Spring Break 2017 - Phoenix AZ!
In the fall of 2015 Matt asked me how I would feel about going to Phoenix Arizona over Christmas break. I said, "I don't know what life will look like at that point and so I don't think you should reserve anything." He was astounded at this, "Someone offers you a trip into the sunshine during the dreary winter, and you turn it down? It seems like you would be jumping for joy!" I admit that I am the worst reactor, especially to a thought out surprise, but the truth was that a lot was going on that I had no way of knowing how it would end up! I had received a letter from Katrina in the MTC with her desire to marry instead of serve her mission and by doing the math, I calculated the most likely by the end of the year we would be planning a wedding. I don't think Matt was willing to admit the odds were that high;) As we now know they were married Jan 2, 2016...right after Christmas break. When we reached that point I said, "Aren't we glad we aren't in Phoenix during these last planning days?" He had to agree, "Yes....."
BUT
He still really wanted to try out the Marriott Vacation Club in Arizona so we booked it (with confidence) for spring of 2017. I did some more math and realized that since Katrina and Mallerie would not be joining us on this family vacation it left us an odd combo of people. Remember our family on the Christmas train? Matt and I were sitting with the littles while Gray sat several rows away staring blankly out the window? I wondered, "Who is Ava going to hang with?" Then I recalled the fond memories I have of going to Phoenix for spring break with my Aunt Linda and realized, "We need a niece!" We were thrilled when Alivia cleared her schedule to come with us (well, Gray took some prodding, he likes things just as they are;)
The Gouldings worked it out to bring Alivia to us from Elko. I caught the girls the night before getting polished up for our big adventure the next morning.
We took the Price exit and got to drive through towns we haven't been through for years like Kanab and Mount Carmel. I forgot how gorgeous that drive is! The blossoms were at full throttle along the winding road. We had gotten up at the crack of dawn to leave so I was disappointed I couldn't keep my eyes open to enjoy it more.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Horseshoe Bend
Since Mallerie had just returned from this area she recommended some places to see. Horseshoe Bend in Page Arizona for example, "You have to go!"As we parked and started on the trail we saw that what she had described was true; a plethora of Asians flock to this spot. We weren't quite sure what we were looking for so we followed her instructions, "You just start walking and then you will see a bunch of people and you go down there, and wow." Those were Mallerie's instructions.
We followed those instructions and, "Wow" the view was incredible!
We were in awe at the 1,000-foot drop down to the Colorado River. There aren't any chains or barriers. Just think if you stumbled upon it in the dark (like the guy sitting on the edge below). In the following pictures you will see every possible combination of us. This was the river Mallerie was supposed to float but they couldn't get the canoes untangled or something. It was hard to tell what she was saying because she was laughing so dang hard.
We had plans to picnic at a park, only I hadn't brought a picnic. We drove to Wal-Mart (the one Mallerie had instructed was there). As we walked in we saw a Subway. I said, "We could either buy lunch meat and rolls to make sandwiches, or look, they do it for you!" We ate at Subway.
We made decent time and it was still light when we arrived in Phoenix. The villa had two separate doors to enter through and at first we entered through the smaller half of the villa. The kitchen was more of a kitchenette and I said, "This won't do!" However, we soon discovered that we were only in the Ava/Alivia suit and we needed to go through the other door. Ahh yes, a big kitchen, a dining, and family room; just what we have come to expect from Marriott. We drove to the grocery store to stock up on meal items and then explored the resort. Niiiiiice. The pools were great! The kids wanted to change into their suits right away, which they did. Matt joined them. The waterfall was a lit up and the fire pit was roaring. We had just missed the S'mores roast:(
The bulk of our time the next few days was spent at the pool. I enjoyed water aerobics in the morning. I always feel like a spring chicken with the grannies that take that class. I like grannies. Securing lounge chairs was a challenge but not impossible.
I like a good spring break crowd; feels like a party.
The activities and snacks the resort provided also made it feel like a party. One day was an apple pop party, another an ice-cream party. We went to them all. We thought it was sort of funny how the employees waited until the clock struck the exact time the party was to start to begin dishing up, even though a line had formed.
