Crazy Times and Good Times

So yesterday the governor of AZ “recommended” that people “stay at home”.  Notice the word recommended…..LOL….people are so mad that first he did not say something sooner (AZ has over 1100 positive cases) and that it is simply a recommendation rather than an order like other states have done.  And it is interesting that his list of “essential” businesses includes: nail salons, hair salons and golf courses….another decision that have people upset!!

Jaxen, Jackie and Jermar’s visit

Time for some good memories!!  I had wanted to write about both Jackie’s visit and Jenny’s visit and then all this virus stuff hit so I just was not in the mood to write.  But I am better mood wise right now and really want to make sure I remember their visits with pictures and words.

Monday

Jackie, Jermar and Jaxen flew to AZ on Monday the 24th of February.  This was the first time flying for Jaxen and Jackie was a little nervous on how it would go.  Luckily she also got a seat for him rather than have him sit on their laps, which turned out to be a very good decision on their part!  Jackie said the first 5 minutes were a little hairy….but then this….

We picked them up at the airport and Jaxen was so excited to see us!!!  That was so much fun.  Then we went to the old standard that we try to take all visitor’s to — Oregano’s — which has the best pizza.  And even better we could sit outside where Jaxen was fascinated by the birds flying around the tables.

Tuesday

When Jermar goes to different cities, he likes to check out the malls that are in that city.  In Cottonwood there are not really any enclosed malls, so we decided to take a field trip up to Flagstaff to check out their indoor mall!  On the way, we went to Crema for breakfast in Old Town.  Both Jackie and I decided to try the Mimosa flight!!

While eating, Jackie gave Jaxen some applesauce in one of the pouches that little kids use these days.  Apparently when Jaxen is done, he lets people know by pushing his cup or bowl off of the high chair tray.  Well, in this case, when he was done, he flung that applesauce pouch and it went flying right in to Bumpa’s lap, with applesauce dotting his shirt!!!  Well…..with very serious faces, Jackie and Jermar tried to tell him no he should not have done that — Bumpa gave him the Bumpa stare and I could not help but burst out laughing!!  LOL   All of this made Jaxen cry….LOL…he looks so innocent, doesn’t he??

We then took the 89a drive up thru the hills from Sedona to Flagstaff.  It was a very beautiful drive, as always, but it was so COLD, we only stood up at the overview for a few minutes because it was so WINDY and COLD!!  (What made it worse is that the boys had to go to the bathroom — didn’t we tell them to go before we left Sedona!! — and the bathrooms at the overlook were closed for construction!!)  So not only was it WINDY, COLD and bathrooms desperately needed…we didn’t spend a lot of time up there!!  It was really COLD and WINDY.

We finally go to the Flagstaff mall….and it was less than impressive!!  🙂  But at least Jermar got his mall fix and we wanted them to do whatever they wanted while visiting us.  With it being so cold and windy that day, this was actually a good alternative rather than being out and about.  And Jaxen really enjoyed the little rides inside the mall!!  🙂

We headed back to the house and just hang out there.  But I did get Jaxen toys to have at our house so he would not be bored!!

Although Jaxen quickly learned that Grandma’s keyboard was a much better toy!!

Wednesday

Wednesday was breakfast at the house – sandwiches from Violette’s!!  🙂  Then we went to explore Old Town and Jerome to see if there were some shops that Jackie would enjoy.  Jermar decided to try on some new hats at the store in Old Town!!  It was his Easter Bonnet!!  🙂

We decided on a late lunch at Colt 804 grill which is fantastic BBQ that they do right outside on the patio in giant cookers!!  We shared a number of things so everyone could get a little sampling of all of their specialties!!

We all walked out of there swearing we were never going to eat again!!  Amazing food!!  The drive up to Jerome was nice as it always is and Jackie actually enjoyed it too.  She did get out of the truck and took some pictures at the overlook!!  And Jaxen just tried to stay entertained in his car seat!

Thursday

Thursday we decided to do a Pink Jeep tour — one that was ok for a 18 month old!!  On the way we stopped at the restaurant that is at the Sedona airport — again we could sit outside, with the addition of a little heat and there was a grassy area that I could take Jaxen to while we waited for our food to arrive.

This time Jermar tried the mamosa flight! (I swear every time any of our kids are in town I drink more adult beverages than I do all winter!!!)

Pink Jeeps are pretty famous for their tourist rides in Sedona.  When I made the reservations I said we had an 18 month old and they made the suggestion of one that would not include too much 4×4 riding.

They do provide seat belts in the jeeps and car seats for someone Jaxen’s age.  The first 15 minutes of the ride is on blacktop as they go outside the city of Sedona to get to the trails.  It was nice that our driver, Preston, had kids of his own so he understand the level of 4x4ing that might be best.  Once we got on the dirt trails the adventure part of the trip began as we bumped over rocks, holes and puddles.  But, I really understood how mild this was even more once we went on a more rough 4×4 experience with Jenny, Erin and Emily.  But at this time watching Jaxen’s face as we bumped along, this one seemed pretty adventurous!!   As we adults watched Jaxen, and us, bumping along, we could not help but laugh at his expressions, which made him even more mad and one time trying to swat his dad….which made us laugh more!!

We did have a stop where we could get out and walk around.  That also gave us a chance to get pictures with the pink jeep and allow Jaxen to pretend he was driving.

After the ride, we did some shopping in Sedona and also visited a Mexican restaurant just for some beers, chips and salsa.

We also visited a local brewery while they were here — THAT brewery, which had some amazing selections of brews!

We also enjoyed a lot of deck time while they were here!!!

Friday

Friday was the day to pack up and get ready for Jackie, Jermar and Jaxen to head back to Minnesota.  But first, we were blessed with a beautiful sunrise that morning!!

It was a fantastic week — the weather could have been a little better, but we had a lot of fun, laughs, good food, good company and adult beverages.  The flight home was not as much sleeping, but thankfully Boss Baby kept Jaxen entertained.

We had so much fun with their visit.  These days, when we are not sure if and when we can go back to Minnesota this summer, reliving this week that they visited was so much fun!!  It really brought a lot of joy into my heart….and laughs!

Hope you are all safe and feeling well!

Love to you all!

TIFN