Days 46-48: Phoenix - Would you lay by the pool in Phoenix in July?

Katie here as your guide through our Wild West Tale through south-central Arizona.

Ok, Phoenix was not so much of a Wild West Tale. But the drive there felt like we were on the set of one, and the heat was reminiscent of what I imagine it was like filming them. Our tale included seeing most all of my family (4 grandparents, 2 aunts, 1 uncle, and 3 cousins), laying by the pool, shopping, and seeing the midnight premier of Happy Potter 7.

The drive from Carlsbad to Phoenix is about 7 hours of the most dramatic and beautiful desert.

My grandpa Heavsy, having made the drive many times himself, recommended that we bring a few gallons of water with us in case we got stranded on the side of the road. Thankfully, we had lots of water onboard and Snoop made it through the dessert uneventfully.

Mimi and Henry (who all the grandchildren call ‘Heavsy’), my grandparents on my mom’s side, greeted us at their home with a delicious dinner and wine. Mimi and Heavsy have lived in the same home since 1962, so not only did we all have our own beds, but I was able to share a place that is so reminiscent of my childhood and family lore with Emmie and Parm! There are family photos everywhere, and every item in the house has a story. We gave Emmie and Parm the mini-tour, but I have a feeling they'll be back for the full tour someday :)

The dinner turned into a family affair when Uncle John and his girlfriend’s three beautiful daughters dropped by for dessert (rum cake, Oreos and milk) and Aunt Kay-Kay came to say hello.

We had a ball meeting the girls and hearing about their summers, and then played a rousing game of 'Guess that Name,' which involves guessing the name that someone is thinking of that starts with a certain letter. For example, what name am I thinking of that starts with an 'A?' It's a girls name. Ashley you say? No. Amber? Nope. Apple? Ding, ding ding! As a middle school teacher, Aunt Kay-Kay schooled us all at this game. Gold star for Kay-Kay!

We forgot to take a pic with everyone at the table, but at least got one of the table before we sat down.

The night ended early with grand plans for us to get early up the next morning to head to the Paradise Valley Country Club’s pool. We were thinking it would be good to avoid the intense heat of the midday. Well, that plan didn't go so well. We ended up getting to the Country Club at 11:30, which was just in time for lunch with Mimi, Heavsy and Kay-Kay. The PVCC Men’s Club, while it has a menu, has a ‘we’ll make whatever you want’ policy, so we all had fun putting twists on some standard menu items.

Did you know that you can lay by the pool in the summer in Phoenix? I had my doubts, but Parm, who was a lifeguard in Oklahoma City for several summers, insisted that laying by the pool in 100-degree-plus weather in the middle of the day was in fact quite fun. And she was actually right, it was great! We laid out on a luxurious U-couch (like an L-couch, except with one more arm) after lunch with a big umbrella and a slight breeze, and even took a few dips in the pool.

Swimming studs Parm and Emmie.

Emmie and I entranced a few high school football players (bottom right) while playing an intense game of splash ball. Unfortunately, we did not entrance the lifeguard who looked like a young Brad Pitt, but Emmie did get to talk with him because he stepped on and broke her sunglasses. Another pair of sunglasses down the drain. And she didn't even get his number.

When we got back to Mimi and Heavsy's house, my Aunt Chrissy and Cousin Jeanette had just arrived from the airport for a weekend visit. We shared some cream cheese and salsa dip and regaled each other with stories from our trips. Jeanette had just visited Syracuse, where she is being recruited to play women's hockey (what a stud!).

That evening, Kay-Kay and Mimi cooked a delicious dinner, with gourmet cookies to boot. Since Emmie and Parm were new to the family, Heavsy had them tell us all a little bit about them, and Lauren, Jeanette and Julia had some great questions about our college experience. It was wonderful to have so much family together. Thank you to all for being there!

Kay-Kay sets the most beautiful tables.