One of my favorite features about this resort was the herb garden. It was available to anyone at any time. I picked fresh mint for our morning smoothies, and herbs for our stuffed shells. The kids played shuffleboard and ping-pong. Matt and I went on a desert walk with a guide. I learned a lot about cacti. The taller they are the older they are (which is obvious) but I also learned that the more arms they have, the older they are. It took 100 years to get to the way they are. We walked along the path next to the golf course and saw a lady get a hole in one. I clapped for her. She looked embarrassed and then pleased.
Suns vs. Warriors
Matt wanted to take the boys to a sporting event. What luck that the Warriors were in town playing the Suns. They said even though they were at the Talking Stick Resort, there were more Golden State jersey's than anything else. People love Curry and the Suns stink so most were pleased when the Warriors won.
Scottsdale Fashion Square
Before the boys left to the game they dropped us girls off at the Scottsdale Fashion Square. We had no idea what it was, we just asked Siri to take us to the nearest mall. Well! This shopping center is the largest shopping mall in the American Southwest. Over 2,000,000 square feet of shopping space. That is two MILL! It literally had every store you could think of. The mall went over the road and picked up on the other side. We went outside to hop on the free downtown Trolley. It was dark outside but I sat up front and asked lots of questions to our driver. She seemed happy about that and obliged me with details about the places we passed, "Over to the right is the (something) pub, tonight is a weeknight but tomorrow, Giiiiirl, that place will be packed out!" Favorite line of the day.
We ate dinner at Annie's Pretzels. I also entered a giveaway, what the heck, I'm on vacay. Besides, I can't remember when I have enjoyed a cable series more.
It took us 20 minutes to walk back to where Matt would pick us up. We were the only ones near the escalators so we took turns seeing who could run up them the fastest. Two words: thigh burn.
Ava took over picture taking on this trip and shot mainly live footage.
She told me to hold the camera and film her and Livie dancing over and over again. It wasn't until I saw the video that I realized why. She's got real talent!
The girls were obsessed with Life Water on this trip. Thankfully it is a PepsiCo Product.
Hehe to the man mannequin.
Doofus
The next day Matt and I headed to the JW Marriott for a presentation. We knew that we would be attending this beforehand and had no intention of purchasing more points. The perk for attending was a generous Visa gift card. We wanted to use it to go out to a nice restaurant as a family. Some of these types of presentations can be high pressured, but our guide was such a doofus it made it easy to say no. His boss was an even bigger doofus. Afterwards, when a gal came in to hand over the Visa she wanted us to rate our guy. I thought I was being generous to give him 7 out of 10. I guess that is really low though because she said, "Really????" as she raised her brows.
I left bugged at those doofus guys! Throughout the next couple of days I would say to Matt things that I wished I had said. Such as, "You know, if you are going to work for a company who is OWNED by a Mormon, it might benefit you to become somewhat educated on the religion. Especially, if YOU insist on turning every topic to religion, which is pretty tacky, I might add. We are not offended, we are embarrassed for you." Too much?
While we were gone the kids swam some more and hit another of the resort giveaways.
Graham was thrilled to be able to watch a Flip or Flop marathon afterwards. I'll tell ya what was a flop, that presentation!
They had multiple pools consisting of a lazy river and a waterslide. Matt and I took a break to sit under the trees that looked like they were out of a Jane Austen book. We watched Graham pass by in the lazy river. He had snatched tubes that people had discarded and had them piled so high you couldn't see him. He peeked his head out between them to say hello. It made us laugh. Sometimes as we sit in our lounge chairs we make up scenarios about people. That made us laugh too.
On our drive to the Discovery Center we could see Camelback Mountain very clearly. It would be just weeks later that Matt would be back on a work excursion hiking it; this time in 90-degree heat.
I left bugged at those doofus guys! Throughout the next couple of days I would say to Matt things that I wished I had said. Such as, "You know, if you are going to work for a company who is OWNED by a Mormon, it might benefit you to become somewhat educated on the religion. Especially, if YOU insist on turning every topic to religion, which is pretty tacky, I might add. We are not offended, we are embarrassed for you." Too much?
While we were gone the kids swam some more and hit another of the resort giveaways.
Graham was thrilled to be able to watch a Flip or Flop marathon afterwards. I'll tell ya what was a flop, that presentation!
