Sunny and Warm!

Well, once again we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to Phoenix for Easter. So Matt took some time off work, and we headed down there on Good Friday. All week was filled with lots of driving (like we needed any more???) around Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Mesa. On Easter, we took Ashlyn to this place called Amazing Jake's.....and it truly IS amazing! We couldn't believe what they put under one roof.....rock climbing, miniature golf, bowling, go karts, bumper cars, laser tag, arcade games, a sports bar, a buffet, a small theatre with 3 different movies playing.....once we got around and saw all the rides, Matt and I decided: WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OUR BIRTHDAY'S THERE!!! LOL And would go figure....we left the camera outside in the car. :( It seemed like the whole week we were in Phoenix, the camera was left at home or in the car! Well anyways, like I said...the rest of the week was spent driving around, shopping, relaxing, and whatnot.
On Saturday, the day before we left for Elko, we had plans to meet up with Jared. He was going to show us the showroom for this business he and his friend own/will own soon. So we got up at 6:00 to head up to Chandler Mall to meet him. By the time we got there, we were starving for some breakfast, so we called Jared and thought he said: meet you up there. But apparently he said: see you at Fashion Square. (Or something along those lines!) So we got up to Scottsdale where the showroom's at, and call him, and he's at Fashion Square Mall.....so he headed up to meet us for breakfast in Scottsdale! Poor guy! Well, he made it not too long after that, and we all ate breakfast. He had brought Victoria's boys, Cyris and Akris, along with him for the day. After breakfast, we headed up the road to the showroom. It's still a work in progress since they are awaiting the installation of the wood floors, but it's going to be nice when it's done. Can't wait to see it finished when we go back in a couple months! After seeing the showroom, we went back up the road a little bit to some trails. Jared had brought his new Banshee four-wheeler (all super powered and all that jazz) to play with, as well as the boys' electric motorcycle for them to ride. Matt only had flipflops on, but borrowed some shoes of Jared's and got to ride the quad....OH WHAT FUN!!! He came back on his first ride out and said that something bit him or something. I thought he burned his leg on the pipes or something....but we looked at his leg and a BEE had stung him!!! We got the stinger out, and Matt said: 28years and NOW I get stung by a bee! We found out he's not allergic!!
So after all that lovely stuff, we went to the bookstore for a quick minute, and everyone got some kind of a book. Then we ran and got some lunch at Chipotle (soooo yummy!!!), and then took the kiddos to the park up the road. (The road I keep mentioning is Scottsdale Road....Jared currently works at BMW up there, so he knows the area PRETTY good!) We let the kids run around, read their books, play with their be-be guns, and get all their energy out. A few days prior, we had bought some cheap kites to fly, Ashlyn picked Spiderman, Matt picked Cars, and I picked Hello Kitty. Saturday was perfect for flying them! So Matt went and helped launch them for the kids, and they all had a blast with them. We had just the right number of kites, which was great! It was a BLAST! And we were all enjoying relaxing in the warmth! The whole time we were there it was 85-90 degrees, with lows to only 50.....perfect weather!
After the park, Jared took us up to a car show they have every Saturday at the Pavilions up there in Scottsdale. Then we wanted to see Jared's '68 mustang. He put a new engine in it a while back and we haven't seen it. Or heard it. It's like 500hp or something.... :) Nice.
So we followed him up to his friend/business partner's house (also in Scottsdale...so convenient!) to check it out. He opened the hood first to show us the beast that powers the 'stang...LOL. That thing was NICE! That's all I can say! Then (after putting Ashlyn in the car so it wouldn't scare her...she hates loud things), he started it and backed it out of the garage. A few quick revs, and my ears were about to blow! Not really, but it was VERY, VERY loud! I'm sure everyone in town would agree LOL ;) After he turned it off, I took Ashlyn out of the durango to play with the boys some more. Cyris (8) was checking out everything in and around the mustang, Akris (6) was picking needles off a cactus in the yard, and Ashlyn was.....well....crying and limping.....
......I thought she twisted her ankle.......
..........................................nope................
through all her tears, she cried "I kicked the cactus"
Oh my gosh.....
I took her and sat her down on the sidewalk and got the firstaid kit out. Thank goodness earlier that day we found out it had tweezers! I looked at her right foot and there were about 10 needles poking out of the shoe (which was about worn down to nothing on the toe already). I carefully took off her shoe, which amazing caught most of the needles, then her sock...and one long needle remained. Well, my mom and dad will recall how well I did when I got her left big toe with a shopping cart....so I called Matt over to pull it out. Ouch, is what I'm thinking about now! He gave it a tug and Ashlyn let out a scream and then it was done. It was in there pretty good, maybe to the bone, we're not sure. I told Jared that everyone is getting poked/stung that day, and I was the last one left (Sierra made it without anything too, thank goodness!), and he joked: all there is left now is a scorpion!...I ran to the car and stayed put! But Ashlyn's shoe still has the other needles in it, and we took her to get some new ones that night, after some dinner and a "dirt cup with worms" at TGIFriday's (also so yummy!)
We had a blast, especially on Saturday with Jared and the boys. It was a great day and it was a great vacation away from the cold of Elko. Now we're back in Elko, and have the heater cranked up to keep warm! It's always hard coming back to Elko from Phoenix, but someday soon we're going to be moving back there to live for good. That's our plan. :)