Sanibel Island FL

My friend, Karen, has invited me to go to Sanibel Island with her and her family! Beaches, shelling, swimming, food, sun! Yes!!!

Now to get through the 4 months until the trip!

Cracker the Mule and Gianna the Princess

My vacation started at 7:50 am May 23rd when I boarded the Southwest plane bound for Phoenix, AZ. A week filled with family, birthday, my niece and fun all around.

After I stepped off the plane and rounded up my suitcase, it felt fantastic when I stepped outside to wait for Mom to pick me up. No humidity and sunny skies! Oh yeah! I could breathe. Once Mom picked me up in her new red Mitsubishi I got to see my niece in person for the first time. She was asleep though, so I just had to watch her. I met her mom, Destiny, and she's really cool. Seeing my little brother (not so little anymore, 24!! Ack!) was awesome too, since I don't get to see him too often.

The first thing on our list was getting to the Grand Canyon. We set off for the huge rift in the land right after I was settled in the backseat of Mom's SUV. The scenery on the way up there is so beautiful! I navigated Mom to Desert View, the eastern entrance of the Grand Canyon National Park. I figured it would be better than going to the main area first and then backtracking to get to Desert View. It was fantastic! I will post pics when I get them uploaded from my camera. The tower there at Desert View is so cool! Unfortunately they had the very top outside observatory closed due to the lightning and storms in the area. I sooo wanted to go up there! We stopped at the gift shop on the way back to the car and had lunch before we loaded back up to go to the main park. It started hailing on the way back to the car and my niece didn't know what to do when she was getting lobbed with the mushy ice in her stroller. She didn't cry but she had this look on her face that was hilarious. It was great! Her daddy started running with her stroller and she was laughing and loving it. We spent some more time over at the main park taking pictures and walking around.

Mom had gotten a room in Flagstaff for the night and so we headed off in that direction around 5 pm or so. Flagstaff is so beautiful. I loved the scenery we passed as we headed down the highway. After getting to the hotel and checking in we start hunting for somewhere to eat. We ended up at this restaurant, I can't remember the name, but it was a steakhouse close to the hotel and the food was good but the entertainment was overwhelming. The place was set up like an old western saloon right down to the stage for singing and performing. And, yeah you guessed it, the wait staff got up there and sang and danced. It was loud. I don't think I would have minded it so much if I had been able to hear Mom, who was sitting to my immediate right, talking to me. I felt like I was at a concert because I couldn't even hear the people around me talking let alone even order our food in semi-normal tones of voice. We had to practically shout at our server to order our dinners and drinks. It was ridiculous. I wanted to go find the volume button, but unfortunately there wasn't one. The food was good though.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and, though it was a little chilly, I wanted to go for a swim. Destiny was brave enough to go with me, though my brother, Brandon, wouldn't get in. It's too cold! he said. Destiny didn't get all the way in, but I wanted to swim so I said to hell with it and jumped in. It was a little chilly walking back to the room dripping wet with the hotel towel wrapped around me. But it was worth it.

Back in the room we got Gianna, my niece, ready for bed and we all just hung out, watched TV, and talked. The next morning we went to have breakfast at the buffet in the hotel and it was surprisingly good. Gianna ate like there was no tomorrow and we all had a good breakfast. After breakfast we headed back to the valley to get ready for horseback riding. I had booked all four of us for a 3 hour horseback ride at Spur Cross Stables in Cave Creek.

We got there on time after leaving Destiny's sister home with Gianna and filled out the requisite forms, then they lined us up for our horses. Brandon was in front, Destiny second, Mom third and I was put last because I had the most experience out of all of us. Brandon got a horse, Destiny got a horse, Mom got a mule named Hershey and I got a mule named Cracker. I was mad. I wanted a horse. I asked if I could have a horse but they wouldn't let me. I was stuck with Cracker. Fitting name, I would think later. After we've all mounted up and started out in a line after the guide, Cracker decides he doesn't want to be last and cuts in front of Mom's Hershey. Lovely. I should have known this animal was going to be trouble right from the start. He did fine until about halfway through the ride and decided he was just going to go at his own pace and to hell with how much I kicked him or squeezed him to go faster to keep up with the group. The guide handed me a sharp branch at some point and told me to poke him in the hind quarter with it if he started lagging again. That had about the same effect on him as squirting a water gun at the ocean. He didn't care. It was at that precise moment I remembered why I hated mules so much. They're stubborn. This one seemed more so than others I'd had to deal with. The mule was a pain my ass. I knew he was going to be, too. The rest of the ride passed slowly but surely and I resigned myself to watching the scenery and trying to keep my mule caught up with the horses. Mom's Hershey just kept pace with Cracker. All in all, it was a fun ride but I would have preferred a horse to Cracker. We fed our animals their carrots from the canvas bags we had been toting around with our water and stuff in them when we dismounted back at home base. I was never happier to see the rear end of a mule before. Brandon remarked to me on the way back home that it sucked because the ride was my idea and I got the short end of the stick. I shrugged and said maybe next time I'd get a horse.

