4th of July and a week in Mesa

We had POGO passes expiring the end of July so we decided to make 4th of July weekend an extra long week and check some things off our list!

We drove to Mesa on Wednesday afternoon and pulled in right at dinner time. Gecko Grill?? Why, yes please. :)

After that, we drove to Grandma Cat's to pick up Grandmother's house key. Grandma happened to be swimming in the pool. The boys BEGGED to go out with her. I said no. Then the next thing we know, Olive is getting pulled in by Grandma and hysterically screaming. Ha! Well, it was a free for all then, with the boys jumping in in their underwear! Steve happened to come over, and we spent the next hour, poolside. I'd say Olive ended up enjoying the experience. :)

For the next 4 nights, we slept at my Grandmother's empty house. She is living with my Aunt Marcia. I have to say, it was a little trippy staying there. I mean, that's where I lived for 3 years. Pulling into that driveway in my own suburban and having MY children pile out was.... what's the word... um, surreal, I guess. Time is a funny thing.

 

THURSDAY

The next morning, Travis had a business breakfast so the kids and I ran some errands then got to meet MISS SCARLETT for the first time!!! Woohoo!!! I was so excited! So were the kids.

She's such the little seniorita! Haha! That Figueroa blood runs tan. :)

Pig tail to the face! Sorry, Scarlett. Olive likes to hug. 

Oh, Collin, are you having flashbacks??!! Cuz I am!!

After that, we dropped Olive off with Grandma Cat so the 4 of us could party at SUNSPLASH for the day!! My mom is a sun worshipper slash fish. So we spent many a summer at Sunsplash. Lots of good memories. The boys have been asking for YEARS about the cool slide they see off the side of the freeway. Well, they finally got to do it! Of course, before we walked in, we had a quick conversation about tattoos, piercings, what have you. As in, do NOT point, ask questions or otherwise bring attention to anything you find out of the ordinary or "wrong" while we are there. Because as we know, Sunsplash brings all types. :) Luckily, no incidents. We had a great time! They loved the Lillypads (I think Collin could have spent the whole day at them), and we did about two rounds of the Lazy River, Wavepool and both sets of slides. Interspersed by an ice cream break and later, a pretzel and cheese/hot dog break. They've added several big slides/attractions since we'd been, 7 or 8 years ago. One of them is a slide where you stand on top of a trap door and it counts down then drops you in a free fall, down a steep tube slide. Travis did it first and I had LITERAL anxiety for him as he waited for his turn. Like, my stomach hurt every time I heard the countdown and trap doors pull back and I thought I might need to use the restroom. But when he came down and acted like it wasn't that big a deal, I decided I could brave it. MMMM, yeah, not my favorite. But I was glad I knew to plug my nose for the face enema. The only stinky part about the day was that Weston wasn't tall enough for any of the new, big rides and Collin was only tall enough for one. But, my gosh, that one was FUN! Can't remember what it was called, but you sit on a huge, 4 seater tube, and go down a STEEP, gigantic tunnel that spits you out into a huge bowl. You circle that a time or two then fall down a second hole into another steep slide that ends the ride. The only problem was, those tubes are huge and HEAVY. And I had to lug it up 6 or 7 stories of stairs by myself. It was a problem. Like, I lost hold of it before even getting to the stairs and knocked down a lady and he kid. Yikes. By the 6th flight of stairs I didn't know if I could keep going. Honestly, it took ALL my strength and I felt like I had just down a T-25 workout. On the last flight, all of a sudden, it got light as could be and I realized a guy had seen me and run up the stairs just to help me! It was like an angel on the women's pull for trek, haha!! But seriously, BLESS YOU kind stranger!! ANDDD, at least all the hard work was worth it! The lifeguard and another lady who couldn't fit with her family went down with us, and I was the one who was positioned backwards, going down that first, huge drop, I SCREAMED my head off and was laughing hysterically. It was SO FUN!!! I couldn't get enough. The entire ride was a crack up. I could have done it 15 times. It will be really fun when the boys are tall enough to ride everything. I won't hold my breath... I think it will take Weston several more years. :( Overall, we had a blast though and stayed until almost 8pm. Definitely wouldn't have been as fun with a baby though, so we owed it to Grandma for having her! Double bonus that we just used our Pogo Passes and didn't have to dish out the $100 it would have cost too!

