them the "Sprinkler" and "Shopping cart" moves, etc. Well then Collin announced, "And the 'Honk the Horn!' Obviously, Marcie had never heard of this particular move, so she asked him, "What's that?" And he gleefully responded, "Ya know, when Mom gets mad at the bad drivers, and she HONKS THE HORN!" .... simultaneously pumping his hand forward like he's honking the car horn. Duh Marcie, how did you not know that one?! :) I'm such a good role model.

More presents! Seriously, he's lucky his cousins were so thoughtful, cuz his parents weren't! 

So, we had started our day of fun off right... tanked on donuts. Next stop, Jump Street!

Jump Street is basically a indoor trampoline place for kids. They had a separate tramp area for kids under 7, but I think it was still a little too much bouncing for Weston. He wanted nothing to do with getting jostled around for the first hour, then the second hour he really wanted to jump, but spend every 30 sec., getting jumped to his knees... or face, and subsequently falling apart in tears. It didn't help that the place was crawling with kids... it being spring break and all. It was kind of traumatic, poor guy.

These 3, on the other hand, had a great time!

My only complaint... these dumb candy machines and the arcade in the front! Once Collin saw those, all he could think about was getting money to buy something or play a game. Grrrr! I seriously couldn't get him to stop asking for it. 

When it was time to leave, Grandma (who had come with Craig later) pulled out a handful of quarters and gave each of them two. Well, that was better than the past two hours spent jumping. Kids! 

On to the Chicky of the Fila!

People LOVE this place. I haven't caught the fever. But we figured they could eat then play again. Win win. Except that the line was out the door and it was insanely crowded. Those darn spring break kids! 

Yay for Grandma, because after that, she took Weston home with her for a nap and we took Craig with us to our next stop, The Mesa Museum for Youth. 

This place was great! There were dozens of art projects and everything was hands on. They played and played until it closed at 4pm. Good choice!

All suited up to go in the "storm center" room. We thought there would be real wind or something. Nope, just pretend lightening and a picture of a tornado. Oh well!

Last stop was to get Thrifty ice cream. Kind of a disaster. It started with me having to slam on my brakes in the parking lot, when apparently Collin had just undone his seat belt. So he went smashing into the seat in front of him and hurt his face. Meltdown ensued.

Then we walk in right behind the lady with 7 kids all wanting snow cones of varying flavors and combinations. So we wait 15 min. That leads Lane and Collin to deciding they want snow cones instead too. Collin can't seem to get the hang of getting a spoonful of snow cone without dumping equal amounts on the table. Then Lane tipped his over, spilling purple slush all over the table and floor. I think I walked back and forth to the napkin dispenser at least a dozen times. Then Lane has to pee and can't hold it. Marcie had him go in the parking lot. We needed to get outta that place, haha!

Dropping the boys off, led to pulling out all the fun bikes, etc. from the garage and playing just a little bit longer. But we were feeling a bit peckish. We had a dozen donuts in the car left that I was sure would be a melted mess by now, but they weren't! So we all had round 2 at 5pm. Oh what a day! :)

When dropping Marcie off, my mom said she was headed to Tia Roses at the end of her errands. How could I resist? So we stuck around and I got the best beef taco and bean burrito with green salsa ever. It was seriously heaven. That place is Celestial.

I knew we would be needing to leave early the next morning for a hike, so we headed back to the Evans to get the boys in bed at a decent time. We were staying in the side apartment they have attached to their house, but there isn't a bath tub, just a shower. I know I could have taken them into the house to use a tub, but the shower worked fine. I would just stand them under the shower head and do their shampoo and soap, etc., rinse and it was over! Well, the day before, Collin decided he wanted to stay in longer and hold the removable shower head. He wanted to do that again tonight, so after getting him clean, I handed him the shower head and started to close the sliding glass door. I had slid it maybe two inches when I heard a loud cracking noise and watched as it suddenly shattered into a million pieces all over the place. I screamed and Collin screamed and then went completely hysterical. There was literally piles of broken glass everywhere. He was just barely out of my reach, so I threw down a towel to step on, but I could still feel the glass, so I jumped out of the bathroom, grabbed my flip flops and grabbed him out. I had cuts on my hand, but didn't see any on him. Weston of course wanted to come in, so I got them both in the house with me and down to the basement bathroom to rinse Collin off. He had bits of glass all over him, but amazingly, no cuts! It really has to be a miracle. My hand was the only part that glass fell on, and it was cut in several places. How it fell all over Collin and didn't cut him anywhere, is such a blessing! I must have been shaking for at least half an hour. It scared me so bad! Wayne and Paula were at the temple, but Carrie was over, so by the time I got Collin taken care of, I found her in the bathroom sweeping up some glass. Then she called Marcus to come over with his shop vac to do the rest in the shower. He must have been vacuuming over 1/2 hour. There was so much glass. This picture doesn't do it any justice. Plus, most had been swept up off the floor by then. What puzzles me, is how it happened! It was just the strangest thing. I guess Collin's birthday just needed to end with a bang! :)

