Honny Visit - April 2019

Talavera at Four Seasons

Shawna's mom, Honny, came out to visit us again, arriving on Thursday afternoon and leaving on Tuesday morning.  On Thursday, Shawna picked her up at the airport and then returned home to get settled, catch up and cook dinner - Shawna made parmesan encrusted chicken with roasted vegetables.  That evening we started to watch Our Planet which we watched several evenings.

Talavera

On Friday, Shawna did some calls in the morning and then we went shopping - stopping at Dillard's, Talbots and Ann Taylor.  Honny bought quite a bit and Shawna got a few things as well.  That evening we had dinner at North Italia - we shared the roasted cauliflower, bolognese pasta and the diver scallops - everything was very tasty.

Butterfly Garden

On Saturday, we went to the Open Air Market in Phoenix which was nice but not as big as we thought it would be - lots of food and craft vendors.  We had lunch at the Phoenix Public Market, which is a large cafe next to the market with mostly healthy food - we shared a rice bowl.  That afternoon, we went to the mummy exhibit at the Arizona Science Center - it was interesting to see mummies from different countries.  We returned home to relax a bit and then we went to dinner at Talavera where we sat on the outside patio and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and views.  We shared several appetizers - crispy chickpeas, blistered snap peas, morel mushrooms with artichokes, lamb meatballs and grilled octopus - everything was delicious except for the octopus which we vowed we would never order again (we have tried it now at several restaurants and didn't like it).  Mom really liked this place.

Botanic Garden

On Sunday, we went to the Botanic Gardens which mom enjoyed seeing all of the cacti in bloom.  We returned home to have lunch and then we watched Mary Queen of Scots.  That afternoon, we went to the Butterfly Garden but it was not as impressive as usual - there were less butterflies flying around for some reason.  For dinner, Shawna cooked pork tenderloin with couscous and roasted vegetables.

Botanic Garden

On Monday, Shawna did a few calls in the morning and then did some yard work with Honny, mainly trimming the lantanas.  We ate lunch at home and then went to see the flowers at a few of the resorts - first driving around the Phoenician and then walked around the Royal Palms which has beautiful bougainvilleas which Honny really enjoyed.  We had dessert there in the courtyard - sharing gelato and passion fruit creme brulee.  Honny commented that we should have dinner here the next time she came to visit.  On our way home, we stopped at DSW to get some shoes but Honny had no luck.  That evening, Shawna cooked turkey burgers with sweet potato fries.

Royal Palms

On Tuesday, Honny's flight was early so we left the house at 4:30am to drop her off.  Shawna made sure she got through security OK and then returned home to work.  We had a wonderful time together!