Off to Paradise

with no kids!

Spring Break in Arizona

For Spring break we went to Arizona.  Jay had some work to do there, so he decided to take us with him.  We had a fantastic time.  We were there for 7 days, and I actually wanted to stay longer.  The kids had a blast!  Our resort was perfect for families and can't wait to go back!  

Travis LOVED going on the waterslide!

Sara loved swimming with her "Arizona friend" Mariah.  

Leah was a waterbaby!

Easter Morning

We left a note for the easter bunny at home telling it that we were on vacation.  He found us.  The kids had a great time on their egg hunt. We went to church and then had a fabulous breakfast at Corner Bakery.  I think we tried 1 of everything!!  YUM!

Travis and Sara

Leah

The kids did lots of crafts while we were there.

  Everyday I had something different for them to do. 

Other fun things we did: shopping at the mall in Chandler on a rainy day, seeing the Easter Bunny, eating at Cafe Rio (didn't know you only had to go to AZ to eat there-worth the drive just for that!), playing at the park, eating lots of Corner Bakery (did I say lots?  I do have 3 extra pounds to show for it!)

They were perfect travelers.  Thank goodness for DVD players!

Who knew family vacations would be so fun? 

Can't wait until the next one.

A Little Get-Away

On Friday, Jay & I headed to Newport Beach for a little weekend get away. My parents took Travis and Sara, but being that Leah has yet to take a bottle, we took her with us. We stayed at the Newport Marriott Villas. They were really nice. It would have been a great place with the kids. We had a 2 bedroom and it was almost 1300 sf. Leah made the vacation a little difficult. We couldn't get a babysitter who could drive to the hotel (prom night on Sat.) so we did not even go out without Leah. She is at the fun stage where she just wants to be held and she will only sleep in a crib, not the stroller. I swear, every time we went to eat, right when we got the food, she started crying. We came home a night early because Jay wanted to watch the Laker game at home rather than on the little tv in our room. Thanks mom & dad for giving me a break from the kids!

Valentines Day in Arizona

Jay had to be in Arizona for business on Valentines Day, so I decided that I should join him. My parents took Travis and Sara, and Leah and I drove out to Arizona. We met Jay there on Wednesday night. We stayed at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. It was kind of cool. It was built in the 20s. It had a lot of personality. We would not mind staying there again. Jay was there for the opening of an EPL in Phoenix. My brother, Clint, was there to help with the opening and get some experience opening stores for when he opens his ELP in Utah.
On Valentines Day, I hung out with my sister in law, Becky, and Callie. We went to El Pollo Loco for lunch. For dinner we went to the Cheesecake Factory with Clint and Becky. It was yummy, like usual!
This is a great story....I brought up 3 sugar cookies for Jay. It was a miracle that they made it all the way to Arizona being that I don't have much self-control. Anyways, they were left on the dresser of our hotel room. When I went to the room in the afternoon, I found that a cookie was missing and the bag was open. I thought that was really random. I called up Jay and asked if he ever went back to the room and ate the cookie, but he hadn't. The housekeeping lady ate the cookie. How weird is that. Actually, that is creepy!!! We were really weirded out! Who does that...eat a strangers homemade cookie in a ziplock bag? Jay went down and spoke with the manager. He wanted to upgrade our room, but it really was not worth it because it would have been a hassle. He took off $100 a night off of our bill and had some yummy deserts sent up. After Jay got back to the room, he kicked himself for not getting me a spa treatment thrown in. Moral of the story...when you stay in a hotel room, either put all your stuff away and the housekeeping people will leave it alone, or leave it out to lure them in and you can get stuff out of it.
Well, the trip was going good...until Friday that is. Jay was not feeling very good on Friday. He had to go look at some sites, so I went along. Then he wanted to go show me some great neighborhoods in Gilbert that he wants to live in. We only went to one neighborhood. The houses were FANTASTIC, but it smelt like cows outside. Jay really was not feeling good, so we went back to the hotel. To make a long story short, Jay ended up throwing up on Friday night. That is fun in a hotel room! Saturday, while Jay was sick in bed, Leah and I headed to the Scottsdale Fashion Mall. LOVED IT!! I told Jay that I was more of a city girl and if he need to move to the AZ, I would perfer the Scottsdale area. Jay was feeling a little better by Sat. night and on Sunday more felt fine. We drove home. Leah was great, not a peep out of her til we hit Corona. Great little break, minus Jay's flu!

ps...is it just my computer, or is it all blogs....my spell check has not been working for a while and it is making me crazy! How do I fix this?

A Little Break

Jay had a convention in San Diego Tuesday through Thursday. He was staying at the Hotel Del Coronado and I figured that I might as well join him. Wednesday after preschool I headed down and dropped the kids off at my parents house and continued down to Coronado by myself. I had a wonderful time!! I just walked around until Jay got back and then we went to dinner with his dad at 1500 Ocean at the hotel. Today I just hung out by myself. It was really nice!! I slept in, read the book Eclipse, then got a wonderful massage and finished the day off at the outlets in Carlsbad. Not a bad way to spend the day! I loved the hotel. Our room was just steps from the sand. The Hotel Del is a great little weekend (or mid-week) get-away. We are really looking forward to going back.