Memorial Day 2009

Yowza! What a weekend! There is so much to cover here that I’m not even sure where to start. First and foremost is to give another big "Thank You" to Rachael and Steve for having us out there and to all of our friends in family that took the time to visit with us during our chaotic few days there....so now onto the weekend....

We flew into Yuma on Friday afternoon, and I must say that the Yuma airport really did live up to my lofty expectations (believe it or not, this was my first time ever flying into Yuma as we typically drive in from either Phoenix or San Diego). I was expecting a dirt runway, with a taco stand setup nearby where we could grab a cerveza. Ok, it wasn’t nearly that bad….but it was extremely tiny…and Yuma isn’t a huge town, so there really isn’t a need for a large one just yet.

Landon was a rock star on the three flights that it took for us to get there (we had to fly to San Francisco and then LA before flying into Yuma). He slept for a good chunk of all three flights (thank you Benadryl) and spent the rest of his time reading books and playing games when he was awake. The main problem with travelling with an infant is that the inner ear pressure really builds during take-offs and landings, and kids that young don’t really know how to relieve the pressure. So the best bet is to have them suck on a pacifier or a sippy-cup or something like that. If you are able to get through that part of it, the only other item to contend with is the lack of room to roam. Landon likes to explore, and when he has to be cooped up for more than a few minutes, he can get restless and cranky. But we managed to keep him distracted and made it through our flights without incident….or so we thought….

When we got to Steve and Rachael’s house, we were quickly visited by many friends and family members. Landon was particularly fond of Steve’s brothers David and Robert. It is a little odd, as Landon typically warms up to the ladies, but for some reason he was just fascinated with both men and spent a good amount of time playing with them. To the left is a picture of Landon with Robert and Landon's great grandmother Carol. We enjoyed the evening catching up with each other and munching on Ronnie’s Pizza (a Yuma favorite), followed by watching Lebron James’ amazing buzzer-beating shot against the Orlando Magic.

It wasn’t until bedtime that we realized that we didn’t make it through our air travels completely unscathed….Landon must have caught something from the plane, because a fever quickly set in with him and he we could just tell that he was acting a little off. He was very restless at night, and was pretty darn cranky.

On Saturday morning, after we enjoyed some chorizo with tortillas and salsa (one of my faves), Landon, Michaela, and Rachael headed over to the nearby park for some fun before it got too hot. All you need to do is look at this picture to realize how much fun he had hitting up the slide! He also used the swings and basically just ran around like a crazy man.



After that we headed over to Michaela’s Aunt Laura’s house for some time in the pool. Landon continues to love the water, and really enjoyed splashing, being thrown up in the air, and watching his cousins swim. After that we had a few hours of rest before our next stop, Ramsey and Blaine’s house. There we hung out with the Morris’ and their 9-month old son Grayson, and Becca and her 2-month old Molly. It was really great to get all the kids together and we had a total blast. We’re already thinking about our upcoming family vacation in July where we’ll all be together again. I think that Landon is going to be able to teach Grayson some pretty fun tricks, as well as some habits that I’m sure his parents would rather he didn’t learn.



So I elected to use this picture of the three women with their kids because I thought it did a pretty good job of summing up how each of them acted this weekend. To the left we have Landon, squirming, wriggling, and doing his best to get down so he can go explore. To the right we have Grayson, who is curiously reaching towards Molly. Grayson was constantly studying things and you can just tell that he's the curious type. And in the middle we have Molly, stuck between the two crazy boys with a look on her face that just screams "Mom, what in the heck are we doing here?!?!"

Saturday night was more of the same with Landon running such a high fever that Rachael and I headed over to the local 24-hour pharmacy at 2am to get some medicine and a thermometer….turns out he hit 102 degrees! We stayed on it the rest of our trip and while it has come down some, he still isn’t feeling all that well.

On Sunday we headed back over to Laura’s for a swim party/barbecue…the food was awesome, and the company was great. We took a ton of pictures, which I’ll caption as we go:

As Auntie Tessie liked to sing while she looked at this picture "One of these things is not like the others"....it almost looks like Landon is from a different species in this picture, as all of his Arizona cousins are so much more tan! From the left we have: Azai, Xavian, Victoria, Alyssa, Landon, and Desiree.





Next we have the three amigos, aka: Molly, Grayson, and Landon...sort of funny how they "stair step" up in height, isn't it?

And here's one of Landon with his godmother, aka Pocahontas.

The only blemish on an otherwise great day (aside from Landon’s illness) was the fact that someone broke into Becca’s car and stole her purse! Not a cool thing to do at all, and we hope they catch the two-faced son of a jackal that did it! Yes, that was an Aladdin reference.

Monday was spent packing and getting ready to head home. However, there were two things that I have to point out….First is that Landon got to experience Lute’s Casino for the first time. This is a really great local restaurant with all kinds of fun stuff for Landon to look at….he really enjoyed it. As you can see, the tables are all pretty high, and since the booster seats weren’t very sturdy, we elected to use the “old fashioned” kid seat (in case you're wondering, that's my belt holding him in place). Since he was sick this weekend, his appetite was really hit or miss. He did take quite a liking to Lute’s French Fries, so we allowed him quite a few before finally cutting him off….Michaela’s already worried that he’s going to have a French Fry fetish like his old man!

The second thing that I wanted to mention was that Landon ALMOST made it through the weekend without breaking anything at Steve and Rachael’s….since their house is not “baby-proofed” we tried to keep a close eye on him so he wouldn’t break anything, and for a while it looked like we were going to be in the clear. Then on Sunday morning I heard a crash from the kitchen and ran in to hear Landon saying the dreaded words “Uh Oh”….apparently he managed to break a kitchen ceramic bowl….then on Monday we had a worse experience when he smashed a flower vase….all things considered, it wasn’t a successful outing in the “breaking things” department. Sorry about that guys!

Our return flights home (only two on the way back) were a little more difficult, as Landon really didn’t want to sleep at all and we could just tell that he really wasn’t doing well…but we made it through with no complaints from other passengers, even from the guy that Landon threw his book at and kept kicking the back of his chair (at least that we know of). While we had a tremendous time visiting with everyone, there really is something to be said for being in your own home in your own bed. I think Landon is even starting to understand that a little bit. While he was still pretty fussy last night, he definitely liked having the run of his house back. He even missed his dogs, as he had to give them plenty of “head hugs” upon his return.

The only other big news from the weekend that I wanted to mention was that we have a new family member! My cousin Kristi and her husband Kris had their first child yesterday. Sophie Grace McFarren came into the world, weighing 6 lbs, 8oz and 20.75 inches long. We haven’t yet seen a picture of her yet, but are glad to hear that Mom, Baby, and Daddy are all doing well. We’re so happy for them and can’t wait to meet her! That makes 8 great-grandkids on my Dad’s side of the family….woo hoo!

I’m sure that I forgot to cover about a hundred things, and I’ll probably have to do a second post on this as there are so many pictures that I want to post, so check back soon.

I’ll end on this quote that Michaela heard this weekend that we really liked:

“Grandchildren are the rewards that you get for not killing your kids”.