Thankfully the temperatures were much cooler than the previous days, so we were able to stroll around at our leisure. There was definitely plenty to interest us all, including sampling the beef jerky, purchasing treats for Gunner, purchasing a hat and gluten-free chocolate-chipped cookies for Grandma, finding a hat for each of the grandsons and a bracelet for Capri, although she had decided to stay at home, as well as finding a few nicknacks for Brooke. Of course, there was also the obligatory snow cones for the boys, purchased with the pocket money Grandpa had given them. It was certainly a lesson in the value of money for them, though, as the cone they actually wanted was a dollar more than they had, forcing them to settle for what they could afford; sneaky Grandpa!
On our return home, we stopped at a nearby grocery store to purchase everything we needed for our “build-a-burger” night, but, while Brooke shopped with the boys, Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed a relaxing mid-afternoon coffee.
Back at home, the adults retired to their respective bedrooms for some downtime, while Capri played in the swimming pool with the boys. Before we knew it though, it was time to fire up the barbecue and start the preparations for our fun family evening. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were biting, so Plan B; move everything indoors, including the movie projector and screen and, with that, another fun evening began, ending with little “nuggets” fast asleep on either side of us, exhausted from another day of fun!
Once the formalities were concluded and we left the Zoom meeting, our second family duty ensued; we were looking after the grandchildren today so that Brooke could enjoy a Girl’s Day out with one of her friends. That meant, after Grandma had made the “custom ordered pancakes” for breakfast, matching the very stringent criteria stipulated by each grandson, it was time for the park, but this time we enjoyed “chalk drawing” after cooling off at the Splash Pad. Capri, on the other hand, was given the day off to enjoy her first day of her summer holidays, choosing to sleep for most of the day; as teenagers do! By the time we returned home from the park, though, the grandsons were exhausted as well and enjoyed some quiet time playing on their x-boxes.
After lunch Grandma spent a few hours helping William compile his first ever “YouTube” video , a four minute clip, demonstrating his “building techniques of sandcastles”. It was the cutest video ever and he certainly has discerning taste for a seven year old; he knew exactly what he wanted the video to look like!
By then Brooke had returned home, the outside temperature, reaching 40C today, had started to drop and it was time for more fun in the back garden. After cooling off in the swimming pool, all the grandchildren enjoyed their picnic dinner, complements of Grandpa, while the adults enjoyed their barbecued dinner in the coolness of the air-conditioned interior.
However, by then, Grandma had completely run out of steam and headed to her bedroom for some rest and “me time”, while Grandpa enjoyed a movie with the twins.
And on that note, we’d like to extend our congratulations to Lisa and Pieter and wish them many happy years together. Thank you for sharing your special day with us.
Once that was all working and Brooke had returned from her morning school run, she cooked us all a full breakfast; something we needed, given the day that lay ahead. Afterwards, it was time to entertain ourselves outside the house so the cleaners could do their thing.
The initial plan was to visit a different neighbourhood park, but everyone was just starting to enjoy themselves; the twins riding their bicycles, Grandma and William playing frisbee, Grandma and the twins enjoying all the climbing frames, including a climbing wall, Grandpa and William playing soccer, etc, when all of a sudden we were asked to leave, since a detailed cleaning of the park had been scheduled.
So, Plan B; return home and enjoy some fun in the swimming pool and what a great morning unfolded. It was “battleships” time. Armed with water guns and aboard our “ships” (aka the floaties), great battles ensued; twins against William and Grandma, twins and Grandma against William and Grandpa, grandparents against grandsons. Exhausted from all the laughing, paddling, ships being abandoned, men overboard, surrenders and numerous ceasefires, we all collapsed on the garden sofas, in the shade of the umbrellas, to enjoy our picnic lunch, complements of Brooke.
It wasn’t long, though, before everyone needed an afternoon nap, making for a very quiet and peaceful household again; our strategy was definitely working!
It was also Capri’s last day of school, so, to celebrate the official start of the summer holidays in the Cadman Jr household, Grandpa treated everyone to an outing at the Creek Side Taco Shack again, where the grandchildren entertained themselves in the beach sand and cooled off under the sprinkling system. Fortunately there was also a cool breeze to keep the 38C temperature at bay.
