Kris and I left midday Friday afternoon (after a frustrating hour’s long wait for my 6-month dental checkup) to visit our friends Brian and Vanessa in Phoenix, AZ. Yes, I know we just saw them LAST weekend, but Vanessa’s bridal shower and bachelorette party were scheduled for the 22nd. This was a great excuse to take them up on their offer to have us over their place since over the last few months they’ve stayed with us at least 3 different times. However, the week before was spent communicating with Brian because although the shower was supposed to be a surprise for Vanessa, we wanted to try to make our visit a surprise too.
Well, we found out halfway to AZ that Vanessa’s best friend had accidentally spilled the beans about me being able to attend the shower, which sort of gave away why her fiance` was suddenly all about cleaning his bathroom. 
At least it was a *little* bit of a surprise. We made really good time to their place in Chandler, and promptly headed out to have dinner at Chipotle`. Afterwards we stayed up WAY too late talking and playing both some old-school NES games (think RC Pro-AM, Mario 2 & 3, and Castlevania II), as well as their favorite PSX game - Puzzle Fighter (think Tetris plus Dr. Mario on CRACK). For bed, Kris and I busted out one of our registry gifts, our aerobed. With its handy auto-pump and carrying case, that was one gift we are happily surprised about.
On Saturday, Brian and Vanessa treated us to a breakfast/brunch of pancakes, eggs, bacon, orange juice, and milk. Yummy! Then we headed down to one of the pools in their apartment complex. Wow, the heat and sun were so intense I felt like I was burning the entire time the sun was on me, even with sunscreen. Luckily it was overcast part of the time we were out there (it even sprinkled a few raindrops). After we’d soaked up enough sun for the day, we all went back inside to shower off so Vanessa and I could get ready for her party.
The party was so much fun! It was held at the wedding center Shannon’s family runs, and that Vanessa had helped renovate. Shannon’s parents were both there too - her mom was a party guest and her dad was the bartender for the evening. It was so much fun meeting Vanessa’s mom too. At the shower part, we played the clothespin game (which I actually won!), a “matching” ice-breaker, and a “who knows the most about Vanessa” game - which I also won (and almost couldn’t believe!). There was TONS of good food - meat or veggie lasagna, chicken in cheesy wine sauce, pasta and a whole tomato sauce, green beans, and garlic bread - which I had both seconds and thirds of later on in the evening. When Vanessa opened her gifts, we played a version of bridal bingo where you fill in the gifts while I recorded what she said for her “Wedding Night Preview.” I think she got a kick of it that. And Vanessa even got a gift from her dad, which I thought was really sweet, especially because it was a screened in tent thing “for your rally events” and the next rally is their (and our) “home” event in Prescott, AZ.
After the shower portion came the bachelorette party. We played a hilarious version of “Vanessa” dirty Mad-Libs, as well as a race game to get the roll of toilet paper across the room onto a stick your designated team leader is holding - but both the stick and toilet paper have to be held between your knees. That was so silly, but we all really had fun (and I have to admit when I saw the toilet paper come out I thought for sure that we were going to make toilet paper dresses). After this, Shannon started acting all funny, and I knew it was because the real surprise for Vanessa were the stippers who had just arrived. That was (and this may actually surprise some of you) the least comfortable portion of the evening for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still had a great time at the party, but I’m just not all about some creepy guy I don’t know getting all-up-ons with me - or even about seeing strippers in general. At least Vanessa had a really good time (as did her mom, which made all of us laugh). Vanessa and I decided to head back to her place in the evening so I wouldn’t have to make the trip the next morning when Kris and I would be heading home, so we did that after packing all he presents in her car. Of course when we got back the boys were still wide awake so we stayed up late talking again. 
On Sunday, Kris and I decided to stick around pretty late so we wouldn’t hit too much of the “heading back to LA from Vegas” traffic. We had lunch from our favorite Asian Diner - Pei Wei - before we packed up the Malibu and left for Cali. Unfortunately I made a bad decision and thought we could get gas about 10 miles after we ran out, and both Kris and I just realized the Malibu’s “low gas” signal is wonky, since it came on about five seconds before the car stalled to a stop. Luckily we were at an exit AND have AAA, but the cell phone reception was spotty and AAA couldn’t figure out if they should send someone from California or Arizona. So we were left waiting 10 miles in either direction from a gas station for two hours due to my poor judgment. At least we missed all the traffic from Vegas and got back to our apartment well before my anticipated time of midnight.
Thank you so much to Brian and Vanessa for a great time and for hosting us! Thanks also to Shannon for hosting such a fun party for Vanessa that I am so happy I was able to attend!
