Weekend Wrap-Up and Thankful Thursday

 It's been a great long weekend!

Thursday I went to Pella to see Kael.  We had a lovely brunch then walked around up town for a bit then drove around just chatting.  Love catching up with him!

Friday after school Kylee and I took off for a girl's trip to Arizona! She is the best/easiest travel partner.

Her Spanish teacher (Aunt Tammy) would be proud- reading her Spanish books on the plane!

Smooth, direct flight and before we knew it we were in Scottsdale at the beautiful Omni!

Dinner at the hotel was so, so good. 

And it beautiful! All the fountains and the architecture- reminded me so much of Spain.

We got up the next morning and sat in the hot tub- with an amazing view of Camelback!

We fueled up with a great breakfast.

Explored our hotel grounds a bit. 

Then took off to hike Camelback! We chose the more difficult (but closer trailhead to our hotel) hike. 

We had the best time.  It really wasn't terribly hard- we were prepared with plenty of water and had gone early enough in the morning that it wasn't hot.

The hike definitely got steep and rocky towards the end!

That view!!! Soooo worth it.

What a fun, special memory to have with Kylee.  It was just a great morning. 

We headed back to our resort for lunch.

And gelato happy hour!

I couldn't stop taking pictures it was so pretty there.

We spent a little time by the pool.

Kylee loved the orange trees.

Then we met up with some friends for dinner! We enjoyed walking around Old Town.

It was so, so great to catch up with them!

And have ice cream at the iconic Sugar Bowl!

Kylee saw her first shooting star ever on the walk back to our room that night! I didn't capture it on camera but the sky was so clear.

The next morning I took a little walk to grab coffee.

Then we had the most delicious breakfast at our resort.

I mean, how pretty is that yogurt?!

We took a short walk the other direction from our hotel that we hadn't explored yet.

Then hit the spa! We had massages and facials- what a treat.

Back to the resort.

Palm tree selfie.

I just couldn't stop taking pictures! Kylee was a good sport about it and honestly I think she loved the greenery and orange trees and flowers as much as I did!

Not a bad view for the afternoon!

Poolside chips and guac.  A vacation staple for us!

Love, love, LOVE this girl.

Our friends came to join us to hang by the pool and of course walk to gelato happy hour again! 

Ahhh.  Sunshine.  Girl time. So good for the soul.

We got cleaned up and headed for dinner.

My friend brought her convertible which was lovely for so many reasons! It was fun, we got a scenic, guided tour of the city from some locals, and we didn't have to Uber! 

SO fun.

We had a great Italian dinner with them then headed back to our resort.  The next morning we had a little time to grab breakfast, walk (we had seen all these cute chairs and hammocks all around the property so we made it our goal to sit in all of them and try them all out), then it was time to pack up and head home. 

Kylee had been dying to pick an orange all trip- ha! She squeezed it in to orange juice and said it was terrible- so tart!

It was such a lovely trip with Kylee and I'm so thankful to Kent who encouraged us to take this trip and booked our flights and hotel for us.  He really is the best and I'm just so lucky we have the resources to take the time to make these kind of memories!!! 

Meanwhile back home Kent was busy with Kase and crew.  He had double sleepover, went to a basketball game with friends, went to Urban Air, did baseball workouts and had a practice, spent alllll day outside on Monday when there was no school and it was nice out. Also he had gone snowboarding with the a group from church on Saturday and said he was flying down the hill and even doing tricks- he LOVED it. 

Kael had a great weekend too- he PR'd in the weight throw and then got to spend all day Sunday with his girlfriend celebrating her birthday! Love these two.

Kylee and I got home Monday evening just before Kase left for basketball practice and I'm so glad we did because he was SO proud and excited to show us the red velvet cake the boys had made for us to welcome us home! He had gone with Kent to the store and picked it out and then Kent baked it for us while Kase played with his friends.  What a lovely surprise to come home too! Kase had time to have a few bites with me before he left and said excitedly, "It tastes just like Simon's!" which is our favorite place. I couldn't believe Kent had taken the time to bake for us while we were away.  So sweet.  The house was also clean and the laundry was done- really, really thoughtful for Kent to have all of that taken care of! 

Feeling so thankful for my family and for this amazing weekend we all had!