Potato salad, tomato-motzerella salad, asparagus and pork chops. Quite the line-up.

Kay-Kay, Mimi, Me, Parm, Heavsy, Lauren, Jeanette, Julia & Chrissy at Kay-Kay's place

The next morning, we woke up early** to meet Aunt Kay-Kay for breakfast at Le Grand Orange before heading to the Nordstrom Annual Sale. If you’re in the Phoenix area, you should definitely make a stop at Le Grand Orange – it’s a bakery/pizzeria/super cute gift shop/take-out food market/wine shop (and I’m probably missing something).

**Disclaimer: early is a relative term for us these days. Early means that we were up by 8:30 and out the door by 9:45.

You will all be glad to know that I was the one who purchased the least number of goods at Nordstrom! It was a big day for me – I only bought athletic gear. Emmie and Parm loaded up on very cute sale items and were able to squeeze them in another bag in the car (we allowed an extra bag since we only had a few more stops left).

At the Microsoft Cloud store in the mall after our Nordies expedition. Not as cool as the Apple store, BUT their touch screen display was quite fun and Emmie and Parm played the Kinnect Dance game outside the store for a bit.

After gathering our overnight things at Mimi and Heavsy's and figuring out how we were going to shuffle some of the family cars around, we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa (Mary Jane & Bill) McGuckin's place in North Scottsdale. Emmie, Parm and I whipped up dinner (we can now go from grocery bag to sitting down to dinner in 17 minutes when we cook the chicken strawberry poppyseed salad), had some chocolate raspberry ice cream and Sprinkles cupcakes, and proceeded to play with a stuffed monkey that Grandma had gotten as a gift.

Grandma's toy monkey is no ordinary stuffed monkey. It plays a song ("I Know You Want Me" by Pitbull) and dances to the song. We were more than amused by this little monkey and tried to replicate its dancing. One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were all dressed up in funny hats and/or glasses and dancing along with the monkey! Of course, for our dear readers, we recorded the dance, but YouTube is not cooperating, so look out for a link to the video as soon as it posts!

We got such a hoot out of Grandma's glasses that she kept them on for awhile, even while answering the phone (as pictured above).

After our MTV-worthy music video filming, Emmie, Parm and I chatted with Grandma and Grandpa for awhile.... and then, went to go see the Harry Potter 7 midnight premier!

We were definitely the oldest non-parent people there. It's a good thing that Parm had her cloak of invisibility (pictured below) to ward off the questioning stares. My cousin Jeanette was at the very same movie theater and snagged us some prime seats (middle of the theatre, aisle seats, doesn't get much better. Gold star for Jeanette). The only problem was that I was sitting next to the most emotive young woman in the whole audience. She would laugh at scenes that weren't supposed to be funny (but we all admit were kind of awkward), scream when it was not at all necessary, and chat with her friend sitting next to her at the most inopportune times. Next time, I'll bring my magic wand with dragon hair in it to pacify any brash audience members. The whole experience was validated by a pre-show wizard magic show-down, played out by high school boys in Harry Potter gear (video to be uploaded once YouTube cooperates). Now that would not have happened at a regular showing!

Parm with her cloak of invisibility and me with my magic wand getting ready for the movie. It was probably my favorite Harry Potter movie - highly recommended.

Since we were young rebels that stayed out until 3am the night before (we would have gotten home 15 min earlier, but I had some trouble figuring out how to release the emergency brake on Grandpa's Prius - whoops!), we slept in late and then just hung out by the pool once we were up. It was a rough life, staying with the McGuckins ;)

Parm floating in dreamland...

Practicing some ballet moves.

'Why are you taking my picture? And can I have my sunglasses back now?'

We scooted back to Mimi and Heavsy's to pick up the rest of our gear, then hit the road to Flagstaff to see our good friend, Mike Franklin. We had such a fun and relaxing time in Phoenix, and are so grateful to all of my family who hosted us and came out to see us!