Once TR finished with school, and before starting school again for the summer, we made a quick trip down to Arizona to see the Martineaus. There were a lot of firsts for Molly on this trip. She got to ride on her very first airplane.
She did amazing! She slept the whole way, even though the take-off and landing was a little rough. I love her face in this picture because she looked out the window and gave me this look. She couldn't believe we were in Arizona either!
We got to Jen's house about 2 hours earlier than she was expecting us too cause she got the times mixed up. It was so fun to see all the kids! Jacob showed me all his legos, Sam wouldn't come downstairs, and everyone talked a mile a minute. BrookLynn just couldn't get enough of Molly. I'm pretty sure Molly didn't get put down the whole trip!
We went swimming with some of the "braver" kids later in the evening. It was too cold for Molly, so Jen took care of her so we could play with the kids and just enjoy ourselves. Jen said she gauges her pool by "Utah People Warm" and "Arizona People Warm" because they are very different temperatures. Sam wouldn't even get in with us. He got his swimming suit on and jumped around the pool like a pro on the rocks, on the table, on the basketball hoop, but he was VERY unhappy when TR caught his leg and pulled him in. He wouldn't play with us anymore after that.
BrookLynn has the most beautiful, long, THICK hair. She was a good sport and let me play with it. I put it in what is affectionately known as the "Katniss braid" around here. It felt like we were having a girls sleep over that first night. It was fun to just hang out.
Chef TR was asked to make dinner on Saturday, so he and his sous chef BrookLynn made dinner. They made a spinach and feta stuffed chicken and a squash and mushroom risotto. It was SO yummy! I'm sad I didn't take a picture of it cause it looked pretty too. After dinner was all cleaned up, we got a show as well! Jen's stovetop got a little water in one of gas starters and it caught on fire! Twice! No one got hurt and luckily the second time Glen was under the sink trying to figure out what the issue was and was able to quickly stop the flames.
On Sunday we got to go to a wonderful meeting with Jen, and then visit with our good friends Dan and McKenzie! We've missed them so much! It was great to see all the work they put into their house, and to just sit and visit with them for a while. We also got to see the amazing Sasha at work. She jumped, swam, and generally showed off for us. I didn't get any pictures though! I'm so sad.
On Monday we all took a trip into Phoenix to the science museum. This was a totally interactive museum and was so fun! It was great to see the kids running around and learning all the fun things about the brain and about pulleys and bones and the heart. It was a really neat experience. We also go to see Jenny and little Jakob. It was so great to see them while we were down there!
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| TR has a huge brain. |
Samuel decided we were actually okay people and started to warm up to us. He really connected with TR and was his little buddy through the rest of the trip.
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TR "cheered Sam on" AKA: pushed the wheels in the wheelchair races. Sam was SUPER excited when he "Won that huge boy!"
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Part of the reason we went to the science center was because they were having a Van Gogh exhibit. It was really cool. There wasn't a whole lot to it, but it was dark, cool, and had floor to ceiling projector screens that rotated through the pictures. It was really need to sit and listen to the music and watch the paintings rotate through. It was especially fun with Jacob. He LOVES Van Gogh. He came with us and was happy to sit on the floor and watch the paintings. He did stand next to one of the screens so TR could take a picture (it's kind of shakey, the stabilizer doesn't come on if the flash is turned off) and all of a sudden all the screens turned to Stary Stary Night, Jacob's absolute favorite. He was so excited "Guys! I'm surrounded by Stary Stary Night!"
After the museum, we decided to walk down to Pizzaria Bianco on the off chance that they were open on Monday. They just recently opened for lunch, but were still closed on Mondays. This was the one stop on the trip that TR was most excited about. TR really loves pizza. He has a passion for it. Chris Bianco, the owner of Pizzaria Bianco, is a really really famous pizzaiolo (pizza maker). He's the only one to ever win a James Beard award (
Click here to learn more about that. It's apparently really prestigious). He studied in Italy for years, Chicago born, long story short- he's a really cool guy. (Find out more about him
here there's language, be aware) Luck was on our side! It was open and it was completely empty. This was very lucky since people stand in line for HOURS to get into this place.
Johnny and Lindsey met us for lunch and it was great to see them and their kidos. The weather was perfect and aside from one nasty cheese burn (Poor Jakey!) it was a perfect day. After we got home, TR instructed Jeffrey, Alexa, and BrookLynn in the making of Magleby's famous chocolate cake and it was DIVINE! The next morning we all ate chocolate cake while taking a little dip in the pool. Molly liked the pool this time, and she had a good time splashing around in it like it was a big tub. She's so much like me in that way.
Jeffrey was about Molly's age when Jen and Glen moved into the little blue house that currently houses our little family. He was so busy for most of our trip that we didn't get to see much of him, but when we did it was so great! I can't believe he's going on a mission soon! He's getting so big. He's such a great guy and a great example. He rode with us to lunch on Tuesday before going to the airport, and it was so interesting to me to listen to him and TR talk. They had gone "
Herping" the night before and had apparently had some very deep conversations. He's so intelligent and so in tune with the spirit and everything else around him.
We had so much fun in Arizona! It was really hard to leave and come back home to the real world. Our trip was entirely too short and we look forward to when we can go back again!