Needless to say, when we got home, almost everyone fell asleep during the “Happy Family Movie Night”. It had been a long day of “playing hard”!
Sadly, we’re all missing Keenan, though, because he’s still at work!
First stop was the Social Security office and from there we headed to the MVD (Motor Vehicle Division). After that we found the jewellers that had been referred to Elaine the previous day. Sadly, there was a fault with both of Elaine’s watches, requiring expensive repairs. Given the age of one of the watches, she decided to donated that one rather, but repairs are being carried out on the other. Unfortunately these will most likely not be completed before we leave, but fortunately, Keenan or Brooke will be able to collect it for us and keep it until our next visit. Hopefully that’s not another three years away!
From there we made our way to our storage unit. After finding Roy’s winter coat, which he’ll need for the Turkish winter, we also found all of Keenan’s childhood Walt Disney’s short story books; perfect reading for William now and definite bedtime favourites.
Once that was done, we were homeward bound and supposed to stop at the grocery store to purchase a few items for dinner. There was just one small problem; we couldn’t find the store! After driving around for ages, we eventually found a different one, miles from home, that just had to suffice. By the time we’d bought everything that we needed, though, Brooke informed us that Capri could be collected from school earlier than usual, so, that was the next stop.
Back at home, Brooke was enjoying snuggle time with Baby Austin, whom she was looking after for her friend.
Having decided on an early barbecue for dinner and after the bedtime story had been read to the grandsons, Elaine, Roy and Capri enjoyed a beautiful mild evening together in the back garden, just chillin’ and chatting. It was well after dark before we came in and, while Roy then retired to our bedroom, the girls continued to chat, which went on well into the night, interspersed with a call from Keenan, who was in San Francisco and getting ready to fly back to Boston.
This morning, after Brooke had dropped Capri off at school and while her and Roy enjoyed their morning exercise walk, albeit a little later than usual and, therefore, definitely hotter, Grandma enjoyed a dance workout with the grandsons, teaching them a few of her signature moves and had William serenading Grandma; what a laugh that was! Of course, the dog, Gunner, enjoyed the fun too!
We were definitely on a mission to work of their excess energy today, though. So, no sooner had Roy and Brooke returned, when the boys were informed they’d be spending the rest of their morning at Elevate. That gave Grandma and Grandpa the morning to themselves and allowed us to finish our outstanding errands, including returning to the storage unit, enjoying a morning coffee in downtown Chandler after visiting one of the Western / Cowboy outlets there, then heading to the Apple store in San Tan Village mall, where we also enjoyed a delicious lunch at another of our favourite restaurants, Brio.
It was mid-afternoon by the time we returned home, after eventually finding the grocery store we’d searched high and low for yesterday.
The strategy to deplete some energy had obviously worked, given that the house was completely quiet when we got home; Mom and all four grandchildren were on the sofa watching a movie.
After their dinner, Capri played with her brothers in the swimming pool, while the adults enjoyed a quiet, relaxing dinner, complements of Roy and his able assistant, Brooke, accompanied by a fabulous bottle of 2018 Chateau Buena Vista Pinot Noir; even Elaine didn’t pass up that opportunity!
Another bedtime story and a chat to Keenan, who was back in Michigan, sealed a few busy days.
Well, the trip to the jewellers turned out to be a complete waste of time because procedures had changed and they weren’t prepared to replace the batteries in the two Swiss watches because they couldn’t seal them and the battery replaced in the other watch indicated a fault, which they weren’t prepared to repair either. Armed with the address of a jewellers who could assist, but would have to wait for another day, we headed to Pita Jungle for lunch. Sitting on the patio, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and whiled away a good few hours before it was time to return home and collect Capri from school. It didn’t help matters, though, that the school called to inform Brooke that Capri “may have been exposed to COVID-19 on 19th May”; that was the day we had all seen her at Fat Cats for William’s birthday party. Just what we needed! Fortunately Elaine had worn her mask the entire time and neither of us were around the children, or any of the adults for that matter, given that we’d sat outside for most of the time.
