Fourth of July Weekend.....

Posting quickly before I fully immerse myself in the wonder that is my mom's digital cable package....ahhhhh. Movies on Demand! I love YOU the best!

We drove up caravan style from Show Low to Hatch. 384 miles.
Stopped for breakfast. Stopped for gasoline. Stopped to eat. Stopped to pee.

Note to my friends: NEVER EVER buy off-brand beef jerky at a third-rate convenience store on an indian reservation. You will puke. Or at least, you will want to.
Despite the attractive 99 cent price, Tom's beef jerky - or whatever made up brand it was - did not cut the mustard, as they say.

You get the drift. We stopped in Page, Arizona to shop for essential supplies before crossing over into Utah. Chips, pretzels and above all else SODA! Apparently, this is very important to my husband.

We finally get to our destination. Fun times ensue.
There was a Fourth of July omelette breakfast. Fourth of July candy parade. Fourth of July carnival (at which Dylan won a race as he was the fastest three year old in attendance!). Fourth of July Potluck dinner and finally the moment we were all waiting for....the fireworks!!!

There were THREE fireworks shows within our view, and we also totally did not set off our own fireworks as that would be illegal. It was lots of fun!

Sunday was spent lounging around, enjoying the weather and sights.
We had burgers for dinner on the front porch. Very nice.

That night, we certainly did not let off more fireworks along the highway.
Much fun.

This morning we woke up, cleaned, packed up and we took off for California!
From Hatch, Utah to Simi Valley = 522 miles...IF you take the RIGHT exit off the 15 in Barstow and not the WRONG exit and end up at Edwards AFB. Whoops!
My accidental trip through the high desert added 26 miles to the drive, but with such fun towns to drive through as Hinkley, famous as the town poisoned by PG&E from "Erin Brockovich" and the aptly named Boron...who notices!!

We FINALLY made it here! Yay!
We had spaghetti dinner and are now relaxing.
Aaaahhhhh.
Vacation!

Our Scottsdale Weekend, Part II

Previously...
We arrived at the hotel and rested then enjoyed a morning at the zoo!

Before we go further I should add that I love the Phoenix Zoo. It is great for kids. But it is a LOT of walking, especially when you are pushing 70+ pounds of kids in the double stroller and they won't walk for NOTHING!
I kept trying to tell them to walk over to the very next exhibit, they would have none of it.
They preferred their conveyance, thankyouverymuch!

We were very lucky though, in that we got to see the zoo employees give the jaguar a jack o'lantern stuffed with lemongrass as a toy. That was hilarious. We got there early enough that we hit most of the exhibits before it got mad crowded. We did save the zoo trifecta (lions, tigers, giraffes) for last though and that got a bit insane.

By far the most favorite exhibit was the walk through monkey habitat. Dylan is still talking about it.

Ok...after the zoo we went to the BK Lounge for lunch then back to the hotel. I forgot my bathing suit, so my mom took the kids swimming in the jacuzzi. I tried to put the baby down for a nap but he wasn't having it.
After a hotel restaurant dinner we were all tired and ready to sleep. We were scheduled to check out on Sunday morning, but my mom decided to stay one more night so we could go to the RailFair on Sunday.
Dylan LOVES trains and we skipped the zoo train ride causing him to wail "my traaaaaaaaiiiiin" all the way out the gates...so yeah, we sort of owed him a train ride.

RailFair was close by, right up the street, and after our complimentary breakfast we headed to the traaiiiiins!


There were tons of model train enthusiasts with their trainscapes all set up. We were checking out one HUGE model and because I'm so funny I said...

"Look, I can see where Beetlejuice lives."

Ha ha ha. Oh boy. That was a good one.

Then we stumbled onto a Thomas the Tank Engine setup. Holy moses. Thomas is the second coming of Christ apparently. Dylan went berserk!
"IT'S THOMASSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So we stood there looking at Thomas go around and around for about 10 minutes.

