Rainy KC to Sunny and Warm Scottsdale

Easter at Rose and Frank Accurso's

Woke up to rain, even thunderstorms this morning that will continue through most of the day and clear up this evening, just in time for our leaving.  Nick was up at 6:30, downed some cinnamon toast and was on the bus by 6:50, as classes start at 7:30.  I guess the school's around here don't care about the studies that suggest learning in the young suffers if they go to school too early.  Somewhere around 9:00 seems to be the optimal time to start school but because of the bus schedules, I assume, some grades have to suffer.  Marlena does not leave till 8:40 so she will have an ideal starting time.

Sunny Easter Morning in KC

I walked her down to the bus this morning, both of us with umbrellas, and just before the bus arrived, it started to pour and I had about five kids crunched under my umbrella, trying to avoid getting soaked.  A crew of six were waiting for the bus.  Marlena sits with the same person each day, her friend Morgan, as they are assigned seats at at the beginning of the year and that's where they sit for the rest of the year.  I had never thought of that, assuming kids just got on and took any seat they wanted, like the old days. Nowadays, everything having to do with school is planned and organized, leaving out any room for the arbitrary or spontaneous.  Some good in that, some bad, I suppose.

We had a great dinner at Frank and Rose's yesterday, turkey breast and ham, along with the standards, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy and some veggies.  Everything tasted perfect and most went back for seconds.  After dinner, around 2:00, the guys adjourned to the living room to watch the NBA playoffs and nap (of course) and the girls (Evie, Jean, Rose, and Mary) stayed in the dining room and played Boggle and Yahtzee and talked until we left, around 5:30, a good day for all.

We watched another movie together last night, THE WAY BACK, the true story of a group of prisoners who break out of a Siberian concentration camp in 1939 and walk through Siberia, China, and Tibet into India to gain safety, over 4000 miles, quite a feat. A bit slow but great scenery.  And Evie downloaded Boggle on to Tom's Ipad so Nick and Marlena and Evie played Boggle throughout most of the movie.

Right now, Evie's showering, getting packed, Mary's off at the gym, and it's just Bella and I in the living room.  We'll leave for the airport around 11:00 and our flight leaves at 1:00.  We arrive in Phoenix at 2:00, with an hour difference in time, and Laura's coming down from Vegas and will pick us up.

We are now in Scottsdale; Laura arrived just as we working picking up or bags, so it was great timing.  The plane ride was fine, few bumps, a little under 3 hours.  We have been chewing the fat, talking about Dorothy's new kitchen, and she has yet to pick out a final counter top and tiles for the walls, so they are going out to look at it again.  I think I will pass on this; I have had enough of indecision and decisions that in a minute can change.  It's 88 degrees out and Laura turned on the air conditioning, which I think Dad and Dorothy tend to avoid if they can.