Thursday

Well, with a late night the night before, the boys actually slept til almost 8am on Thursday. The one day I needed them up at their usual 6:30! We were meeting Jenni and her kids in the Superstitions to do a little hike on the Peralta trail. We needed to get going early because it was supposed to be a toasty day. Up to 90 degrees! As we pulled onto 24th St., I happened to be behind my mom, driving Jefferson to his appointment to get his wisdom teeth out. Oh boy, not jealous of that kid! We finally parked about 9:20am and of course Jenni was waiting for us.... even saving us a parking spot. It was crowded! I misjudged Weston's hiking abilities. He basically had to be carried. The mountain goats were off! But Ashlynn and Hailee were the sweetest of helpers and stayed back to help with my boys the entire time. We did maybe 3/4 of a mile... maybe. Then found an awesome spot to ditch the shoes and play in some water. We probably stayed there for an hour. It started with just getting feet wet, but soon shirts were coming off and kids were falling in and it was basically swimming time!

What a group! 7 kids and 2 Moms. I don't know how Jenni does it on a daily basis. Super mom for sure. 

Collin refused to wear shorts, so he suffered in pants. Crew refused to swallow his shrimp he didn't eat at dinner, so had for breakfast. And apparently I refused to believe my skin had changed since moving from AZ, because I forgot sunscreen and we all burned. Awesome. :)

Oh, but it was such a fun hike! I'm so glad Jenni agreed to meet me there! Collin begs and begs to go hiking, but hasn't been able to all winter. It was the perfect morning activity.

Driving home, Shelley and I decided to get the boys together to swim. So we swung by Sonic for drinks and corn dogs and Shelley provided the swim suits and towels for my boys. I thought it would be too cold to swim on this trip! Her neighborhood has a pool with a hot tub they keep heated, so the boys played and played and swam and swam for just under 3 hours. Shelley was the smart one and brought umbrellas for us or we would have just melted. Weston took a good nap in the car so I only had to worry about one drowning victim most of the time. I had to jump in 3 different times to save sputtering, drowning children. End score: Collin-2, Weston-1. And all three times, Shelley noticed them before I did. Good, good. How I wish my kids could take swim lessons from Carolyn! 

We went home to shower and get dressed, then met them at Backyard Tacos for dinner! I've been wanting to try this place for forever! I guess this family used to make them in their backyard, but they were so popular, the police finally shut them down. So now they have a legit location. I thought they were really good... and cheap to boot! My large horchata helped too. :) Can't wait to go back!  

Friday

Well, we had planned to drive home on Friday, but Shelley still hadn't had her baby. He due date was on Wednesday and she got her membranes stripped, so we really hoped if we stayed one extra day, we'd get to meet baby girl. 

So I took the boys to the Mesa Museum of Natural History in the morning. It's geared toward kids, so we had fun looking at all the dinosaurs, pretending to be in jail and panning for gold.

By the time we got to Ned's Krazy Sub for lunch, this little guy was pooped. We went at the worst time. It was soooo busy. Not a place to sit and we waited 1/2 hour just to get our subs. I was fairly grouchy!

Nothing like a good old Ned's sub and pickle to make you feel better though. (The Pepsi might have had something to do with it too. Seems like I can drink caffeine again without problems! Yay! Baby didn't care for it the first 3 months.)

Then, my saintly mother watched Collin while Weston napped so  Marcie and I could go a shoppin'! I've been in need of maternity clothes. I've never been pregnant in the summer and already, none of my shorts or capris fit. (Bet you wouldn't have guessed by all the eating I've already admitted to!) Plus my skin has been baaaaad this pregnancy. I feel like usually it gets better. But not even Proactive is helping. So our first stop was to Macy's to get a Clarisonic. I hope it does the trick! For the $$$, it better! Then Marcie introduced me to a new store called Q. It reminded me of The Closet in Cali. Tons of cute clothes and bigger sizes too. I spent most of my time in there. We finished up in Charlotte Russe and by then had been gone 3 hours! Time flies when you're spending your husband's money. :)

Back home, Marcie did the first step in coloring my hair. Then I rinsed, grabbed the boys and met Shelley and her family at the park to let the cousins play one last time. I may have also grabbed a spicy chicken salad from Pei Wei for dinner on the way. Ahhh, I love good food. The boys played and played until the sun was well past down. Cousins are the best. 