We finally convinced Dylan to leave Thomas and we rode the miniature train that travels around the park. It was about a 10 minute ride, totally worth the $2 fare.






During RailFair I was only pushing Ben in the little stroller, but I had damaged myself so badly at the zoo the day before that as I'm walking I hear this "POP" and my leg wants to die.
Then I got shooting pains in my hip and was forced to sit down for a second. I have no idea what happened, pinched nerve, pulled muscle whathaveyou, but I limped around like Dr. Gregory House for the rest of that day. At some points I just could not walk at all and had to sit. It was kind of lame.
My mom took the kids over to the bounce houses (free!) while I sat with Ben at the playground and tried not to fall COMPLETELY apart.


And Ben napped while the biggers rode the giant carousel.


We also got to tour a train that was used by four (or five) presidents, mostnotably FDR. Here's my mom and the kids being presidential.


And Ben and I in front of the train.


We spent about three hours there and worked up quite an appetite. Elizabeth decided we should feast on the sumptuous menu items featured at the local Denny's. And so we did!

Next installment: Cocktail party!

Our Scottsdale weekend

The kids and I left Friday morning for Scottsdale.
It took about three hours and it's a 160 mile trip, but before you think I am the world's slowest driver...the part from Payson, Ariz. all the way to Fountain Hills, Ariz. is steep, rocky, one-lane, twisty, down the mountain, scary-ass road.
Plus it was super windy that day, and I am extremely cautious while conveying my precious cargo.

We had to stop in Payson (about 80+ miles from our house) to get lunch for the kids and specifically to feed Benjamin. He was HOWLING!
After that, it was no stops all the way to Scottsdale.

Our hotel - Hospitality Suites Resort - was really cool, it was set up almost like my college dorms. All the room doors facing inward on a courtyard. All the courtyards were poolside...no grass-side, shucks.
We happened to be in the A Building, which housed the lobby, restaurant, the sole jacuzzi in the place, a ramada bar (where there were free cocktails every night from 5 to 6:30 pm!), BBQ areas and of course, the pool.
Across the parking lot were B and C Buildings and a tennis court/basketball court, shuffleboard, ping pong, two more pools, more BBQ areas and more guest rooms, naturally.

There was ample parking, day or night AND we were right across the side street from a Food City (a grocery store) and a Big Lots!

The actual room itself was also super cool. There was a living room area with a fold out couch bed and a dining table area. There was also a FULL kitchen with a small stove, microwave, fridge...even DISHES and pots and pans! Perfect for traveling with kids!
There was a HUGE closet for storing our clothes, suitcases, strollers...seriously, I could have set up the port-a-crib in there and given Ben his own room. But I didn't. I swear I did not.

The bedroom (which had a closing door separating it from the living area, awesome for naps!) had two double beds, built-in dresser, a smaller TV and the bathroom was off of that room and was also a great size, lots of counter space.

So, we were beyond pleased with the accomodations, especially since it was only $105 a night! Incredible! The kids also enjoyed riding in the elevator multiple times per day, since we were on the third floor.

Friday afternoon, after our arrival, we just unpacked and settled in. Of course we visited the cocktail party. The kids had Shirley Temples, mom and I had margaritas. Very nice.

Saturday morning was ZOO day!
We were only about a 10 minute drive from the Phoenix Zoo. No freeways! Yay!
There's free parking at the zoo too, so, that's awesome.
Mom was so smart and bought our tickets online so we whisked by the lines forming at the ticket booths and jetted through the Advanced Ticket Sales line and bam! Zoo time!
Thank goodness it was an unusually cool weekend in Phoenix. The temps never got into the 80s during the day. We went around to all the exhibits, the kids loved every single animal they saw, even the sleeping giant anteater.
I was particularly in love with the baby orangutan. So cute.
We arrived there around 9 am and were finished with our tour of the zoo by just after noon. It was a LOT of walking, but totally worth it.
And without further ado, zoo pics!







Next installment: RailFair!