50th Anniversary Phoenix Trip

Yay!  Haven't been back to Arizona in a decade or longer!  Excited to head to the old stomping grounds and celebrate mom and dad's 50th anniversary!

The first morning there, Canyon was recruited by Papa to harvest potatoes.

We took the Light Rail to The Irish Center.

Jared wanted a saguaro photo with Southern Drift tees.

Lots of swimming. But not a lot of photos taken during swims.

We ran across some of my 80's records.

Getting ready to head out to the surprise party.

Yay!  Months and months of planning, lying, and secrets.

We had meatballs, sandwiches, pasta salad, crab salad, and cake.

We sat at the neighborhood table.  Otherwise known as the cool table.  :)

I'm so glad we had a great turn out and so many people were able to attend this special event.

Back at the house, device time.

They received a bunch of cards and gift cards, a travel quilt, sparkling wine and more.

Brunch at First Watch.

We took a trip over to Aunt Carol's house.

Chain massage going on here.

BBQ at mom and dad's.

Played two new games.  Roll for it and Spinners dominoes.

The Great Skate only looks somewhat familiar.

Some of the crazy family hiked on Thunderbird.  Canyon and mom stayed close to shade.

Our people are at the top now.

 

Flag captured!

Mary Poppins was at the Arizona Off Broadway Theater.

We had great food there and watched the musical.

Snap with the musical's family after.

Another flag captured.  This one was much higher and longer to get to.

We had lunch at Nana's favorite Mexican restaurant, Valle Luna.

And pizza at Pullano's.  Lots of left overs in the refrigerator!

Nana, Misty and Canyon went to the Odysea Aquarium.

The blue escalator hall.

This octopus was huge!

We saw a 3D show on humpback whales and whale sharks.

We also went on a 'ride' in an auditorium about sea life conservation.

Then the 3 of us went to Red Lobster for dinner.  Ha Ha, that's probably ironic.

While at the Odysea, the rest of the group opted for a Diamondback's game. The game lasted a longer than normal time.  They got back late.

Up at 6:30 to catch our flight.  The only seats left together were the very last rows.  We had an adventure getting home.  We circled Little Rock twice and couldn't land due to extreme weather.  They flew us to Memphis instead to refuel and make a plan. By then, the storm had cleared the area and we headed back to Little Rock.  

Once at the car, we had a nearly flat tire and an empty gas tank.  We went to Conway though to fix those issues and eat dinner (our only meal today!) at 7pm.  Getting to AZ was so quick, getting home took forever! 

Will we ever get to go to Arizona again? 

 I hope so.  I missed it!

And I loved getting to spend time with my family!