Arizona 2.0

For a long time, we’ve been saying that we should coordinate a family trip with one of Aaron’s work trips. Often times though, his trips are last minute and it’s hard for us all to get away – not to mention expensive! But when he found out he was having a retreat at the Scottsdale office, we decided to make a go of it.

We got there a day early and stayed a day late, so we got a couple full family days and that’s where we packed in most of our activities. On the days that Aaron was busy with work functions for 12+ hours, the kids and I did some schoolwork, took advantage of the fitness center at the hotel while watching The Price is Right, and enjoyed second breakfast before the hotel breakfast closed down each day. (This is generally necessary, but even more so being pregnant with surrobabe #2!) Then we did some low-key exploring – local parks, the library, and an art museum. Nothing too crazy, but it was fun to get out of our home routine and enjoy temps that were warmer than at home. Although it was the coldest week the Phoenix area had all winter- just our luck!

Our big splurge of the trip was spending our first night at Great Wolf Lodge. It was our first time visiting one of their locations and we all had a great time! In addition to spending lots of time in the water and going down the water slides, the kids also chose to get an unlimited pass for the ropes course. They were both a bit terrified the first time, but by the end of our 24 hours, they knew the names of the staff members working the course. Before we even left, the kids were trying to plan a visit to another Great Wolf Lodge location a bit closer to home.

We also stayed another day after Aaron’s retreat was over to squeeze in some more family fun. A trip to Candytopia, another hike in the mountains, and some mini-golfing finished off our vacation. Hopefully this isn’t the last time we’re able to combine a work trip with a family vacation!

Winter in April: Escape to Phoenix

After making an offhand comment at the beginning of January about how winter really wasn’t too bad this year, Mother Nature decide to prove me wrong. It seemed like we were getting snow or experiencing below zero temperatures constantly for months. When the snow wouldn’t end in March, we decided we needed another escape. We used the explore feature on Kayak.com and found plane tickets to Phoenix, AZ for $60/person in April.

The mornings started out in the 60s and the temperature was in the 80s or 90s by the afternoon. Our kids are not great at changing their sleeping pattern due to time changes, so we got up early every morning and went hiking before breakfast – and before it got too hot. Then we went swimming from about 10-12, had lunch, and worked on a little schoolwork before finding an afternoon/evening activity. Pretty much any activity that could be done outside was, so we could soak up as much sunshine as possible.

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The company Aaron works for has an office in Scottsdale, so I felt like we needed to scope out some good restaurants in case we come back. My favorite breakfast spot was Butters Cafe and we had a fun afternoon date by going to Top Golf and getting donuts at the Fractured Prune. We were also happy to find that they have In-N-Out Burger in Arizona and I kinda wanted a Neopolitan shake every day, but I showed self-restraint. Sort of. Really, we just scoped out several different spots to satisfy my sweet tooth and were happy to find a great ice cream spot, Churn, close to the Phoenix Art Museum – which, if you’re visiting, is free on Wednesday afternoons starting at 3!

Although it took a few weeks to fully warm up to normal spring temperatures when we got home, this was just the recharge we needed to make it through!