Ok, people are asking for an update on my blog, but unfortunately everything that has been going on for the past couple weeks with me has already been commented on… so I guess I’ll just give you all my spin on it. =)

You asked for it....

The first day that John got here was Friday night. He arrived at the Tucson Shuttle stop around 7:45. He was tired and hungry, but it was great to see him!! We gave him a couple of choices of what to do right away, and he opted for getting something to eat, he wanted barbecue, so we took him straight to Famous Dave's. (Some of the best barbecue in Tucson!!) Almost as soon as we got there, (after the drunk guy asked us for money…) Zion and I ran to Toys R Us to pick up a gift for Brandon’s birthday the following day. (I know, I know, I’m a terrible aunt, waiting till the last second to go pick out a gift for my nephew, but, I had only come up with one good idea for a gift and recommended it to John!!) We ended up finding him a fire truck tent thing. It’s really pretty cute and he seems to be enjoying it.

The following day, Saturday, we all went to Old Tucson. Everybody had a really good time, some more than others, *ahem, Jariah*…j/k, hehe. The only bummer was that we had to leave by 2:30 in order to make it to Brandon’s Birthday party, and there was going to be a rodeo at 4!!! We were all a little disappointed to miss it, but we headed off to Reid Park for Brandon’s birthday party anyway, and we had enough fun to make up for it!

On the way to the park, Zion was driving, and for a second, he thought that he was heading in the wrong direction, so John and I were kind of ribbing him about it, and as it happened, a second later, Zion was like, oh, yeah, this is right, and John noticed a nice Mercedes driving by and commented on it, saying, "Sweet Mercedes." I was sitting directly behind John, and didn't see the car he was referring to, so I asked him, "Umm, is that an expression? Or did you actually see a 'Sweet Mercedes'"? He thought that this was rather hilarious, and we all had a good laugh about it. Well, it's an expression now, by golly!!!! (A snap-dog one, if I do say so myself!)

Brandon's party was great fun, plus we got to introduce John to some of our Arizona friends, (Mark and Tina Steinke, their three kids, and Herb and Anna Penrod from church, and Josh and Elijah, Zion’s brother and nephew.)

One of the funnier parts of the party was when Josh and Elijah arrived and Josh was talking to Tina about Ethan(her youngest, he’s 9) and Josh said to Elijah, ‘Hey, see there’s someone here your age’, and Elijah turned and said in disgust, as only a 10 year old could, “I’m ten.” It was hilarious!! (They did end up playing some sort of soccer/kickball type game later and I believe they both had a pretty good time.)

After the party, Jariah and Becca took Brandon on home so that he could play with all of his new toys and get to bed early after a very long day, while John, Josh, Elijah, Zion and I headed to Pinnacle Peak for something to eat. When we got there, there was such a long line, we decided to go elsewhere and ended up at Texas Roadhouse. The food was delicious, and we even got to see some cavemen. (Jury is still out as to if they were the ACTUAL cavemen for Geico, or look-a-likes, but they sure look like the real things to me... well, not the real things, oh... you know what I mean.)

The following day, Sunday, the 6 of us headed toward Phoenix for a Renaissance Festival. It had definite potential to be a really cool, fun time; but it was sooo crowded, and we weren't there right when it opened for the day(because we were all tired from the previous day...)and when we tried those awesome looking 'turkey legs' that look totally medieval and cool but that actually taste disgusting... (run-on sentence, anyone?) Gross! They were so revolting! They tasted like really bad ham (John doesn't like ham... inside joke) and were a huge waste of money. They DID look really cool and we did get some great pictures of us all choking them down, so we should still have decent scrapbook pages of the event.... which is really all that matters. =) The jousting tournaments were pretty neat to see, and of course the Scottish bagpipers that John has gone on about were very fun to see. All in all it was a pretty fun day, just that compared to all the other fun days we had while John was here, it rather paled.

On Monday, Jariah and Zion went to work as usual. John, Becca, Brandon and I all slept in, then had a very relaxing morning with coffee, talking, and picture viewing. Finally, we headed off to Tucson Electric Park for the old ball game. (that song just never gets old.)We did get lost on the way, but only for a few minutes. (Jariah had told Becca when we were at Reid park for Brandon's birthday that the diamond was right next to the park. He pointed it out to her and everything, but that was the wrong baseball diamond, so we went to Taco Bell for lunch while John called the actual park to get directions. We were only about 5 minutes late for the game, despite going to the wrong place the first time. We were later informed that the directions weren't really from Jariah, but from Zion months ago... anyhow...)

The game was really, really fun to go to. Brandon figured out pretty quick that people in the stands were catching balls and kept begging to catch one, too. It was adorable, he had his little hands out in front of him as he kept saying, "please, I catch the ball?!....... please, ball..." Imagine his surprise when Uncle John came up to him a bit later in the game and handed him a baseball!! (Only about 5 seconds after we exited the souvenir shop... amazing, huh?) He really thinks that he caught it, and he absolutely loves it!!!

I actually did almost catch a foul ball. I was headed to the restroom, when one flew into the stands just ahead of me. It bounced first off the concrete, then directly into my hand, then a bit further down the aisle-way behind me. I seriously could have had it, but when the stampede of very large men came charging toward me, I decided not to join them. =)

The last full day of John's visit the we went back to Tucson Electric Park for another baseball game. It was fun, though not quite as exciting as the first one. However, we did get a chance to get our tans more even. We sat on the other side of the diamond, and we even got a little bit closer to the action. After the game, we headed off to Nogales. This wasn't my favorite of things,(kinda like tuna helper... another inside joke) but I wouldn't mind going back sometime during the day with some cash. They have beautiful jewelery!!

On Wednesday, Becca and I had to take Johnny-Boy (no 'Walton's' reference intended) back to the airport. We took our time getting around, packed up all his stuff, went to Tucson Mall to charge his cell, then headed up to Phoenix with only one quick stop at the Casa Grande outlet mall. He got a few things from Gap for Janessa, a book for the flight, and then we dropped him off.

Becca and I made our way back to Tucson (safely and without getting lost.... miracles do exist) with only one minor diaper incident on Brandon's part.



Finally, this past Friday, Zion and I went to Elijah's school play. Now, I'm not saying he's the next Harrison Ford, but he really did do an awesome job!! (There was even a sword fight, and it was every bit as believable as the ones they had at the Renaissance Festival...) He's got some real talent, and if he keeps up the good work, someday he might even rival Jariah on stage.... hahaha

Maybe BeccaR will post some pics of it, or even a video clip on Ramirez Kids blog... If I see it, I'll let you know!! =)

Okay, it's late and I'm tired so I'll quit rambling. (stop singing for joy, it's rude...) Sorry if none of this post makes any sense. I'll re-read it tomorrow and if it's unreadable... well, I probably won't do anything, but, maybe I'll work on it some more. =) Good night, and good luck!!