A very, very, very long time ago, back when we had 1, maybe 2 kids, Bo stumbled upon this idea to make a child's 10th birthday something special. You know, since it's the only time a person adds a digit until they reach 100. I've had that in my head ever since.
Jeb and I have been thinking on this for a couple of years now, and we thought that taking a trip to celebrate would be a good idea. The only catch is to where.
And then, Jeb's work who has NEVER asked him to travel suddenly decides they need him to travel. On the week of Abigail's birthday. To a place that we could drive to. Together. So, to celebrate our little munchkin's decade of life we took a road trip to the fabulous, the beautiful, the child's vacation fantasy land of.....
PHOENIX!!
As in Arizona. At the end of June. We are loving it! Nights in the 90s, leaving nothing in the car because everything will melt, and the zoo closing at 2:00 because even the animals can't stand the heat, Arizona. That is celebrating in style, baby! Happy Birthday, Abigail!
It was actually a lot of fun. The trip down there was a breeze. A 12 hour breeze. The kids all did well. Holden was surprisingly a dream. If we were moving, he was content. I could feed him at stops for gas, and then once we got back on the freeway he was as happy as the Arizona police who caught us with their nasty photocop speed traps. Which is pretty happy, to say the least!
The first day we spent scouting out the local scene in search of swim diapers. Once we had located the nearest Target, we gathered our booty and headed back to the pool. Unfortunately we don't have many pictures. Evolution would need to bless me with at least 1 extra arm and 2 more sets of eyes placed on either side of my head to be able to watch all 5 kids in the water and take pictures at the same time. This was made clear to me when I almost lost Harrison to a watery grave. That and chinese food for dinner ended our first day.
On the second day we decided to brave the heat and visit the zoo. We got there fairly early for us and managed to make it just inside the gates before succumbing to the heat. Luckily the very first thing you see when you enter the zoo is a concession stand. We bought $35.00 worth of water, slushies, and diet coke to make it to the next stop. We walked as far as the train station and decided that we needed to see the animals from the comfort of our tushies, and spent the rest of the visit going around and around the zoo on the train where we heard "On your right is where we usually keep the monkeys, but they are all inside because it's too hot. Coming up on your left is our new exhibit featuring the spectacled bear. But, it's closed for the day because, again, too hot. Over here on your right would be some sort of animal, if only it weren't for the dadgum blazing heat!" That last part I added, but the rest was the truth. Good popsicles, it was hot. Once we managed to drip ourselves back to the car we decided to head back to the hotel to put the baby down and send the big kids off with dad back to the pool. Divided and conquered.
On Wednesday we all managed to pick up something akin to the bubonic plague. Saying we caught a bad cold would be like saying we caught a fluffy little baby sheep. I began using the hotel's Internet to search for how-tos on putting yourself and children into a "medicated vacation coma". As we were in the hotel's tight quarters I could actually see the bug jump from one kidlet to the next. First Leah. Then me. Then Hudson, Jeb, and Abigail. Again I say Happy Birthday, Abigail! Harrison and Holden must have some sort of death virus force field because they managed to steer clear. Needless to say, Wednesday was spent down at the Safeway loading up on Sudafed, Triaminic, and all the class 3 narcotics I could get my hands on. Oh, and slushies from Sonic.
Thursday we mustered up the courage to try the pool again. This time I waited until Holden's nap and sequestered him poolside in the stroller. I buckled 3 out of the remaining 4 in life vests and let Abigail be the fish she was in her former life. That managed to keep us in the water for about 2 1/2 hours. Victory!!
Friday was the beginning of the end when we traveled to the Grand Canyon on the first leg of the trip back home. You know, there's a pretty good view out there at that ole' Grand Canyon. Huh! Go figure!
We made it home by Saturday evening, took a head count and didn't have to go back for any kids. We did it. The add-a-digit vacation was a success.
I'm literally crying I'm laughing so hard. Arizona should be closed in the summer. The whole state. love you!
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