Tucson Trip

We were able to get away for a few days and go to one of our favorite destinations JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort.  We got a 2 room suite and had Grandma Patti and Grandma Blanche with us too.  It was a fun long weekend for everyone!

Trying to get a picture with both boys facing the camera is never easy!

 

 

4th of July Fun!! 

 

 

 

 

Visit to U of A

 

 Pool time, lots and lots of it!!

Seattle Getaway

In early December we were able to get away for a kid-free weekend to Seattle.  We jam packed our weekend with things we love; especially some of the things we love about Seattle.

Friday we did a 3 hour food tour with Savor Seattle Tours.  This is the second tour we've done with them; we love it every time.  We get to eat & drink  lots of yummies and we learn something new about one of our favorite cities each time we do it.

 Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company.

They shared their secret recipe for frosting with me - amazing!  The cupcake on the right is a bacon and maple syrup cupcake, the one on the left is chocolate & tomato soup.  Neither sounds that great but both were to die for!

 No trip is complete to Seattle unless we visit Serious Pie.  And we were lucky to have it on our tour this time too.  Potato and rosemary pizza - so, so, so good.  They even have one with an egg on it, we love this place!  Thanks to cousin Grant for introducing it to us years ago.

 Great Seattle trivia behind the gum wall.  The Market Gum Wall even made Wikipedia, go figure we never even knew it was there.  If you've been to Seattle and never seen it, you should look it up.

 Another place we've walked by 1,000 times but never been in, The Pike Brewing Company.  We had some interesting training on beer tasting and beer pairings...who knew it wasn't only for wine.

Saturday was the Seattle Street Scramble.  Seriously so much fun...well at least it was for Barb.  Betsy and Jason were skeptical.  All in all we ended up having fun running around downtown Seattle.  The organization has several throughout the year all over western Washington.  Get a group together and get out there!  You'll love it.  Or maybe we'll see you in Seattle next December.

 Fran's Chocolates was a tip from our tour guide although it wasn't on the tour.  We managed to fit in some coffee and chocolate late Saturday night.  Fran's is unique to the Seattle area and has some of the finest chocolates around.  Great for a special treat, Valentines Day is right around the corner!

In true Hendricks fashion we signed up for a race while visiting The Emerald City too!  The Jingle Bell Run is held every year in downtown Seattle and helps benefit arthritis.  We've been there many times during it, and never thought to sign up.  It was a little cold and wet, but still fun.  A great way to start a Sunday that's for sure.

 Our beloved Seahawks had a COMPLETE BLOW OUT against the Arizona Cardinals.  It was a great season Hawks, can't wait to see what you've got in store next year!

This boat was blasting Christmas music late into the night...very festive...tis the season!

 Good night Seattle, until next time.

Anniversary #4

A weekend getaway is a must for any relationship; especially important to remember after you add children to the family scene.

With the help of Grandma Patti we were able to get away to one of our favorite resorts.  JW Marriott Starr Pass in Tucson is a little slice of heaven for us.  It's even more relaxing when you're kidless.  We started the weekend with spa treatments:  hot stone massage for Jason and a prenatal massage for Barb.

Several hours spent relaxing by the pool working on our tans (HA, now that summer is over).  One of the great things about Arizona.  Also, so much more relaxing when you're kid-less.

Our first night dinner was divine!  We went to Hacienda Del Sol restaurant and dined at The Grill.  Wow, talk about awesome!  Jason did all the research and this place was the perfect setting for a special occasion dinner.  They left no detail undone.  The staff greeted us by name and congratulated us on our anniversary and the upcoming baby.  Dinner was so good we thought for one minute "we could come here again tomorrow".  And then just when we thought the evening was over out comes this beautiful, thoughtful, and of course delicious dessert.

Our last night we went to Tavolino for an Italian dinner.  The food was good and the atmosphere was ok; it was really hard to beat the dinner the night before.  The service didn't come even close to Hacienda Del Sol.  Of course we still enjoyed ourselves and our meal.

*Note to self (and others)*

Weekend getaways are a must!!   - or even a simple date night, day out together, etc.  Don't let kids, work, life get in the way of taking time for each other.

Woods Canyon Lake Camp Out

We finally took time out of our crazy schedules for a camping trip. We've owned the extremely cool REI tent for 5 years, and yes this is the first time it saw dirt! Our neighborhood put together a group campout and it was so much fun. 15 families with a campground all to ourselves. They had all kinds of fun 'camp' activities for us, or we could do our own thing. We did a little of both.

A view from just around the corner from our campsite. I think deep down inside the thing we loved the most was that our cell phones didn't work at the campground!

Day #1 a 3 mile walk down the trail to the lake. Gavin slept in his own sleeping bag on his own mattress right next to mom & dad. Woke up crying once because he had semi rolled off the bed, his head was on the floor (you'd be crying too).

There isn't any swimming at Woods Canyon Lake so we drove about 4 miles up the road to Willow Spring Lake for a dip in the lake. We waded in the chilly water or a bit, then Gavin decided it was time to jump in. Jason went first with Gavin anxiously awaiting his turn. He loves, loves, loves jumping off docks into water. NO FEAR!

Seville set up an "Adventure Race" for all families to participate in if they wanted. You had to have teams of 3 so we were coerced into participating. We are so glad we did, we had so much fun. Gavin loved it! The hula hoops were probably his favorite. He continued to run through them long after the race was over.

Snug as a bug in his sleeping bag. We had a very loud and wet thunder/rain storm on Saturday afternoon. Gavin slept through the entire thing, didn't move a muscle. Must be a comfy mattress.