Trip to Phoenix

It was quite soggy here in the Pacific Northwest from January to March.  Luckily at the end of March we had the chance to dry out in sunny Phoenix!  We haven't been consistent travelers to a sunny place in March, but I think we might be hooked now.  Man it's helpful to get away after the rainy dreary winter.

This trip was the first major airplane flight for both boys.  Nathan traveled on an airplane when he was about 8 months, but I know he doesn't remember it.  They actually did way better than I thought. Cameron even fell asleep on the way down!

We traveled down on a Friday and started out by staying with our dear friends, the Seatons who just moved to Phoenix last summer after living in China for 3 years.  We're so happy to have them back in the states!  And it was so fun to witness their new life in Phoenix now.  All throughout our trip I couldn't help thinking that living in Phoenix must feel like being constantly on vacation.  Except in the summer I know it gets miserable.  Russ and James grew up together and Russ was the Best Man in our wedding.  He and his wife Tammy have 3 beautiful little girls.  The middle daughter is our goddaughter.

Our first evening we went to a fun restaurant called San Tan Flat where everyone eats yummy BBQ outside on picnic tables while the kids run around in the sand and play on the stage.  Then as the sun goes down you can roast smores on an open fire pit.  Our kids were in heaven!

We got right into our trip, slathered on the sunscreen and headed to the Phoenix zoo on Saturday. What a great zoo!  I felt like we were there forever and we only covered about 1/3 of it.  It's huge!  But we got all our favorite animals in.  For some reason I don't have a lot of photos from the day--bummer.

That night Russ made a yummy dinner and then we did an evening swim in their neighborhood pool.

A trip to Phoenix in March wouldn't be complete without of course seeing some Mariners spring training!  Sunday we watched the Mariners play the Indians.  We sat out on the lawn and definitely got our Vitamin D for the day.  It was about 90 degrees!  Whew!  But I tried to enjoy it and just soak it in since that was the whole purpose of going down there.  I wanted it to be sunny and warm.  I love seeing spring training games because they're more relaxed--like a hometown baseball game.  Nate and Papa also got to run the bases after the game was over!

You can tell the boys aren't thrilled about the heat

The Seatons!

Oh I forgot to mention that Sunday morning, James and Russ did an awesome hike at Camelback.  It's not a long hike to the top--but it's very steep.  They "rocked" it and made it just in time for the sunrise!

After some sad goodbyes to the Seatons, we headed to visit our other friends, the Hillsteads!  Anne is my dear friend from growing up.  We've known each other since 4th grade.  She and her wonderful husband Tyler have 5 beautiful kids.  She is my inspiration as a mom and I just loved getting to see her do the mom thing in person.  Our first night she made a yummy dinner and then we had a great time going in their hot tub, making smores and just hanging out enjoying the warm evening air.  The adults then stayed up late having great conversation and watching some fascinating documentaries. Tyler had to work on Monday so Annie treated us to In 'n Out burgers (yes please!) and then we just enjoyed the sunny afternoon in their pool and jumping on their trampoline.

That night the Hillstead kids stayed home and Annie and Tyler took us to a fun place called Top Golf.  It's similar to bowling where each person takes a turn golfing and you rack up points depending on where you ball lands.  You can have food and drinks while golfing.  It was so much fun and it was a gorgeous evening.  Nate even got in on the action!

Sadly on Tuesday we said goodbye to our friends and headed to another area in Phoenix to stay in a hotel.  We were so grateful that the Seatons and Hillsteads each put us up for 2 nights.  With both families having multiple kids, it was so generous of them and we had a blast spending quality time and seeing their day-to-day lives. Thank you Seatons and Hillsteads!

For the last 3 nights we stayed in a Best Western in the Biltmore area of Phoenix.  It was the perfect hotel because it had a nice pool, was pretty close to the areas we wanted to see next and the best part was it had 2 rooms!  So we put the boys to bed in one room and then we could hang out and have time together in the other room.  It was glorious!  On Tuesday night we found this really great restaurant called Taco Guild.  I forgot to get the photos of it off of James' phone.  But they basically converted an old Methodist church into a restaurant/bar.  They maintained the beautiful stained glass windows and cool paintings on the wall.  On the side of the restaurant they even had thd old pews as seating for the tables.  Fantastic food too.  Great find!

Wednesday we spent the day in Scottsdale.  Our boys were in absolute heaven when we visited the McCormick-Stillman Railroad park.  We got to walk through an old steam train that Franklin Roosevelt traveled in, saw a huge room filled with model trains, rode a mini train throughout the park and also rode a carousel.  It was the perfect activity for our boys who absolutely love trains.

Then we stopped by Old Town Scottsdale to look a the touristy shops.  We grabbed Chick Fil A for dinner and then James headed to another Mariners game with Russ for the evening.

Our last day was designated our "pool day."  But man the definition of pool day is very different now with kids.  No more laying out for a couple hours, reading magazines and being relaxed.  The boys did great swimming in the pool with their floaties.  But after about an hour they were done and we went back up to the hotel room.  Oh well.  I'll take what I can get.  ;)

I had this vision that our last evening we would go to a fun restaurant and end out the trip with a great finale.  I should know better than to build up my expectations.  We decided to go to this beautiful outdoor shopping mall called Kierland Commons so we could eat dinner and then walk around and enjoy the beautiful evening, maybe get ice cream, etc.  We chose Grimaldi's--a pizza restaurant 'cause we thought it would be fun for the kids.  We arrived there and it was a 45 min. wait.  By the time we finally got seated the boys were starving and tired so needless to say dinner was crazy and frustrating. The food definitely didn't live up to the large bill we paid.  And by the time we were done it was too late to walk around and get ice cream.  Bummer evening.  But I know stuff like that happens.  The rest of our trip was fabulous so no complaints.  I just need to remember not to build up my hopes.  :)

All in all it was a grand family adventure.  Nathan is still talking about it so I know it will be a great memory for him.  I'm glad we traveled on an airplane while the boys were young too.  It was a good learning experience for us--plus everything with them is new and exciting so it was fun to see everything through their eyes.  Can't wait to go back soon!  Like maybe tomorrow???