Back home we grabbed dinner and relaxed.

Monday for Memorial Day we took flowers to my grandpa and grandma. He was a WWII vet. The cemetery was full of people and Mom was worried we'd get stuck there for a long time but the line in wasn't really bad. I miss them both so much. I wish they had been able to see their great-granddaughter before they passed.

Wednesday was my birthday and my aunt and uncle had a cook out party for me. Mom forgot my cake and birthday card. She said, "At least I remembered the presents." My response, "Well, I would hope so since you forgot everything else." With a grin of course. I had to pick out my own birthday cake at Walmart before the party. It was funny. My uncle cooked bratwursts, hamburgers, and hotdogs. Mom and I made punch, not kid friendly of course. It was my birthday! It was good but I think we should have left out the sherbet because it looked really gross when the sherbet melted. After dinner my aunt got the cake out and lit candles for me. Everyone sang Happy Birthday in English and Italian and I blew out the candles. After we all had cake all the kids got in the pool. Brandon and I joined them and we brought Gianna in with us. Brandon was throwing the younger kids and when he was done with that he took Gianna. Poor little thing, he dunked her and she did not like that. She started crying after the second time. She looked so cute in her little bathing suit.

The rest of the week was relaxation and spending as much time with Gianna, Mom, and Brandon as possible. Mom and I took Gianna with us to dinner one night at IHOP while Brandon took Destiny to work. It was good and she was such a good baby. She's a little piggy, too. She ate a whole cup of yogurt, some of Mom's strawberry french toast and scrambled eggs, and some of my fries. Then ate some snacks when we got home. I think she has her daddy's metabolism. The little shit.

Mom took me to her work one day to meet someone who wanted to see me but the lady wasn't there. Mom works from home now so she rarely has to drive into the office. She signed me in and we walked around and visited some peeps she works with. Mom's friend Barb thought Gianna was mine and told me she was beautiful. I laughed and said yeah she is but she's not mine, she's my niece. I wish she was! Brandon cut in line! It was my turn, dammit! We had a good visit with some people and then Mom and I went shopping at Arizona Mills. I love that place! It's huge and we don't have huge outlet malls like that here in Texas. Mom and I stopped in a baby clothing store and they were having a huge sale. 60% and 70% off things! Mom bought all of Gianna's Christmas stuff that day! It was funny. I bought her a couple of cute little outfits.

On Friday, me, Mom, my aunt, my two little cousins, Gianna, and my aunt's friend and her daughter went to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. It was a blast!! All of the kids had a great time. We had lunch when we first got there and the kids had boxcar meals. The boxes were shaped like little train boxcars! It was cute. We all rode the train a couple of times and saw prairie dogs and bunnies on the second trip. The kids went nuts over the little prairie dogs. The kids wanted to ride the carousel so we got them on and I took Gianna on for her first pony ride. I set her on the seat and she held onto the bar. She loved it, until the carousel pony started going up and down. I think she got a little scared when it did that. She held on until it stopped though, she was just a little fussy. I think she would have been OK if the pony hadn't gone up and down because she was loving it when we were just sitting still. After everyone was done riding the rides, we went and had ice cream. It was good stuff! A very fun day!

I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner one night for everyone. Destiny was at work, but everyone else loved it. Well, Gianna didn't like the meatballs but we think it was just the texture of the meat. It was good, if I might say so myself!

Vacation ended all too quickly because it was Saturday way too soon. I wanted to call Mom and tell her to turn around and pick me back up after she dropped me off and I'd stay for another week. I could have and probably should have, I needed another week of vacation. If I had thought about it I would have done just that. Oh well, I'll make up for it in February when John and I go out there for a couple weeks. I can't wait for Gianna to meet him. I can't wait for another vacation out there! I had so much fun!