Arizona Trip

Once upon a time...

(Ok, I say once upon a time because I'm finally getting around to finishing these long neglected blog posts)... back to the story.  Once upon a time, we took Sam on his first vacation!

 We took a trip in October to Arizona!

 We went to Arizona to see Nonnie.   She has seen Sam in Nebraska, but last summer she broke her hip and so it is harder for her to travel to see us, so we wanted to go see her.  (truth be told, we want to go see her again and again). 

 Sam and Jack both loved playing with her walker.

We flew in on a Saturday late afternoon and headed to a Husker Football party.  Yes, we were able to go to a full on Husker party in the desert.  We did have to put up with a Wisconsin fan just one week after that disaster though.  It was a fun party and I got a great new dip recipe. 

That means that we did not see Nonnie until Sunday morning when we went to her  beautiful apartment.  She lives in a great facility where she and Burt were able to live in a private town home and then she moved into an assisted living apartment where she is now.  She can also have a higher level of care if she needs it too.

We had a delicious brunch when we got there in the dining room.   Jack was thrilled to get to drive Nonnie's "rascal" scooter and play with her walker. 

 Nonnie also has a beautiful balcony where she and Jack blew bubbles.

 She also has a pool where Jess and Jack enjoyed swimming.

 Sam, Nonnie, and I just watched. 

 Like I said, Jack loved Nonnie's walker.  I think Nonnie was pleased to drive Jack around.

 We also wanted to go to Phoenix to see Jim, Nicki, and James!!!  As I mentioned before, we went to the Husker party, and we went with them, and spent our evenings with them.

 It was so fun for Jack to get to play with James, and for us to get to see Jim & Nicki!!!

 One evening, we went to "Oktoberfest."

It loses some of it's German nature when it is held in the desert, but it was a lot of fun for us. 

 The boys had lots of fun playing at the hotel too. 

 (so did Nicki!)

 Each morning, we headed over to Nonnie's to spend the early part of the day with her. 

 Our second morning, we headed to the zoo by Nonnies.

 The highlight of the trip to the zoo was feeding the giraffes.  There are three of them to feed.

  

We were in Arizona for Jack's birthday.  It was extra special for us to spend that with Nonnie!!!!!

 On Jack's birthday, we headed up to the white tank mountains.  Jack had a hard time walking up the trail.  Nonnie and Sam enjoyed staying in the air conditioned car.

 We had a lot of fun hiking up the trail.  I was glad to get to take Jack to show him the "real desert."

We were really sad to say goodbye to Nonnie.

 On our last evening, Jim and Nicki had us over for supper and a tractor ride.

 They planned a great birthday celebration for Jack!

 It was a great trip and we were home before we were ready to be which is always a sign of a GREAT vacation!!