Chance Comes to Arizona 2006
Chance flew into Arizona for a week and stayed with us, and Rich said that he looked like a young Donny Osmond in the photos we took. For Chance, the highlights of his trip were about XMen and Star Wars and no obligations. One morning, we woke up at 5:30AM and found him downstairs drawing cartoon figures, page after page of them, and Chance was really proud of the fact that he had stayed up all night. Chance usually goes to bed first among his siblings, so we were perplexed, but it turned out that the Fuse he was drinking from the fridge was an "energy drink."
#1 Goal = Fishing
Chance's number one goal for this trip was to try his hand at fishing, so we took him to the urban lake next to our condo in Scottsdale. For about 30 minutes, fishing was a real thrill. After about an hour and a half without a nibble, he was done. He tried again the next morning, but on the second trip, he could only last about 20 minutes. Realizing that patience is not his strong suit, Chance decided that next year, fishing might not be his #1 goal.
King for a Week
Chance had his own room with a TV and DVD and VCR, and with his aunt serving him meals in bed, he was in heaven without having to leave the house and brave the 100+ degree heat. This trip was about being spoiled for a week, without having to compete with his older sisters for anything. In the end, Chance said that he is a lot like his dad, that what he really wants most of all is just to stay home and be comfortable.
The Interchangeable Light Saber
When Chance saw this in Target, he was one happy camper, because before this he had only seen it on the internet. So, Rich agreed to buy it for him, but said that when they got home, he would put together a task list of things Chance had to do to earn it. The task list was a page long, and included things Chance had to do to demonstrate about a half-dozen different social and work skills (three tasks in each skill area). Rich said he had four days to complete the task list, but with some help from us, Chance knocked it out in one afternoon.
A Trip to the Mall
We took Chance to the Scottsdale Fashion Mall and he was impressed with the three-story center section, and the tons of escalators it took to get from the movie theaters at the bottom to PB Loco at the top. PB Loco is a gourmet peanut butter cafe and store, and Chance experimented with two kinds of peanut butter on a sandwich, and walked away with a t-shirt. Nacho Libre was Rich's choice for the movie, but it was pretty dumb, so later I took Chance to see XMen 3, which he liked much better.
Big City & Sweet Tomato
Rich took Chance to Big City BBQ with him when he went there to setup new software on their computer, and they treated Chance like royalty. They gave him a t-shirt and a tour of the kitchen and other work areas. Lunch and dinner excursions were the majority of our trips out, and also included Sweet Tomato's and Olive Garden, so I was happy to get my fill of salads.