I hurried and bathed the dirty boys and got them in bed before heading back to my mom's so Marcie could finish my hair. I may have gotten us some Nielsen's custard too. We watched the season finale of The Bachelor on her lap top while she ratted and colored away. We were attempting the ombre.... or hombre as I thought it was spelled, haha. I had no idea it was such a process! We didn't finish until midnight. 

Sean picked Katherine. My jaw dropped. 

I never read any spoilers and stayed off Facebook for two days after the finale aired so I wouldn't see. I was sure he was going to pick Lindsey. I didn't care for either girl, but I still couldn't believe the ending! 

Saturday

I woke up and immediately checked my phone (as I've been doing for at least 10 days now.) No text. No baby. Darn the luck!

So I packed and cleaned up all our stuff and got the car ready. We had been meaning to visit Grandmother all week, so it was finally the time to do it. Driving through her neighborhood, I turned on my old street first and stopped in front of the house I grew up in, until I was 9. I told the boys that this was Mommy's old house when I was a little girl. Collin looked at it contemplatively then said, "I wanna meet those people. Can we knock on the door?" 

It surprised me. I thought it would be so interesting to do just that and see inside again. But instead I said, "Uhhhh, I don't know if that's such a good idea. I don't know those people, and it's kind of early in the morning." He begged a little more until I drove away. It's weird to see the house you grew up in and have such good memories in, look so worn down and shabby. My dad always kept a perfect lawn. In my mind, everything was new and looked nice. I always thought we lived in a cute house, in a safe neighborhood. I have almost idyllic memories here. Swimming in the cattle tank. Riding our bikes down to the school park. Walking to Grandmother's house. Everything is so different now. 

But Grandmother's house is largely the same. The boys played so well with her toys in the living room. Collin kept finding marbles out of place in a box and with each one he brought to Grandmother, she would just light up and sing his praises. I thought he would swell with pride until his buttons burst. She won his heart for sure.

Then we went into the backyard and the boys played on the toy set. I picked a kumquat just for old times sake and popped the whole thing in my mouth. We picked pecans off the ground and crushed them, picking the nuts out. I wished the blackberry bush was blooming. Some day I want a backyard like Grandmothers. Our family lived here for almost 3 years while they served a mission and after. It's another place of happy memories. It's just missing the square trampoline. :) We had the most fun with the Allens living behind us. Anjane and Melissa were our favorite playmates. It's almost enough to make you want to reverse time!

We visited and swung in the old wooden bench swing on the porch. I told Collin about the time that Aunt Shelley "broke" it while swinging one day and we teased her mercilessly because of it! We couldn't leave without Grandmother offering the boys a stack of shortbread cookies. I don't think they wanted to leave Grandmother's house. Who does?!

We spent a good hour and half there, then headed to my mom's to test out the pool water. Collin wanted to swim so badly. One toe in that water and we knew it wasn't happening. Too cold! So we ate some lunch then said our goodbyes. This time I made sure we left on a FULL gas tank and while talking to Travis on the Beeline, both boys fell asleep. Hallelujah! They slept 2 hours and woke up about 45 min. before we got to Holbrook. After I hung up with Trav, I used the next little bit to just sit in peace and think. It was really hard to leave Mesa. I almost had tears in my eyes. I didn't want to leave. It had been such a good trip. We stayed so busy and the boys were so good for me. I almost never felt stressed or overwhelmed. It was just so so fun. I also realized later, that I'm sure a large part of that was due to the fact that I never once cooked or cleaned the whole week! It truly was a vacation for me! I just hoped Travis didn't look at the bank account anytime soon, haha! It's a good thing he stayed home and worked. We definitely owed it to him for funding this trip! :)

OK, warning to all 3 of you that read this.... NEVER eat at the Taco Bell in Holbrook! Bleh!! My stomach turns just thinking about it. Dirty floors, dirty chairs and tables, unkempt employees, questionable characters walking in. I couldn't even eat what I ordered.  Collin had to go to the bathroom, but there was NO way I was going in there. It was bad enough that a girl went into the bathroom and Collin kept loudly asking why a boy went into the girls bathroom. She really did look like a boy, but in more ways than one. How do you explain that to a 4 year old? It was all I could do to get out of there! Never again! Holbrook is the worst. At least the road from Holbrook to Gallup is the best. Divided highway with two lanes. It's like a sigh of relief. 

We pulled into Farmington at 7:30 Mesa time, but 8:30 New Mexico time. Dang Daylight Savings! I had been so sad to leave Mesa, but once I was home, I was glad to be there. I missed my husband! And nothing is better than your own bed and toilet. Or is that just me? But it won't be long before our next trip.... Davy Love Handsome Boy is coming home soon!!!