Back home, we found Grandpa preparing lunch for three sleepy little boys, who had just surfaced from a very long morning nap; they’d all fallen asleep around Grandpa on the sofa while he was watching a recording of yesterday’s Grand Prix.
Once the grandsons were fed, Elaine did a Rapid Antigen Test, which was fortunately negative, but the decision was taken to have Capri tested after the incubation period, given that the school could only “estimate the possible exposure date”. As a precaution, Grandma wore her mask to be sure, to be sure!
Since the grandsons were grounded, Elaine and Roy enjoyed a nice long late afternoon walk before dinner, but not before Grandma had helped William build his second race track, which he’d received for his birthday and which entertained all the boys for the rest of the afternoon. It was during dinner, however, while Grandma was helping to dish up, that little Brayden popped out with: “Grandma and Grandpa, you are very special to us”. What do you say to that; just the cutest!
The boys had clearly enjoyed hanging out with Grandpa this morning, because after Mom and Grandma had tucked them into bed, a little while later, after Elaine had showered and Roy was in the shower, she stumbled upon two little faces peering at her out of the dark outside our bedroom door, waiting to ask if Grandpa could tuck them into bed too and, with that done, the household fell silent; bliss! It was time for Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy some downtime and watch a movie in bed.
Keenan, on the other hand, had his own excitement for the day; he was one of the first pilots to fly the brand new A321NEO, released into service last Friday, 20th May, by Delta. Although it was a very long flight from Boston to San Francisco, he clearly enjoyed it!
After breakfast, the grandsons were sent upstairs to tidy up their bedrooms, bathroom and games room, without Grandma helping them; strict instructions from Mom (Brooke), the incentive being boardgames with Grandma and Grandpa afterwards.
While all that was supposed to happen, Brooke and Roy popped out to the “Pork Shop” to get something to put in the smoker for dinner. However, mayhem ensued upstairs and very little tidying up actually gone done, but there was plenty of laughter and giggles. That said, though, there was absolutely no way Grandma was going to take charge and run the risk of getting caught upstairs when Mom returned, so they were left to it!
Well, after a few hours and no sign of them getting finished, the decision was taken that the adults would play one of the card games without them; that soon sparked them and by the time the card game was over, we were all able to settle down and play an all time favourite game; Mexican train dominoes.
Additional games were added as the afternoon progressed and it was early evening before we called it a day and enjoyed the delicious dinner, a team effort; Smoked stuffed pork roast, complements of Roy, a salad, complements of Elaine, and steamed broccolini, complements of Brooke.
It was definitely a sad state of affairs, though, when Grandma crawled into bed before the grandchildren! It had been a very long day!
After breakfast we then went on a bit of an adventure, with the twins driving their motorised jeeps and William on his dirt bike. We were actually pleasantly surprised that they, not only knew the rules and recited them to us before we set off, but behaved very well; we had anticipated a rather disastrous outing of sorts with three boys heading off in different directions and Grandma and Grandpa running around like headless chickens trying to corral them. Fortunately, that was not the case and we had another great outing together.
The remainder of the day was spent playing with the boys, in particular, Grandpa helped William build his Lego monster truck, another birthday gift he’d received. By mid-afternoon we needed a nap, though, before getting ready for our dinner outing with friends, Lisa and Joe, whom we hadn’t seen since our last visit to Arizona. It was a fabulous treat at DC Steakhouse in downtown Chandler and wonderful to catch up with them after all these years; quite surreal actually being out at our favourite restaurant, albeit at a nice new venue, with not a single indication that the pandemic had ever happened, given how busy the restaurant was, with no social distancing, masks, etc.
Walking around downtown Chandler, our “home town” for many years, it was amazing to see how developed the area was now, with so many new cafés, restaurants, bars, shops and free high-rise parking complexes. It was definitely a very popular area and had clearly survived the downturn associated with the pandemic.
It was quite late by the time we got home, creeping in quietly, so as not to wake anyone. Our thanks to Lisa and Joe for a wonderful outing.
