The Folinazzo kids (plus significant others) have just returned from an extended weekend trip to Arizona. What did we do there? Well, we had a nice visit with our father; we took in two Cubs’ spring training games; we hung out with relatives we don’t see very often, and some we’d just met for the first time; and we drank a whole heck of a lot of beer.
It was so nice to experience some warm weather. We got to spend most of Saturday by and in the pool and I got a pretty decent tan. The baseball games were a blast. We got to Ho Ho Kam Park early on Sunday to watch batting practice and get some good pictures of the Cubs players; although, we were disappointed that they didn’t stay out on the field and warm up as long as they did when we were there last year. Then the Cubs ended up losing to the Giants 8-6 but we got to see new Cubs sensation, Kosuke Fukudome, in action. He didn’t do much at the plate but has he got a thunderbolt for an arm! He launched a laser beam from right field to third base seemingly effortlessly. Incredible.
Frankie originally had no plans of coming to Arizona with Felicia and me. He was attending a wedding in St. Petersburg, Florida. His plans changed sometime Saturday night into Sunday morning and, with Felicia’s help in the middle of the night, he booked a flight from Tampa to Phoenix. We were all happy that he decided to join us.
Before going to the baseball game on Monday, we took a ride out to Bartlett Lake in Tonto National Forest, about twenty miles from Dad’s house. It is so beautiful! There has been more rain than usual in the area and it has turned the landscape from a dusty brown to a lively green. It contrasts nicely against the cloudless and perfectly blue sky. We could have stayed there all day, driving the winding roads and hiking the many trails, but we did have a ballgame to attend. There was just one more stop, though: The Town Dump in Cave Creek. This place has character. It does in fact look like a dump, or a junkyard, but in reality it is a massive, open-air collection of works by artists of various media from various regions. Another place where we could easily spend many, many hours… But, alas, we were off to the Peoria Sports Complex (PSC) to see the Seattle Mariners host the Cubs. The PSC is a fabulous facility and – dare I say – much nicer than Ho Ho Kam. Even the park employees are nicer and it was way easier to get a beer. As if the day couldn’t get any better, the Cubs ended up beating the Mariners, 6-5.
One of the biggest highlights of the trip was spending time with extended family. As I mentioned, we got to meet cousins we never even knew we had. After the game at PSC, we went over to Aunt Marie’s house to celebrate her 77th birthday. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were there, as well. We had pizza and cake and lots of animated conversations. I especially enjoyed hanging out with younger cousins I’d just met for the first time, namely 14-year-old Emily and 4-year-old Bella (what a riot she is!)
As is always the case, the long weekend went by way too fast and, before we knew it, it was time for us to head back to Chicago. I won’t even bother spending any time talking about how our flight home was delayed by three hours, or how I got only four hours of sleep last night because I had to get up and go to work today. It would have taken a lot more than that to ruin a pretty perfect weekend.
Posted by Francesca (my pictures from the weekend can be seen here)
