A Family Vacation

Scottsdale, AZ

Last week I spent 6 amazing days on vacation with my family in Arizona. Our little clan has never been on a vacation as just the four of us, partly because our children are young and partly because we don’t make it a priority in our finances and time, but oh my word is that going to change! We didn’t have elaborate plans or spend a fortune on entertainment, but we had a week of uninterrupted family time. We were together all day, every day, with no work, no meetings to attend, no extra commitments, and no driveway or sidewalk to shovel! I can’t tell you how rewarding it was to get away and just be with each other. So…we have now made a commitment to try do something as a family, every year in the winter. For anyone that lives in northern Minnesota, you know all to well how infamously long our winters are. And although I love winter, the family time and the Arizona warmth and sun reenergized me and gave me the pick up I needed to get through these next couple months of cold. Enjoy a little piece of summer–hopefully it warms you up rather than reminds you of how crazy cold it is outside!

Although Denny and I would have loved to do more hiking, we choose to take it easy with the girls. This was the biggest hike we did (obviously it wasn’t too difficult because Halle is wearing a dress and sandals!). This is “The Hole in the Rock”. The hike was easy and the view was fun for the girls!

We also did our fair share of swimming. This was probably our favorite part of the trip because the girls loved it so much! It is amazing how much enjoyment you get out of watching your kids have a blast!

We tried our hand at mini golf-although Jocelyn just moved our balls to new spots and Halle was more interested in climbing on the obstacles than getting her golf ball through them! Still a treasured memory 🙂

This girl is such a goof and loves to ham it up in front of the camera! Her sister…not so much right now. Jocelyn usually just cries and runs away when the camera comes out-so I promise we don’t have favorites-just one girl that loves her picture taken and the other that doesn’t!

The American Girl Doll Bistro was also a HUGE hit! Another favorite from the trip! Halle is obsessed with babies and dolls so eating lunch here was like a dream come true for her. They give you an American girl doll (if you don’t have one) to eat with and complimentary teacups and saucers for the dolls that you can take home afterward. Everything was in pink and even the forks and knives were held together with pink hair ties that were a keepsake. Halle was in Heaven!

We also hit up the zoo and Butterfly Wonderland. It was so cool to walk around and enjoy the plants and butterflies as they landed on your shoulder or back. I couldn’t resist taking photos of them-so many gorgeous colors and exquisite patterns!

It was a fabulous time and no one was quite ready to come home! Catch ya later AZ-send up some of your warm weather!