Rustler's Rooste
We did enjoy our gift cards that evening though. We ate at Rustler's Rooste, which is nestled on the hill. I was glad we got a table overlooking the city skyline. The place was packed out.
There were two parking lots and we had to park in the lower lot and walk up a steep incline to the restaurant. After we were seated and had ordered, Callie mentioned that she was cold because air was blowing on her. Isn't that the worst? I knew she had a sweatshirt in the car but Matt assured me I wouldn't be back in time if I went and got it. He couldn't believe I was even toying with the idea, "All the way back there?" Now I had to do it! I busted a move. I was back (only slightly out of breath;) before the food came. Callie never did put on that sweatshirt. Maybe she was too distracted by her butterfly balloon. Graham requested a dinosaur.
We enjoyed the Cowboy Stuff, which was served family style.
We enjoyed all of it!
I researched 'family restaurants' before our trip and felt that this one lived up to its hype: we saw the live bull out front, slid down the slide to enter, but where was our flippin complimentary cotton candy? While some used the restroom afterwards I inquired at the bar about the said cotton candy. They apologized and brought some out. We polished it off so fast that I stuck my head back there again, "We'll take another."
Bulls-Eye
We found a staircase that lead down to a path that we took to walk off the meal a bit before heading back to the villa. We continued goofing off at outside when we got back. The warm evening air was such a delight.
JW Marriott
The next day we went back to Marriott's sister Resort across they way, the JW Marriott. It is more like the vacation club's Big Brother. We felt very grown up over there.
They had multiple pools consisting of a lazy river and a waterslide. Matt and I took a break to sit under the trees that looked like they were out of a Jane Austen book. We watched Graham pass by in the lazy river. He had snatched tubes that people had discarded and had them piled so high you couldn't see him. He peeked his head out between them to say hello. It made us laugh. Sometimes as we sit in our lounge chairs we make up scenarios about people. That made us laugh too.
We helped ourselves to the brownie bites on our way out.
More Shopping
One of the things Graham was most looking forward to about this trip was the promised visit to the Lego Land Discovery Center. The girls wanted to shop (more shopping!) Luckily for them there was a shuttle that ran from the resort to an outdoor mall. We were leaving as they got on and I wanted to make sure they got to where they were going. We followed the shuttle till it pulled up in front of Ross and they got out. Hehe.
They managed to have a great time.
On our drive to the Discovery Center we could see Camelback Mountain very clearly. It would be just weeks later that Matt would be back on a work excursion hiking it; this time in 90-degree heat.
Legoland Discovery Center
The Discovery Center was inside a mall and like all malls these days was somewhat deserted.
The first ride we had to ourselves. In the 4D movie it was only a mother with an infant and us. She was on her phone the entire time, completely un-phased even when the snowflakes fell. Like I said before, I like a good spring break crowd.
There was a Lego Friends land for Callie, a build your own race car for Graham. There was an outer space room with a launching rocket; complete with a countdown and smoke.
I don't know what it is about children's museum but I can't seem to find a bench to rest on fast enough. The kiddo's thought it was pretty great. Graham did think it would be bigger; we saw the whole thing in an hour and a half. My favorite, and where I can always spend the most time, is Miniland. There was a football stadium where Graham could move the players to make a touchdown as the crowd cheered.
Back at home base. Air hockey is fun; air hockey at night is more fun.
The fire pit was roaring and there were just enough S'more kits left.
Until next time...
We had chalked off all the main attractions we came to see, and we bid goodbye to the Villa on Saturday morning. We knew we wouldn't be able to get off as early as we had on day one so we only drove to Cedar City. I had hopes of us stopping at the Glen Canyon Dam overlook, but all the vacation food had left my stomach sour. The car was quiet as we passed over the dam. Some were sleeping, some were listening the Harry Potter audio book.
I waited till our next stop to get some Rolaids.
The icy wind whipped our faces as we got out at the hotel in Cedar City, "What a dreadful place," I concurred with the rest of the van passengers. It didn't help that Graham was already complaining about being sick after eating at Cafe Rio. I spilled water on me and couldn't find the lid to the sticky Motrin bottle. It was a stark contrast to our time at Marriott's Canyon Villa's.
We mean it Phoenix; we will be back, Camelback!
