Phoenix April 17 - 20, 2010

Sabbatical travel began with a trip to Phoenix to visit friends from college.  Trent and Ann have four beautiful, intelligent, and often hilarious children ages 2-10.  The visit was all kinds of crazy wonderful and I was invited back even after creating a new sport called "grass diving" while watching the two youngest boys.  In case you've not heard of this sport, grass diving is what happens when you run down a grassy hill at lightning speed, lose control of your footing, and dive face-first into the ground.  It often leads to raspberries on your nose, bloody lips, and grass between your teeth.  Hayden (age 4) became a champion grass diver while in my care.  Luckily his parents brushed off the incident as quickly as he did and the childless friend was forgiven.  I left feeling as though I'd spent good quality time with dear friends and gotten a nice snapshot of each child's unique personality.  My favorite comment of the visit came from Hayden who stated one afternoon, "You're pretty good looking for someone old like a dinosaur with big veins".  This flattery was quickly followed with an inquiry about the "crack in my eye".  That my young friend, is called a wrinkle.