OLA: Being Ma and Grandma All Over Again!

April, my bunso, and Yeye, my granddaughter and her goddaughter in Sedona

at the Countryside RV Fitness Center

We left Las Vegas already feeling the coming onslaught of the summer heat and, just like that, it hit us in Bullhead City, just like a 15-minute sauna, except that this time it was a 24-hour punishment! We really should have been going up to Calgary for my daughter Claudine’s second baby but April had another global project team meeting in Cincinnati and had a chance to visit us and a BFF in Phoenix. So there we were, in the sweltering heat of the desert sun, for me to have the chance to be a mother and a grandma all over again(we had sent a ticket to Yeye, my second granddaughter and April’s goddaughter )!

taking time to get up from their sofa bed

The four days with them consisted of 5 neat activities: exercising, chillaxing, eating, sight-seeing, and shopping. We exercised on Saturday and Sunday at the Resort’s Fitness Center and April and Yeye swam at the Resort Pool on the morning and evening, respectively. The two also chillaxed every morning while waiting for the breakfast to be ready, once by Bill, once by me. The other one was just ensaymada con chocolate which did not need any time. I made the Filipino breakfast which April absolutely loved: daing na bangus with red eggs and tomatoes, over-easy eggs, and garlic fried rice. Bill granted their request for  blueberry pancakes with bacon and over-easy eggs! 

Inn and Out Burgers, April's treat!!!

Fat Willy;s at Viewpoint RV and Golf Resort, our treat!!!

April treated us to our first lunch at Inn-n-Out which she has sorely missed but she was sorely disappointed, the memory was better than reality! The next day we showed them Viewpoint RV and Golf Resort where we will be for winter and treated them to lunch at the Resort’s Fat Willys’ Bar and Grille. We all loved the Fat Willys’ and Southwest Samplers for appetizers and the surf and turf for entrees, leaving absolutely no more room for dessert. The following day Yeye treated us to a wonderful Mexican lunch at Arriba Mexican Bar and Grille for some pozole, chili Colorado, machaco tamales, and taco zaragozas. At our RV, we had 2 dinners of chicken inasal and salad greens one night and baked tilapia and cucumber salad another night.

going Mexican at Arriba, Yeye's treat!!!

Arnie and Itchan and the 3 of us at Starbucks!

Arnie, April’s friend, with her husband Itchan, picked her and Yeye up Saturday afternoon from a Starbucks café and took them to the picturesque Red Rocks of Sedona and the Slide Rock State Park. Unfortunately, as they were about to go home, their car broke down. Happily, the adventure did not at all turn stress-laden because it afforded all youngsters lots of food and laughter all the way home. Tired Bill picked them up and they got home at 1 am while I was sound asleep.

the ring!!!

But the biggest activity of all on both Saturday and Sunday was April’s first round of trying on wedding gowns. Right before her trip to the US this time, Clint Pijuan, her boyfriend of two years, put a beautiful diamond engagement ring on her finger with the fabulous Scottish Highlands as the backdrop. The ring looks absolutely gorgeous and they have scheduled the wedding for June of 2014 at an old Scottish castle. She looked radiant in the top 2 choices both of which are princess cut at the top with a mermaid bottom for one and trumpet for the other. So she has her work cut out for her for maybe the next half-year. I am so glad I was able to be there to help her get started!

Yeye and Bill, voting for each  wedding dress April tried on

One of the other places we went to had wedding gowns at rock bottom prices but none made the grade. Last Chance is a third outlet of Nordstrom. Apparel and shoes that don’t get bought at Nordstrom get sent to Nordstrom Rack and those that don’t get bought at Nordstrom Rack get sent to Nordstrom’s Last Chance. Fides Alviar gave us the hint! But it was Yeye, not April, who got crazy there. She got the most out of her shopping dollars for all of three hours! Little did she know of what was in store for her later. 

the girls packing

Her Alaska Airlines flight back to Seattle was at 5:35 pm. At 2:12 pm a Southwest flight that left LA bound for Austin, Texas (a 3-hour flight) was reported to have a bomb on board and was diverted to Phoenix instead. Both entrances to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were blocked by the time we got there. When one opened, there was a huge logjam. We were able to get to Terminal 4 in time for April’s 7:25 pm British Airways flight back to the UK but, sadly, we did not make it to Yeye’s.

She had to spend another night at the RV and do her homework. We bought a pint of Starbucks Java chip frapuccino ice cream for her sole delight! Next morning Bill took her to the airport for her new flight at 6:20 am (while I slept and snored) and she arrived in Seattle around 9 am. She went straight to school, missing her first three classes, one of which had a final exam! Her Dad Deejay wrote an excuse letter for her and all’s well that ends well. The two are back home, safe and sound.

ABCD Family Quartet

The best souvenir of our weekend together is not the stress we all felt during that dreadful trip to the airport but four red plastic cups we all left behind at the RV: A for April, B for Bill, C for Carol and D for Daniela (Yeye)! We are a definite Family Quartet! Now I am eagerly waiting for the next time when in July, in Calgary, I will again be a doting Mom to Claudine anda spoiling Grandma to Enzo and a brand new baby boy, my fifth and Bill’s and my 10th! I will be Mom and Grandma all over again!!!

the girls at the Desert Botanical Garden