A Summer in Arizona & Mexico Story

It will be hard to organize this, so here it goes. Last week we all flew to Tucson to spend a week there before we sent the girls down to Mexico to spend a month with my parents. We saw a lot of friends and family there.....People there are most definitely the thing we miss the most from Arizona. The weather on the other hand did its best to remind us why we chose Hilo as our new home (and the people in Hilo are pretty cool too....).

A special thanks go to our dearest friends the Nielsens (Ewic and Julie and Lucy and Bea) who two years ago organized what has to be the best going away party in the history of Tucson (unfortunately there are no pictures to document this - people were a bit wee too....hic*.....happy to take pictures). The highlight of the party was a skid they put together along with other friends (the Roths, and Jaime & Laurie) in which they depicted the story of how Charlotte and I met in the Biosphere to the tune of Gilligan's Island theme song (Eric played Charlotte....it is sooooooo sad that there are no pics of this)

Then again, this year the Nielsens organize a wonderful party in the Racquet Club which not only was great, but it also allowed us to see many many friends, some of which we had not seen in two years...! Eric & Julie....you Rock!

So here comes the pictorial part of the trip......enjoy!

Charlotte's first stop was at her Aunt & Uncle's house (Joyce & Pete) in Phoenix. Her plane got there just four hours late (she got in at 4AM!) and they still went to pick her up at the airport (they're saints). Here they are with their cat Sammy...

From there she took the long way back to Tucson and on the way she stopped and spent a night at our friends Don & Heidi and Sophia (their one year old baby). We know Don and Heidi back from the Biosphere days, the latter Biosphere days that is (after the second mission). They were also the first visitors we had in Hawai'i...!

Next day Charlotte and her Aunt Sharon, Cousin Missy and niece Gillian went to the airport to pick us all up... Charlotte took the girls to the hotel where we were staying (Syd was sleeping over with the Nielsens and Hana with her cousin). How hot was Tucson, I already said how hot in the previous email, but for those who live in Hilo and read the blog (all two of you) here is the proof!

VISITING FRIENDS

Charlotte went and had breakfast with Heather, an old friend of hers, and a very talented artist too....she has a nice house in Tucson that is filled with her art.....

like this moving picture machine that shows the tide coming in and out of Rocky Point in Mexico..

Charlotte and Syd had lunch with Hope at El Cubanito (very good home style cuban food). Hope is a friend of Charlotte from the U of A....

And speaking of the U of A, we went out and visited CEAC, the greenhouses at the U of A in which Charlotte worked for a while and through which we met Richard, Charlotte's current boss (http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac/). We had lunch with Dr. G...and then we visited Charlotte's old CEAC boss' greenhouse. As we were leaving CEAC, across the road in a hot & dirty patch of dried dirt Charlotte spotted Dave Rubis. Dave is an old friend from the Biosphere who is an expert in Safflower. Dave is quite a character too, he was there in his safflower fields in what felt like 300 degree weather. We stopped to say high and at first he thought he was hallucinating (and with that heat, who's to blame him!). It was very good to see good ol' Dave!

Laurie & Jaime and their kids Milo & Leo were also in the rounds of home stops that Charlotte made. We met them through Hana and her year in Second Street Day Care school....Laurie was also a key role player in the skid that was made at the going away party at the Nielsens house two years ago (she played the part of me.... can't you see the resemblance?)

A trip to Tucson could not be complete without a visit to our future in-laws Pete & Anne-Eve dream home. The story goes that Hana promised to marry their son Lars back in preschool at second street. To date, Hana still talks about marrying Lars..... They got a very cool house in a historic neighborhood in Tucson...

The room that "sold the house" to Pete & Anne-Eve...

Lars, our future son in lawMe playing some Dutch pub game (no drinking was involved here though)

One last stop was made to a bowling alley to join our friends Sue and Dennis who were celebrating the birthday of their daughter Claire. We met them back from the days when Sydney was born and Charlotte and other moms (Sue included) formed a baby co-op.....

