Vacation 2010 - April 8, Apache Junction

We started the day off again with a run through the Usery Recreational Area. This time we knew where we were going, but that didn’t make it any less exciting. We saw three hares (I believe that’s what they were) and a roadrunner. Jenny was attacked by a cactus which waylaid us for a few minutes, but overall it was a nice run.

After spending several days with Quin, he seems to be getting smarter all the time! No doubt it’s because of the extra exposure to me!!! Anyway, I thought it would be a nice aside to go through some of Quin’s latest quotes.

• When Quin wants something to drink, he says “My toostie,” which loosely translates to “My Thirsty.” Anything can be his thirsty, including something that you though was your drink…
• When Quin does something, anything, he may look at you and say, “I did it.” No doubt about what he’s saying here. On the ride home we were treated to a variation of that. He would take off his shoes and socks while riding in his car seat and say, “I did it (pause) mommy.” He would keep saying that until Jenny would look at him and tell him he did a good job. He would then move on and say, “I did it (pause) daddy.” Same drill. Finally he would end with, “I did it (pause) E.” E is how he says “Ethan.”
• If Quin wants something open, he hands it to you and says. “Ope.”
• If Quin wants to put something in his pocket. he hands it to you, grabs his pocket, and says, “Pock.”
• However, if Quin is stuck or something he wants is stuck, he says, “uck.” There seems no rhyme or reason to why some words are truncated at the end while others at the beginning…
• Sometimes Quin just sings or talks to be talking. Often it will be some variation of “Daddy… Helloowww.”

We were able to get into the pool on this particular morning after Jenny and I did our run/Starbucks ritual. The Superstition Butte (that’s the park mom and dad live in) pool has some odd rules, most constricting is that kids can use it only from 10AM to 1PM. No biggie, we went at 10:00. However, some of the other rules are a bit concerning. For one, you aren’t supposed to use the pool under the following conditions:

• You are incontinent
• You have a skin disease
• You have diarrhea
• You may be contagious
• You have leprosy…

OK, I made the last one up, but they didn’t give you a lot of good reasons to want to use the pool…

After lunch we went out in search of some outdoor activity. We ended up at a mini-golf course in Mesa called Golfland. Quin started out sleeping, but was awake enough by the time we started golfing and decided that he was going to play as well! Grandma won the round with the lowest score, so we made her buy us ice cream at Baskin Robins before heading back to the park to prepare for our big night.

The evening brought us to the Arizona Opry, a dinner show not too far from my parent’s place. The place was filled with Arizona types, and by that I mean oldies!!! Dinner wasn’t my family’s cup of tea, roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes (also with gravy), vegetables (gravy optional), a roll, apples, and chocolate cake (no gravy on this one). I liked it… The dinner really isn’t what it’s all about, though - it’s only a reason for them to charge you as much as they do for the show. The show is where the real fun starts.

The “music master” is a guy named George Staerkel. This guy could do it all! I couldn’t figure out what his main instrument was since he played so many. He played keyboard on many songs, but wailed on the trumpet and various other brasswind instruments, was solid at many different varieties of saxophone and other reed instruments, and also played a respectable Swiss Horn while circular breathing. None of that was really quite as impressive as how well the guy could sing, though. He actually toured with a group called “The Tokens” in the 80’s when they were doing a revival tour. They were the band that had the hit “In the Jungle” back in the 60’s or 70’s (I can’t remember which - maybe the 50’s). Anyway, he was pretty good.

The rest of the band was almost as impressive. Few played only a single instrument and they all sang. It reminded me a bit of some of the shows in Branson when we went there a couple of years ago. Ethan had a blast, Quin was a very good boy, only needing to be removed from the performance one time, and it was a 2 hour performance!