Memorial Weekend Staycation

This weekend we had to have an official moment of silence, as it marked one whole year since we'd set foot on a beach. Yes, one year ago over Memorial weekend we visited the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and it's been twelve long months since we bid ol' salty blue farewell.... Sigh. Anyway, let's segue into this year's Memorial celebration starting with our overnight stay in Colorado Springs! 

Yes! Beautiful Colorado Springs, just 40 minutes south of us, and packed full of adventure. We stayed at a super classy place called the Cheyenne Mountain Resort which featured some fancy amenities, like this heated outdoor pool! I picked the kids up a little early from school on Friday and we headed down to start vacationing ASAP. Jon was scheduled to work until 6 p.m., so he was a good sport and let us take two cars. 

Babykins loved her soak in the hot tub!! This little peanut has probably been in more hot tubs than I have. In fact I think she sneaks out at night to go hot-tubbing.

The scenery around the pool was just gorgeous! It's nestled right up against the mountains and kind of reminds me of Europe. We swam until about 6:30 p.m. and then headed back to our room to get dressed and meet Jon.

One of the views from our hotel room. So lovely!

We were all starving, and Jon picked Drifters again because a nice juicy burger was what sounded good to him after a long day battling tooth decay. Zach the Burgermeister was in total agreement!

Back at the resort they had a huge fire going outside and lots of fixings to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. The kids were in heaven and we got to watch the sun go down behind the mountains.

Mmmmmm. Pretty good pre-bedtime snack! 

Early the next morning we headed to breakfast at the Black Bear Diner which had rave reviews online. It had a super cute ambiance and we'd gotten there early enough to avoid a long wait so that was a huge plus!

Wee-Wee's loved scouting out all the black bears decorating the restaurant and felt like this could quite possibly Merida's restaurant-- and if you've ever seen the movie "Brave" you know why.

The breakfast was amazing! Chocolate chip pancakes, whipped cream, sausage and bacon-- these kid platters were fit for a king. We definitely want to go back!

My California Eggs Benedict with bacon, avocado, and grilled tomatoes. Yum!

Thoroughly stuffed it was time to move on to the days' adventures. The kids were begging to go back to the pool, so that's just what we did. The weather report for the day was a bit sketchy with some afternoon thunderstorms promised-- but at least for the morning it was just beautiful!!

Once they'd had their fill of that pool, we headed down to some more pools plus the lake and the man-made "beach." Leave it to me to find us a beach of some sorts to kick summer off!

They had kayaks and paddle boards to try so Jon took each of the kids out for a ride. Leah was last and was so anxious for her turn. She finally got loaded in and looked terrified! By the time they made it back to shore though she was already wanting to head back out!

The brave kayakers out on the lake. That water was freezing!

The kids couldn't decided if they wanted to the lake or the beach or the other pools at the resort (which also had a slide), so we just bounced back and forth between all of them. Can you spy Pike's Peak right there in the background? 

With Jon on swimming duty I got lots of time to cuddle and play with this little baby who loves the sun and the water every bit as much as her siblings! Around 2 p.m. the thunderclouds rolled in and with lightning in the vicinity the pools closed up and it rained (literally) on our fun. Thankfully we'd already gotten a couple of solid hours of fun in and the kids were hungry for lunch anyway! 

We headed downtown to Sonterra Grill which is a really unique Southwestern restaurant with lots of local awards. Jon got some amazing adobo chicken tacos with this crazy pumpkin seed pesto and ginger carrot slaw. I got the fish tacos-- and everything was super flavorful, and not like any Mexican food I'd ever tasted! We got there around 3 p.m. and the restaurant was pretty dead, so we basicallly had the whole place to ourselves. And with 4 kids-- that was a really good thing!

I'd been wanting to check out this Wild West/Ghost Town Museum I'd been hearing about, so with the on-and-off-again rain, we figured it'd be a good idea to take things indoors away. We headed over to the museum which was luckily only about 5 minutes away from the restaurant.