FRIDAY

On Friday we decided to celebrate our upcoming Tuesday anniversary that we would be apart for. Trav's parents watched our kids so we could do a session at the temple, then we took the quick jaunt over to Mangos for some yummy lunch! Their strawberry fresca and chips and salsa are my new reason for living. I mean, they beat the pants off ANY other I've had. Between the temple and lunch with my hunny, I experienced what I will refer to as the {triple heaven}.

With a July 7th anniversary, I think Mango's was congratulating us. :)

That afternoon, Travis took the kids swimming at his parents while I got to visit Josie and get caught up on their Philippine's trip! I totally woke her up and she didn't even kill me. It was really good to see her after forever!

 

That night, we went to a Diamondbacks game. K, I haven't been in FOREVER! Since before he had kids. I realized, I missed it. I really do love baseball. And there's something about a professional game. I was super happy to be there. Just look at these 3 cuties!

We got pretty good seats, but Weston's chair of choice was straddling a cup holder. 

I don't know any of the players names anymore, but my boys knew one name for sure. GOLDSCHMIDT!!!! They went crazy every time he was up to bat. We can thank baseball crazed, Aunt Aubrey for that. I could tell the people next to us got a kick out of it.

Cotton Candy was a sweet treat after a couple of innings.

But I was even more excited to finally get my hands on a Churrodog. It's a churro-stuffed donut topped with icecream. Get in my belly!!

Actually, get out! It was no Bueno. Such the disappointment! The donut was super stale and crunchy and the churro was hard from the ice cream. I'm not saying the idea in and of itself is terrible, but for $8 a pop, get me a fresh donut for heaven's sakes!!!!

(I didn't even know Weston was in this selfie until I looked at it. His "cool guy" face is crackin' me up.

 

We stayed until the 9th inning, but it was tied and went into overtime. It was late by then so we called it quits. Nice to hear that they pulled it out in the 10th inning though. Go, D-backs!!!

SATURDAY- 4th of JULY!!

Travis went golfing with my Dad and brothers/brothers-in-law that morning, so Shelley invited us girls to breakfast at Kneaders. We were all dressed red, white and blue, but I never got a family picture. After our children terrorized that establishment sufficiently, we headed to Grandmas. :)



I had decided to make my Dad and Wayne a fun treat for Father's Day.... on the 4th of July. It all makes good sense. I did a tart for my dad and a banana cream pie for my father-in-law. Luckily, my dad shared his dessert with all of us that night. But I think what I could have really dug into was that pie! I had a few spoonfuls of that homemade filling and could have floated to heaven. I have serious food issues. 

The guys got back around noon and we headed to the Evans' for swimming and a BBQ. Reddin and Carrie's families were out of town, so it was just the M&Ms, Trevor &Gretchen and Aubrey. Yummy kabobs and potato salad. It was a feast.

 

Then we swam at my parent's house that evening and had pizza and a fireworks show! They had spent quite a few $$$ at a ridiculous fireworks warehouse in Missouri last summer and it was time to light them up! Oh, but first, Trav and I busted out our super cool, $30 Walmart package. Hashtag winning.

Love this picture.

Olive was a hot mess and in bed by then.

Roman candles!

 

Had to get a little creative.

Being zen makes them go farther, I heard.

