chef

arizona • last day of vacay

It felt as though our little getaway went by way too fast. Our last day we tried to cram in as much fun as possible. We took a few laps around the lazy river and then cleaned up for lunch away from the resort. We took advantage of the free shuttle to grab lunch at Mellow Mushroom on High Street which was just moments from the hotel. We’d normally opt to walk but come on! It was 108 degrees!
I really enjoyed the down time these past few days with my peeps. 

arizona • 4th of july

We had a late, late flight on the 3rd getting us to our hotel in Phoenix after midnight. After a little mix up with the room, we finally got to bed around 1:00. We all slept in and were ready to conquer the day. 
We had adjoining rooms this trip – a first for our family. It wasn’t planned this way but due it was a quick fix for our room problem when we arrived. The girls definitely loved having their own beds, but they didn’t really care about having their room. I thought they would be thrilled to have their own space, but they weren’t really phased by it. I guess they still do like us. 
Spying on my neighbors on the patio. ha!
Beautiful desert view
Oh my, it was a hot one! This is the absolute hottest time to visit Phoenix and probably my most poorly laid travel plan. The high was 108! The plan was to swim and see a baseball game and that was what we did. As long as you found a spot in the shade it was just fine, but that sun was brutal. It was best to stay in the pool as much as possible. 
We stayed here and the pools and lazy river did not disappoint. 
We had lunch at the resort and the girls were thrilled that they received a carafe of ginger ale and tea. The theme of the trip was to stay hydrated. 
We spent the entire afternoon at the pool. Oh boy was it hot! I wasn’t surprised by the heat because we knew it would be a scorcher. I was surprised by just how hot it was though. The pavement was like walking on the sun and the sides of the pools were lined with flip flops.  A little shade was a sweet relief and we found a great barside table at the pool. 
My absolute favorite part of Phoenix: the misters! They are everywhere and are truly game-changing! I told the girls I was going to make this picture my phone lockscreen because I was in love. HA!
Cooling down with some dippin’ dots
My afternoon. We had lots of time to swim so I took a little time to read under those glorious misters. (I love the little hand sneaking chips in my staged book picture…)
This is one of my favorites from the trip….and I actually made this my new lock-screen. 
It’s a dry heat! 😉
Time to get cleaned up for dinner
We didn’t rent a car for the weekend so we relied on shuttles and shared rides. We decided to stick around the resort for dinner and settled on Roys. We enjoyed tropical drinks and a peaceful night. We were worn out and ready for a good night sleep! We didn’t get to see fireworks tonight but had a plan in the works for the 5th. 

birthdays in breck

My dad and Melissa were in town so we met up with them for a night in Breckenridge. It was a lovely drive. We avoided traffic and it was a nice and easy cruise up there. I tell ya, if the drive was like that we’d head up to the mountain much more often!

We made it up for lunch and enjoyed some baked wings at Eric’s. Yum! Yum! Yum! After lunch we intended to head up to the adventure park but the skies had a different idea. The clouds rolled in and the afternoon was pretty dark and rainy. I love a good storm in the mountains so I wasn’t disappointed at all.

We spent the afternoon opening birthday gifts and playing games. Gwyneth received two new games Harry Potter Clue and Uno. They are both fun, but I have to declare a rematch on Harry Potter Clue. My brain didn’t seem to be working properly that day.

We ended the night with dinner at Briar Rose. We had a tiny booth in the bar and food covering every inch of it. We skipped dessert there and picked up Mountain Mary cookies on the way back to the house. It was a beautiful night and we’re so glad we could sneak in a visit.

extended birthday celebrations

We sure do love to celebrate a birthday around here. Our friends, the Tendlers, joined us Friday evening to celebrate mine and Annabelle’s birthdays. B made us an amazing dinner. Connie and Sarah provided homemade cakes for desserts. Yum! We stayed up far too late and chatted into the night. It’s always so many laughs and so much fun with them. 
Annabelle’s strawberry cake
my carrot cake
me and my birthday partner in crime

tarzan

This is the last show of our season tickets the Candlelight Theater. The girls and I go to each show and B joins us when he can…or most importantly, when he wants. This theater isn’t always a hit for him. Us gals always have a good time, but its hit or miss for B. 
The girls and I have seen Tarzan before (here). I remember us really having a great time and enjoying the show although Gwyneth may have been a scared of the apes. 
We had a “bring a friend for free ticket” for the show tonight. B decided to join us and we’re always glad to have him along for ride. 
We enjoyed the show, but let’s just say that B is still not thrilled with Disney productions or people acting like animals. He was definitely a good sport but I could tell he was counting down until the show ended. First Cats now Tarzan…I sure don’t make life easy for this guy!
The girls still liked it but maybe not as much as the first time around. We all agreed that the music is still pretty great. Even the worst night at the theater is pretty darn good for us. I just love this time with my family. 

