Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Grand Spring Break




Grandma treated us to a staycation at the AZ Grand for Spring Break!
It was an unusual chilly Spring this year. Lucky for us it warmed
up enough for us to barely even notice! The water was heated so that helped.


We crammed our families into 2 adjoining rooms.
The kids would have thought we were embarking on a day at Disneyland with all of their
excitement! We have done this before, so they knew exactly what kind of fun the were in for.



Pizza and a $20 HBO Spiderman movie for the kids, Thai food and chatting for the moms. 


Night swimming was a must.


She is all about accessorizing.


Marcie always comes prepared with the good stuff!


Time for the real fun to begin!
This resort is the BEST for kids.
We are there literally from opening to close.
No complaining from kids of boredom. It's a mothers paradise!




Lane won the kids dance competition.

A little ice cream break.



Loved our kickoff to Summer.




Sunday, September 8, 2019

Happy March Birthday's to Casey and Lindi!



We had to celebrate this cute 37 year old somehow!
Even though every year he says it's not necessary.

We gathered some of our very best friends for Gecko Grill and bowling.
He loves some good competition, so bowling was perfect for that!

Thankfully the waitress caught wind it was his birthday
and he got to have a birthday song and attention all on him, his favorite!
Feliz cumpleanos, now you get head lice:)






I love this psychedelic picture of him in his element of trash talking.



His birthday wouldn't have been complete without some ice cream.


Lindi had her birthday the following week. How is she 6 years old?  Tumbling has been her jam, so how perfect to have it be the theme for her party! It was tricky finding an available weekend to do it, smack dab in the middle of baseball season. In fact, she had a game that morning. Casey missed the party because Rusty had a game the exact time. They were super sad to miss all the girly squeals and what not. Wink.


My two nieces, Kaitlyn and Kennedy were SO nice to come and be the tumbling coaches for that portion of the party. They both are super at it and can flip all over the place! Our present to Lindi were those 2 tumbling mats. They loved practicing cartwheels, handstands and all things that involved flexibility and coordination. I was grateful to be able to just stand and spectate, ha! And it was the best idea to have my nieces as extra help! They ended up staying for the whole thing and it was awesome!!




My plan was to wear them out at the BEGINNNG of the party:) I think it worked!
They got snacks and sat down to paint or color some tumbling pictures. 

I loved decorated with all the fun, bright colors.
Food included.







Present time!


Group hug to say thank you for all the fun girly presents!


While they each took a turn whacking at the piƱata...



… this little girl took advantage of busting into big sisters new things while everyone else was preoccupied! The SMART stinker!


She did a pretty good job!


We sang Happy Birthday and blew out  the cupcake candles.


While we waited for parents, I passed out the loot bags and ribbon wands for them to play with.





This was the best group picture I could find.
left to right:
Della, Emery Heaps, Charlotte Heywood, Lindi, Colbie Warren, Oakely Sanders, Scarlett Figueroa, Riley Hathcock, Olive Evan, Claire Ellingson, and Evelyn Holmes not pictured.
Kaitlyn and Kennedy. 


Happy Birthday, sweet girl!





Spring Madness



Rusty's basketball coach made signs for each parent to hold up during the games.
I never did get pictures of that season, oops.
But here is our player #4 that we are so proud of!


I can't remember why we all ended up on our bed one night.
 Mental note that its time to upgrade to a king size bed!


While we were waiting for my phone to get fixed at the Apple store, we walked down to the pet store to see the puppies. It must have been a slow day, because the worker asked if we wanted to hold one! We were all caught a little off guard. Dogs are not always a man's best friend.
They are good with a window between them, haha. I had to talk them into it. I'm pretty sure they have never had that kind of response before! I love that they are trying to love the experience. They wouldn't let go of each others hand!


I had a good chuckle at the kids school during parent teacher conferences. 
The lost and found section looked pretty accurate of Arizona's winters.
Who needs a jacket? I swear my kids only wear one because I make them!
I don't need teachers thinking I'm a neglectful parent for sending my kids without warmth.
They are useful for maybe an hour in the morning before it warms up,
then apparently ditched on the floor!



I got a call from Casey saying they were in a car accident on their way home from picking up Rusty from basketball practice. He had Della with him. I told Lindi we needed to hurry and get in the car to get them. Once she heard car accident, with a quiver in her voice she asked, but is Della OK?
I said yes, she if fine. She seemed comforted in that answer, but never did ask about her dad, ha! 
I love that she has a bond with her little sister. 

I could see a big glow of lights from fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars
right where Casey described where they were. I got a little pit in my stomach as I got closer.
I was thinking it was a little fender bender. I was expecting my car (named, the Landshark)
to be completely crunched in the back after looking at the car that hit him.
Front and back were demolished. I was confused that both ends were damaged.
I learned it was a 3 car hit and run. A black Tahoe caused it all and took off.


Surprisingly, my tank of a car had no damage to it!
Casey couldn't believe it.
He said they got hit so hard he knew the car was going to be totaled. 
Way to keep them safe, Landshark!



Since it was a hit and run, the car that hit us wasn't at fault of damage and we needed to use our own insurance to take care of repairs. Luckily we had no repairs to fix! The police chief was so nice to us and let the girls pick out a toy from a big bag of loot! I was thinking it was going to be dollar store stuff. Nope! The girls walked away with a huge LOL doll ball each. Rusty picked a stuffed animal for Della since it was mostly for girls or babies.



I think my love language is resort hotel staycations. The Udall cousins partied at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge in Scottsdale and it was a wonderful time!! I will never turn down an excuse to stay up late, eat junk food day and night and be lazy next to a swimming pool. Even if it is pouring rain, which it did for the better part of Saturday. 




I went to the gym to help off set my bad eating habits.
I was on the treadmill watching the yoga class going on out the window.
The ended with namaste and mimosas!
 I should have signed up for yoga!


Pool time!


I started out healthy with an acai bowl...


 … but then threw all caution to the wind. Just order the dang nachos and be happy:)
Happy with a side of tots and onion rings, lol!


Since we were giving the pool boy so much service,
he repaid us back with complimentary macarons!


Gotta wash that down with a pina colada!


Or with Trellany's booby milk on the rocks!


These girls are the best!
So glad we are all so close and make an effort to stay connected.