So then... Craig and Jefferson had been lighting up the "good" fireworks for about 15 minutes and we were loving them. I mean, they were legit, huge explosions, just like the city would use. With each one, we'd whoop and holler and clap. It was a lot of fun. Then they pulled out a box of 9, 2inch mortars. Meaning, you light the box and 9 go off, one after the other. And these are the huge, explode in the sky for a massive shower of lights kind. At the same time, they lit up 2 bottle rockets. Seconds after they zoom off, we see a big firework in the sky, but also realize sparks are shooting right at us. I screamed at first and laughed, but when the second one exploded right in front of us, I realized something was wrong and Travis and I started towards the boys, yelling at them to run. While we're sprinting towards them, I watch a spark fly right at Trav's leg, singeing his leg hair! The explosions were deafening! And they kept coming!! By now, all of us had started running behind cars, and into the garage. My mom was videotaping from the back of the garage at a safe distance and got most of it on videotape. Shelley and I had also been taping on our phones and mine looks like the flippin' Blair Witch project, jumbled up and taping all directions with screaming in the background. Stuff was flying everywhere and the loud BOOMS wouldn't stop! I can't even describe it. It was honestly like a war zone and total chaos. People were diving behind things and crouching down, screaming. And there was nothing you could do but wait it out! There was no stopping it! One must have been defective (well, the whole thing was defective!!) but only 8 explosions happened and it was over. The kids that I thought we had safely ushered away, had really scattered and I suddenly was panicked about whether they were OK. They loved it and were running around, laughing and exclaiming over the debris that had "almost hit us!", like it was a super funny game to them. Knowing that no one was hurt, we were able to crack up laughing. It was such an adrenaline rush and for some reason, just absolutely hysterical!!! It was like we had been under attack and it was every man for himself. Shelley hadn't even bothered with her boys. After the first explosion she was outta there and bolting for the garage. Bahahaha! We were DYING laughing for at least an hour afterward, watching our videos of it and reliving what it felt like when it was happening. Mom had disappeared right after it happened though, and we were worried she would be mad/scarred/upset, but after she had retreated to her room to pray, she was able to laugh with us! Oh yay! It was an EPIC night and something we'll never forget. 3 Cheers for Lindblom Amateur Firework Night!!!
(This is video of my mom's video)

 

Sunday

We celebrated all of us summer birthdays Sunday night at my moms. We had my fav... snoring enchiladas. And my mom bought the Motherlode cake from Claim Jumpers for dessert. YUM!

 

We always joke about Olive and David's girlfriend, Abbey's, relationship. She loves Abbey and always goes up to her to be held. We joke that she looks enough like me to be classified as the "Second Mother" :)

(Must just be the dark hair in a sea of blondes over there, haha)

 

Happy birthday to us!!!

I LOVE this picture so much. We were all pretending to blow out the candles, then Shelley just did it, all in one whoosh! Her face says it all, bahaha. I guess she just thought we were being pokey and it needed to get done. So funny.

I loved that I got to be there the rest of the night. If we're ever in town for a Sunday night, we might squeeze dinner in, but we never get to hang out afterward.

 (But Trav had to leave. Insert huge frowny face. Work calls, dag nab it. We had so much fun with him that weekend, it was sad for it to come to a close.)

I guess the latest game to play is "Dippity Dip". I was not so sure about it at first, but you should have seen the enthusiasm in a room full of adults over such a ridiculous game!! (Even Casey!!) And I saw why after a few games. It really is fun! Don't get us started on the next few... "Ninja", "Hiii-ya!" and "Teradactyl". The most foolish fun we've ever had! "Boxer shorts!!!" ;)

 Josie and Brighton came over not long after and joined us for a few games. Austin served in the Philippines so they had a lot of stories to swap tell! Fun, reverent times on the Sabbath. :)

 

Monday

Sunday night we switched from sleeping at Grandmothers and started staying at the Goodmans! Biggest regret is not taking tons of pictures of their new, uber fancy, modern house! They just finished remodeling it and it's so white and pretty! And they even had a guest room for us! Never thought we'd be bunking up with them, but it worked out so well. And we were so grateful for 4 more days of Mesa.

Monday morning, Shelley had a haircut, so we just hung out at the house. Then we went to Krazy Air, a new trampoline park, a few miles from their house. They have a Steve's Krazy Sub attached, so we got lunch after their hour of jumping.

Ta-Da!



After that, we put the girlies down for naps and Shelley gave me my 3rd hair cut in about 4 weeks. This time I really did it and went short short! Well, not pixie short, but a bob above my shoulders. I LOVE it! Not an ounce of regret. I was ready for some change!