breckenridge, finally

We finally made it up to Breckenridge. There was still some snow on the ground and it was a bit chilly, but the mountains are always gorgeous and there’s never a bad time to visit. My dad and Melissa were already there and were able to stay for a few days. We had lots of wonderful meals, walks, games, and an overall relaxing time together. 
Gwyneth finished the Harry Potter series and now her entire wardrobe in Harry Potter inspired. To say she is obsessed may be a great understatement. I support the insanity and I’m grateful she found books that she loves. 
We walked down that hill several times to explore the town. The walk down is fabulous. We always hitch a ride on the shuttle back up the hill – that’s a tough walk. 
With the crummy weather, we practically had the town to ourselves. I’ll brave a little snow and cold for quiet streets. 
We checked out the exhibit WAVE: Light + Water + Sound
it’s even more impressive at night. 
We had lunch at Eric’s and then spent a few hours playing games. 
The girls love the ski lift swings
Back to town for dinner at Legends and then a walk through the light exhibit. 

dallas • pool day

What a difference a day makes! We woke up to sunny skies and beautiful weather. We got a jump on the memorial day travelers by heading there a week early. We had the resort and pool nearly to ourselves. We had a late afternoon/evening flight which gave us most of the day to spend at the pool. The girls LOVE a good lazy river and this pool did not disappoint.

We had a few snacks and some froofy drinks by the pool. We spent every last minute we could there before heading to the airport.

We cleaned up, packed up and had to say goodbye to our Dallas adventure. Despite a little rain, we all agreed it was a pretty fabulous time and we can check off another ballpark in our baseball adventures.

dallas • rangers vs cardinals

We were quite nervous that the weather was going to give us a lot of trouble today. It rained…and rained…and rained some more. There were flash flood warnings and power outages. We waited out the storm at our hotel and kept our fingers crossed that the game wouldn’t be cancelled. 
After a two hour delay, the game was on! A little dreary and wet, but game on none the less. It was our first visit to Globe Life Park in Arlington and since they are building a new stadium this year it will be our last. It’s not an old-stadium but it does feel a bit run down. 

We grabbed a few hats, visors, baseballs, etc. We like to have our souvenirs. 

And then it was game time!

The Rangers played the Cardinals, which was fun because St Louis is my hometown. It felt like there were more Cardinals fans there than Rangers fans….but that feels true for the Cardinals wherever you go. 
Annabelle found this beauty…The Grub Tub! Nachos and a soda all in one glorious container. Disgusting or genius? 

Those outfield seats are standing room only and reminded me of a horse track. 
A view of the cranes building the new stadium next door. 
View of neighboring AT&T stadium

With our ticket purchase we had access to the Capital One Club. These were great seats inside with awesome views and access to special concession stands. Unfortunately because of the rain delay they ran out of food so the access wasn’t quite as sweet as a typical game.

After the game we went back to the hotel for dinner. We grabbed a table at the Italian restaurant that we could see from our balcony. See those girls waiving down to us?

The girls ran back and forth between the room and our table between courses. It was great they had a little freedom and we could kick back and relax and enjoy a little wine and dinner.

The day may not have gone quite as planned, but it was a good one!

dallas • storm warning

We woke up to a pretty dismal weather forecast. There were heavy downpours and floods projected for most of the day. We were worried about our baseball game getting rained out and we couldn’t take advantage of the outdoor pool, but we were happy there was still plenty to do inside while we waited out the storm.
A quiet breakfast on our patio
Gwyneth requested a braid so we got creative with it…
Our hotel had a Peter Pan theme going on in the courtyard so we explored all the cute little attractions:
B found us a good table for lunch right on the indoor river walk. This picture cracked us up because the girls and I were just sitting on a bench on the over side of the river and didn’t know where he went. He was sitting there at that table – right across from us! – just waiting and laughing. What a goofball!
We enjoyed some much needed Tex Mex while we waited out the storm. 

awards ceremony

We were back at school the very next day for the year end awards ceremony.  This is one of my favorites of the year as they celebrate each and every kid who attends the school.They find a gift in everyone and it is applauded.
Our girls were horribly embarrassed to be called up in front of the crowd but we were very proud of them. Annabelle received the language arts award for 6th grade. She is an excellent reader, writer, speller etc. Gwyneth received the reading award for 5th grade. What an accomplishment for our little dyslexic gal. It’s been a good year, but we sure are ready for summer. 
We had a late night flight out to Dallas that evening. We were all pretty exhausted from the late night travel. We didn’t get to the hotel until after midnight, but we were all pretty excited to get our mini-vaca kicked off. 
These gals fell asleep for about an hour on the plane. I love traveling with them. They are such great travel companions.
The view from our room. Maybe because we looked so disheveled when we arrived, they upgraded us to a pretty great room with a view of the courtyard. Even though we were all dead-tired we had to spend a little time on that balcony enjoying our view.
After a great night sleep we were ready to tackle Dallas!