Even mention the word "ghost" to my kids and they absolutely freak themselves out. They love to be deliciously scared.  So the fact that we were walking through a "ghost town" had them super jumpy-- add that to the fact that there were talking mannequin "outlaws" inside this jail and it was pretty hilarious to watch them!

Lots of old West artifacts-- including this stuffed two-headed calf in the left corner. Lucy was in heaven because she had just finished reading the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder series so she had fun picturing different scenes from the books. 

Whoa! Run away carriage!!

Outside they had some hands-on panning for gold that the kids could try. Zach was really hoping to find the mother lode but unfortunately he did not. It was getting late and the kids were exhausted from our little staycation so we loaded them up in the car and headed back up to Parker. 

Monday morning I taught a special Memorial Day Body Pump class at the gym--which is more like a fancy country club, and then afterwards there were games and swimming and a free barbecue going on. We changed into our swim suits and got us a free picnic! Unfortunately those thunderstorms must have followed us because after about 5 minutes of being there they started up again. We decided to wait out the rain and sure enough after about a half an hour the sun came back out and the kids were allowed in the water!

The rain had scared away most people, so actually, the kids had this bouncy water slide and the pool to themselves! There is also a diving board there and Lucy and Zach jumped off of it probably 20 times. This will be a great pool to get to use this summer!

Next up we met Jeremy and the kids at a fun park in Castle Rock called the MAC to play for a little while before heading to dinner with them.   

We met Auntie Kylene and baby Jamison at Red Robin (which sports this amazing view) and had a delish dinner with 4 adults and 7 kids!! We were just a little outnumbered, but thankfully our dinner outing went very smoothly. We had such a jam-packed, adventure-filled Memorial weekend I'm tired even just thinking about it! Thankfully, the kids only have TWO more days of school left before our summer really truly begins, and with the whole crew at home it's sure to be pure chaos!

Sister Time in Sunny Arizona

Why does baby 'Lizabeth look so happy?? Because she got to visit Auntie Whitney last weekend in Arizona and had the Best. Time. Ever!! Jon promised me last fall that if I let him go for his four weekends to Chicago (so he could complete his implant course), he'd let me visit Whitney and have a "girls' weekend" when all was said and done. So in honor of that promise, he made good this past Mother's Day and bought me tickets to fly to Phoenix for some much needed R & R while he stayed home and manned the home fires with the older three kids. What a stud! 

I flew to Phoenix on Thursday evening with the baby-- who did amazing. With my undivided attention, and no siblings constantly pestering and smothering her, she was as good as gold on the 1 hour and 20 minute flight. Phew! We got in late that night, and went straight to Whitney's apartment and to bed! Whitney had to teach school in the morning, but managed to arrange to take a half-day off and came home around 11:30 a.m. Friday morning and picked me up. We headed straight to Scottsdale for lunch and some shopping.

As soon as I saw they had a Sprinkles cupcake store I made Whitney pull over so I could buy some. Yum! They are the best. With Elizabeth in the front pack we were able to do some serious power shopping at Loft.

Downtown "Old Scottsdale" was so quaint and beautiful-- often called the "Palm Springs" of Arizona, I can see why.  Tons of shopping, restaurants, and very, very rich people. 

With 100 degree temps and SUNSHINE galore we headed back to Whitney's apartment to check out her pool. I could not get enough of that gorgeous weather! It reminded me so much of Vegas-- yes, it was hot and dry, but there was plenty of shade and the pool was just perfect. Elizabeth is such a water bug and was in heaven!

Sisters! Yes, we are obviously related. 

Chilling' in the hot tub. Look at that super relaxed baby!! She could have stayed in there all day. 

We decided to head to dinner and ended up choosing the Yard House at the Westgate shopping center-- right next to where the Arizona Cardinals play football. It was totally bopping! Luckily we'd called ahead and put our name on the list and got right in. It was fun to take a peek around though-- live music, splash pads, people watching galore, what could be better?

Whitney had raved about the chicken nachos, which was an appetizer-- but obviously big enough to share. Holy cow!!! So yummy!!! They were amazing. It was so fun to be out later than 7:30 p.m. and Elizabeth was being such a good baby. When she felt tired, she simply fell asleep. If you know anything about my babies-- you know that is a truly remarkable thing. Normally I have to take them out and rock them and walk around for hours before that happens--missing the whole meal in the process. Thank you, dear sweet Elizabeth.

