Grams Turns 80!

Grams turned the big 80 at the end of March and gave my family a reason to gather.  All my siblings and Dad met out at Grams' place in Arizona to celebrate.  We left on a Thursday night after work and drove as far as Vegas.  That night we stayed at Uncle Nathan's to Olivia's delight.  Then, we forced Uncle Nathan pretty much against his will to squish into our car for the remaining 5 hour drive to Glendale, Arizona.  Liv loved having a seat mate, the boys were neutral and Nathan didn't complain regardless of his feelings on the the matter.

The kids were overall really good.  It is a bit of a struggle to entertain the boys for these long car rides, but I brought and read tons of books and bought a bunch of new exciting snacks and would throw random toys back for them to play with.  It was exhausting. 

We arrived at Grams' place on Friday (her birthday).  Immediately Liv put on her swim suit and wanted to go swimming.  We forced her to wait until the hot tub was at least heated so we could warm up because the pool was pretty cold.  We all went to sushi, well, all except Derek and the crazy boys.  Derek was a saint and stayed back at the house trying to entertain the boys.  They watch a duck swim in Grams' pool which was obviously very entertaining.

Then, when the rest of us got back we finally got in the pool to the over-anxious Liv's delight.  It was cold!  But, you numbed up pretty quickly.  Liv stayed in the pool swimming for nearly 20 minutes.  The boys hated it and immediately were moved to the hot tub which they loved.  When Liv finally decided to join the rest of us in the hot tub she realized what she was missing.  Thank you Aunt Kylie for catching some cute pictures of my kids.  I honestly took hardly any photos the whole weekend.  I felt like I just spent the entire time trying to keep the boys from destroying Grams' house.  Here's Carter posing

and Liv in the new dress that Lynn and Poppi got her.  She has worn hardly anything else since.  Every day it's this dress.  I finally got her to let me wash it today.
 
That night for dinner we had a traditional Rowe Family crab feast with Grams' famous cole slaw.  We shipped the crabs in overnight from Pikes Fish Market in Seattle.  They were delicious.  I was so glad Ky and Nay got these awesome pics with the birthday girl.
 


That night I stayed up talking to Ky until 2:30 am since she was only in town for a short 24 hours before flying back to Reno.

The next morning, would you believe that they first thing Liv wanted to do was go swimming?!  We made her go on a hike instead while we waited for the day to warm up.  Grams and I did a 2 mile flat loop at the base of a mountain (right by where the new Phoenix, Arizona temple is being built) while everyone else did a hill hike.  We didn't bring a back pack for Liv, but I guess she hiked up the entire mountain, then Derek carried her down because we were kind of in a rush to get Ky to the airport.

Then, of course we went back to the house and went swimming again.  This time we heated the hot tub just to 85 degrees.  It was perfect for warming up, but not too hot.  Everyone enjoyed the pool a little bit more that way.  Here's Liv sitting by the pool after the swim enjoying the nice weather and a gingerale. 
 
I always remember feeling like Grams fridge was magical because no matter how many sodas you drink your favorites always seem to magically reappear.  It was the same way this time.  Here are the boys in shorts.   Cute chubby legs in cute shorts.

We attempted a somewhat fancy dinner at a restaurant that night always crazy with our kids.  Then, we all went back and watched Saving Mr. Banks.  The next morning we set off for home.  We fully intended to stop in St. George and stay the night, but by the time we got there it was almost bedtime for the kids.  Instead, we stopped at Nick and Sonni Lyman's for a couple hours till kids were ready for bed and did the rest of the drive with the kids asleep.  That part of the drive was fabulous (11 hours in one day)!

In other news, Liv has hand, foot, and mouth disease.  What a fun way to spend Spring break (this next week)!  She's been pretty energetic despite being sick, but has had fevers and hasn't wanted to eat much due to all the lovely sores in her mouth.  I don't blame her.  I think she is actually loving it because I am letting her watch all the movies and tv shows she wants and making her milkshakes upon request.   I just really hope the boys don't get it.

It was conference weekend.  Not sure I heard much of anything with all the crazy kids in this house.  Oh well, I can always read it later I guess.