Saturday, May 20, 2006

1st family vacation!

Recently, the Arrena show hit the road.

We loaded up the car and drove out to the Valley of the Sun. We managed to time it so that the real summer heat hadn't arrived yet, and the weather was perfect. Hot, but not too hot. One whole week in Scottsdale, AZ, with nothing to do. Honestly, it didn't matter where we were going, just that we could be together with no obligations, no plans, no anything.
While Mom has been spending waaaay too much time with Arrena lately (June will be different), I only get to see her on the weekends and at the end of a long day of work. So this was the first chance in a while for the three of us to spend extended periods of time together. And Arrena knew something was different.

She has gotten used to seeing me in the morning and then watching me disappear. She has even learned how to wave good-bye! It's the cutest thing, watching her little hand open and close. Yeah, cute, as long as you don't think about the fact that you are leaving.

Sigh.

Anyway. This week, she would see me in the morning. Then see me a little later in the morning. And she would look a little confused. Like, "Don't you have somewhere to go?" After a couple days, I think she just got used to it.

We didn't do much the whole week, but the highlight was (drumroll)...

The swimming pool!Now, Arrena has never been a fan of the water. She still screams bloody murder every bath time. I know that if our neighbor wasn't nearly deaf, he'd have called the cops on us by now. But there was no way we were coming to Arizona and not putting her in the pool. We were prepared to have it be a quick excursion, figuring she'd scream as soon as she touched the water. (Of course, that didn't stop Mom from buying swimsuits and all the accessories for Arrena.)

To our surprise -- and infinite joy -- our little girl took to the pool like a little dolphin.

We toyed with the idea of dunking her under the surface, but we decided not to press our luck.

Besides the pool, there was eating. And more eating. You know, not to speak ill of the Phoenix area, but there really isn't a lot to do there beyond eating and swimming. Which was perfect for us. We did a nice range of eating, from fast food to steaks, pizza to burritos. Within about a 10-mile radius of where we were staying, there seems to be just about every retail establishment imaginable. Not that we were doing any shopping. Honestly, it really didn't matter what was out there. It was nice to just be together as a family.


It turned out to be one the best vacations ever. Ever.