The next morning we woke up and headed over to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), which was voted the number 1 thing to do in Phoenix, according to Trip Advisor. It really was right up Whitney's alley, too. It featured musical instruments, costumes, culture, stories, history, etc. from every country in the WORLD. But the best part was that you're given headphones to tour with, and they automatically sync to the country you're standing in front of and play examples of that particular country's music. Pretty cool!

Selfie time in front of some Asian country. Whenever Elizabeth would get a little fussy, I'd just put my headphones on her and the music would instantly calm her down.

It also featured famous musicians from history. This was the one and only Ella Fitzgerald's gown. 

There was also an exhibit where you could try and play some of the instruments yourself. I mean, how you can RESIST striking a huge Chinese gong?!? There was a sign saying "that out of respect to the other guests not to strike it more than once"... but we may have accidentally struck it a few more times than that...

After walking around all 196 whopping countries and hearing music from all of those places we were famished. Whitney took me to Hopdoddy Burgers which is her absolute favorite burger place. And wowser-- it did not disappoint! I got a chicken burger that was delish, hand-cut fries with a green chili queso sauce to dip, and we shared a pretzel Nutella shake that was fab. 

Next we headed over to her local salon for pedicures. Man, I sure love me a good pedicure! It's the one really "treat" thing I unapologetically do to spoil myself since I don't get my fingernails or makeup done, or do waxing or anything like that. Elizabeth was a hit with the Asian ladies doing our feet-- they thought she was so cute! 

Hot pink toe nails, feet up, Diet Coke in hand, relaxing by the pool! Ahhhhh. I could seeeeeriously get used to this.

Since I was leaving the next day, our pies de resistance was splurging on a Restaurant Week dinner at the James Beard award-winning "Salty Sow." They do a 3-course meal for $33 which is an absolute steal. Whitney's roommate Kjersten offered to babysit Elizabeth (and considering she's a child therapist I figured she was in good hands), so I really, truly got the night off. Hallelujah! I started with the brussel sprout Caesar salad (AMAZING), and Whitney got the eggplant fries for her appetizer.

Whitney got the stewed pork shoulder with white beans for her main course.

And I got the filet mignon and mashed potatoes. I felt like I was back on a cruise again!

But the dessert. Oh! The dessert!! It was the stuff dreams are made of. I love really rich desserts-- and this was a chocolate truffle cake that was fudgey and dense and made me really, really, really happy. It was probably one of the best desserts I've ever had. 

Sunday morning we found a family ward that started at 9 a.m., since Whitney's ward wasn't until 1 p.m. and my flight left that afternoon. We swung by the temple right after church so I could see where Whitney had worked pretty much every Saturday for the past year or so. Beautiful!

We hadn't eaten yet (Whitney is in the process of moving apartments and had all of her kitchen things  packed up), so we headed into Tempe-- home of Arizona State University, and which also happens to be right next to the airport. We decided to get brunch at a really cool "hipster" spot called "Culinary Dropout" (opened by yep, you guessed it, culinary drop-outs). 

It's a very foodie-type place and everything is made from scratch, the menu is constantly changing and seasonal, etc. and it was SO good!! I feel like I just ate and ate amazing food all weekend  because I really did. I got a chicken, mushroom, and kale frittata, and Whitney got the Kentucky Hot Brown. Oh, and I ate that yogurt parfait, too. I pigged out.

Whitney dropped me off right after brunch and I headed back to hearth and home and rainy cold Colorado weather and three more kids and a hubby. But what a weekend it was!!! It was SO hard to leave. I love my sister, and although we're now a lot closer to Arizona, one-on-one time like this is still pretty rare and a very treasured thing. She is the best. I could go on and on about how wonderful and special I think she is, but bottom line, she is one of my best friends and when I'm with her I'm just happier. Thanks Whitney, for a fantastic Sister Trip not soon to be forgotten!