Friday, Jan. 3 -- Last Day in Tucson
Our last day in Tucson was like all the others -- action packed.
We started off the day by a visit to long time friends who live on the extreme other side of Tucson -- the Hancocks. Now, by long term friends, I mean REALLY long time friends. Eric and John have been friends since Kindergarten and John and I have been friends since we were in high school. It was so good to see them and to catch up what is going on with our families now. We were only able to stay for about an hour or so. Next time, we'll make sure it is longer. Our kids didn't have enough time to really warm up to each other.
* * *
Next up was our visit to Kartchner Caverns. This is a really amazing cave site in Southern Arizona. It isn't cheap (thanks Dad!) so it is not something that we will do again any time soon (if ever). But it was a really cool experience and the kids all enjoyed it. They don't allow you to take any pictures in the cave and I forgot to take any outside of it. But we bought postcards and magnets to help us remember our experience.
That night my dad took us out to dinner at Culvers (one of their favorite fast food restaurants). It was a yummy dinner and we especially enjoyed the custard. Thanks!
I know we were on the go a lot on this trip...I honestly don't know how else to do a trip, I guess. Especially when you are going to a place that you lived in for 30-plus years. With all the friends and family that we saw, there isn't anyone that I would want to skip next time. In fact there are even a few that I DID skip that I would want to see next time. Sigh. So it goes.
But we did have some moments of down time to just sit back and relax. The weather was phenomenal and we soaked up as much sunshine as we possibly could.
Here are some memorable moments:
Playing "Cameron Ball" -- a game my kids invented
Shooting hoops in the backyard.
Making chalk drawings on the basketball court. The girls spent lots of time doing this.
Sadly, I still can't get the chalk out of Sadie's white leggings. Oh well, such is life.
Reading books is always a highlight at Grannie's house
Doing puzzles. Eric and my mom spent hours on puzzles over the holiday week.
Not my cup of tea, but they sure enjoyed it.
* * *
It was hard not to get emotional as we said good-bye. Yes, it was sad to say farewell to my parents, but we will see them again soon (they come up north to visit fairly often). What really got me was that this is most likely the last time that we will see this house again. My childhood house. This is the house that I lived in from 5th grade on. This is the house that all my children's memories with Grannie are centered around. They are planning to sell the home and move away later this year. It is the right thing for them...but it is still sad to say Good-bye.
Had to throw this in here. These are the hearts that I stenciled in my room when I was 14.
They are STILL up, even though this has been my dad's office for the past 20 years.
Ahhhhh, the memories!!
* * *
Saturday, Jan 4
The trip home was short, sweet, and simple compared to the trip down. We drove straight from Tucson to St. George where we spent the night with my cousin Heidi and her family.
When we arrived at their house, the kids were sick of sitting in a car so we took a little hike in the hills behind their house. It was much colder than we expected, but the view was beautiful and there were fun rocks for the kids to climb on. It was a great stop off, and we wish it could have been longer. Thanks Heidi and Doug for feeding us, entertaining us, and giving us a place to crash for a night.
We got up and on the road first thing Sunday morning and we finally arrived home on Sunday evening. Wow! What a trip! It was exhausting, but we all had a great time and were so glad we did it. We got to see so many people that we love and some of our old favorite places too. Thank you to everyone who made that possible.
2 comments:
Wow Heather, I just re-read all of you Tucson trip posts, and it is amazing all that you fit into that one week! It looks like at least 5 trips! Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends! How great that you have all those pictures to remember it by too. Miss you all. The parts we were a part of were so fun. And I'm glad you got to see so many others.
Oh, can I have that picture of mom and dad in front of their house too? We are so sad they are leaving it behind. I mean, we want them closer, but couldn't they just bring the house too?
Post a Comment