 

The boys went swimming in their backyard pool, then we had waffles for dinner before hitting up another pool! This is the first season for the Mesa High pool to be open. We went for 1/2 off Monday nights from 6-8pm. Wouldn't really recommend it. Swarming with Mormons looking for a fun FHE. ;) Casey was so good to take the boys while Shell and I followed the girls around. After a while, the boys ran to the diving boards, excited to get jumping, but were disappointed to see the water polo team practicing in the deep end. But wait, there's Craig! Haha! Funny coincidence that he was there, so he stayed after his practice to swim with us and I took him home.

 

After we got the kids to bed, we busted out the leftover chocolate cake from last night and watched the Bachelorette with some of Shelley's friends. It was fun! I haven't had a girl's Bachelorette night in forever. After it was over, we got to chatting and all of a sudden it was 2am!! The conversation was actually pretty serious and without shedding too many details, I'll just say I walked away from it feeling more grateful than ever for my amazing husband. The stuff that goes on in this world is sickening. I am blessed beyond comprehension.

 

Tuesday

Tuesday morning we drove over to the new Fat Cats by Gecko Grill to do some free bowling with our Pogo Passes. This place literally opened up 3 days ago so it was spic and span and glossy all over! The boys got to bowl two games while us girls took selfies on the couch and danced. :) There is a restaurant called Pizini attached and so we ordered lunch half way through and it was legit! Gourmet pizza and mac 'n cheese. Free refills on sodas... we were tanked! 

Mr. Cool Guy on the right. What is this phase?!

After bowling, we went back to the house to put the girls down for naps and Shelley dropped Lane off at his afternoon summer camp thing. So I took the other 3 boys BACK to Fat Cats to see Inside Out. I've been dying to see this. It looked so cute in previews. It was now Rusty's 3rd time seeing it, haha. We got popcorn and smuggled in our water bottles. This theater is really fancy and has huge, reclining seats. Maybe a little too comfy, because I could not keep my eyes open by the middle of it and may have taken a quick snooze. 

As of that morning, my car smelled like something had died in it. Thank you disgusting children that leave your rotted food in the cup holders. So we went to the car wash and the boys were entertained for a full 1/2 hour with these soap blasters. I couldn't help myself and finally got my ChocoTaco. :)

Then it was back to Shelley's to get the rest of the kids just in time to turn around and go BACK to the exact same plaza to have Gecko Grill for dinner! Marcie and Austin met us there too. We were wild and crazy in the outdoors area. These girls scavenged some leftover party hats from another table. Cutest picture!

Wednesday

We had coordinated with Jenni and Jessica to meet at Mesquite pool on Wednesday morning with our kiddos. It is FAR, on Riggs and Val Vista, but it really was a sweet pool. Olive and Lindi were pretty good to spend almost the entire time jumping half a foot into the shallow end, then climbing out and doing it again. Mom chat time is always appreciated. 

We spent almost three hours there before heading home for naps. I had my inaugural visit to a QT "Kitchen", getting the kids pretzels and cheese and slushies for lunch. It was an ordeal. But yes, that pretzel and cheese is gooooood.

 

With Olive down for a nap and Lane at his summer camp, Shelley was so nice to watch the other kids so I could do some errands. Well, actually, I did take Collin with me to help keep the fighting down. When I asked him, he seemed happy to come, so he was my shopping buddy. We went to Target, Cosmo Prof and TJMaxx. The older he gets, the more enjoyable it seems to do things with him.

 

Shelley made yummy fajitas for dinner, then we went to visit Grandmother. I brought her a big glass jar full of Jolly Ranchers that she can keep on hand to give out to all the great grandkids that come visit her. Well, lets be honest, us grown ups were going to town on them too. 

It was a nice visit with her. She was coherent and seemed to be feeling good. And her oxygen tubes only got wrapped around Olive's feet once. :)

Thursday morning was pack up and go time. We went swimming at Grandma's house one last time to get their energy out, then we were driving away by 1pm. A friend asked me to drive her niece back with us, so we had an extra body in the car. She was a teenage girl. It gave me tons of anxiety... mostly because I couldn't yell at my kids if I needed to... but it worked out OK. We had had the best week, but when it's time to go home, I can't seem to drive fast enough. Seeing Travis was soooo wonderful. I tend to miss that boy when we're apart. :)

Now, just two weeks in Gallup before the big, two week trip to end the summer! It's going by fast.