C & Mamma Sue

Dennis & I (two chemical engineers....as it can be witnessed by the contents in our hands)

MALL WEIRDNESS....
Charlotte and her cousin took the girls to the mall where they got hair stuff (don't ask) and played around...

How weird are malls in the mainland these days?....very! they had people sitting in chairs right smack in the middle of the mall hallways getting, get a load of this...(I swear I'm not making this up)...their teeth whitened!!!! you don't believe me? see the pics!

NO TIES ALLOWED, PARN'ER!!!!!
We had to, how could we not? Pinnacle Peak is a steak house set in an old western movie set right smack in the middle of town (pic above). They have all the trimmings, the town square, panning for gold nuggets, the western shoot out (Hana could not stand the loud noise from the guns so her and I left), the train that goes around the site, gift shops, etc. And there is only one rule in the Restaurant: NO TIES ALLOWED, so we figured, rules are made to be broken right? So Charlotte went out and got ties for everyone and we went there with her cousins and aunt....

Here we are heading into the town...someday I will build a BBQ pit like that one...

With Missy waiting for our table....

Hana and Gillian refused to wear ties, I guess it didn't go with their outfits.....

We saw some very pretty ladies wearing clothes from the era....

And some ugly n'grimy prospectors with their donkeys....

They even had a place where you could keep your kids in while you browsed the stores! well ventilated too, in consideration of the local weather...

Ooops! I guess they meant NO TIES ALLOWED!.... there goes a perfectly good $2 tie....No matter how old or young, the rule applies to EVERYONE!

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP: POOL PARTY AT THE RACQUET CLUB!!!!

It was a hot day, and we got to see many many good friends all at once! The Nielsens rented one of the Ramadas at the club and rented the Pool Window Kitchen for the "Nielsens and Romo Party only" (see the sign in the pic above) so people could order food there without going up to the restaurant....

We've known these kids since they were born!

Molly....Syd's second grade teacher in Tucson, and possibly the best second grade teacher anywhere....we're trying to convince her to come over and teach second grade at St. Joe's next year. Hana will be in second grade....PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!?

pool friends

Nadine and Uncle Mickey Mouse (she would not believe my name was "Uncle Rodrigo" and insisted that my name was "Uncle Mickey Mouse".....)

More friends!

talking story....

Biosphere 2 Friends! (two generations! representatives from the only two crews that lived inside)

The mastermind of the party (or half the mastermind, a quarter of it most likely....somehow Julie managed to avoid being caught on camera, but she was the engine behind the party!)

Dinner with "La Familia"

Lasagna dinner at Charlotte's aunt house with her cousins and aunt&uncle from Phoenix...

And here is a picture that I am sure will come in very handy in the very near future...

Last day, still hot!

on the way to the airport the temperature (according to the car) was 112!

Off to MEXICO!

Friday we drove the girls to Phoenix where we put them in a plane and shipped them off to Guadalajara, it was their first time traveling alone and I'm not sure who was more nervous, them or us. They did very good and they are there now. They went and spent the weekend in my parents' farm in Tapalpa where they played with Rosita (the baby donkey), boogie boarded down a lawn hill, caught trout, went swimming (this was in my parents house in Guadalajara)... and here are some of the first pictures from down there...

With Rosita..

we talked to Hana on the phone and she told us that Rosita bit her, she said "I think she thought I had a carrot and she wanted it".....good thing is that Hana didn't bite back.

one of nonna's dogs (we think)

and the Fiumicino Gang....

meanwhile back at home the house remains unbelievably tidy and VERY QUIET....sad quiet...it's amazing how much those two fill up the house......HAVE FUN!!!

NOTE: if anyone would rather not have their picture (or that of their kids) and/or name on this blog, let us know and we'll remove it (especially those in the witness protection program).

Also, we know that many of you claim to "read the blog all the time", but unless you post comments (it's FREE!) there is no proof that you do so.... so please post comments!