Fall Break Stay-cation

For the majority of Fall Break we were hanging out at home. It was soooo nice to sleep-in (ahhhh) and not have to wake up at 6:45 and get the kids going and make lunches. It's good to have a break from the routine once in awhile.

However, by the end of the week the kids and I were all getting antsy. Dana and I started throwing ideas around of things we could do for the weekend. He remembered he had a "half day of work" coupon he had earned. Also, he had been bringing up going to a chocolate factory in Phoenix he read about, since not too long after we moved here. And, he looked up Best Western's website to see which Arizona hotels offer the employee discount (wish they all did).

So we got everything set and told the kids on Friday morning we had fun plans. If they were good of course and got their stuff all packed. They were excited. First thing was the chocolate factory. About the time we got to the parking lot we started wondering if this could be one of those times that what you picture in your mind is alot different from reality...

It was partly our fault for not going during their tour hours thereby having to take the "video tour". That was kind of hilarious because the tv's had issues and the glare from the florescent lights made it impossible to see anything. I kept imagining something like the videos on "Lost" that describe the stations. The place was built in 1968 which explains the wall paintings...which was actually my favorite part.

Aside from the "I Love Lucy" picture they had on display. Awww...who does not love that episode. So classic. How much can you really complain when the hallway tour ends with rows of candy anyway? They do make a mean product. So we left the quirky factory with full mouths and smiles on our faces and ready for the next part of our adventurous weekend. We checked into our Best Western in beautiful Mesa (off Dobson) and of course headed straight to the pool. The perfect thing for the triple digits we had that day. This may have been the kids favorite part of the whole weekend. We all played into the evening and tried really hard not to bug any of the people laying out and relaxing.

Emma tied Dana on the backstroke. He was pretty surprised.

LOVE this one!

The other best part of the hotel...

After a BIG breakfast at the hotel we headed out. Can I just say that I love the car DVD player? It makes traveling so much easier!

About 2 hours later....

We usually end up here at some point during Fall because it's actually autumny there. And just plain beautiful everywhere you look.

We usually go with our destination being colorful leaves and going on a pretty hike through them. But this time we went to Slide Rock State Park. It was a warm day in Sedona too, so we all wore our swimsuits under our clothes.

(sadie :)

The "water slide".

The guy at the gate had told us that the water was about 57 deg. and when we got over to the slide area, there was only like 1 or 2 people going on the slide. There were quite a few people there and I started thinking they were all party-poopers. Until I felt the water with my big toe. Holy cow! so cold. I tried putting my whole foot in for as long as I could and it started hurting after a few seconds. But the slide looked so fun and as I sat there I knew I had to do it. I knew that no matter how cold and painful it was, it would be worse to regret NOT going down it. So I stripped off my clothes and felt many eyes on me, told Dana I was going (much to his surprise), and went for it. With that many people watching me in my swimsuit, I wasn't about to stand around feeling nervous and trying to decide.

I think with the adrenaline rush the cold wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be.

Getting out was a bigger challenge and I was glad to see Emma come running toward me as I was trying to flop my freezing body up on the rock to distract me from feeling everyone's eyes on me. She was bubbling over with excitement and it took her about 2 secs. of contemplation to tell me she wanted to do it too.

Dana went too and then Eli got up the nerve to go. He got flopped around a little and that with the cold were a little much for him, but I was so proud of him for being brave and trying it.

The little girls were just too small and had to be happy only freezing their toes off, rather than their whole bodies. Holly REALLY wanted to go. I felt bad for her. It seems like often her smallness gets in the way of things she wants to do. All in good time.

I love my family :)