Flagstaff

I've been in pretty desperate need of a break lately. I've been feeling restless, bogged down by the daily routine, uncomfortable and antsy as I enter this last stage of pregnancy, and, overall, just in need of a change of scenery.

I didn't have much hope. Any kind of family trip was pretty much of the table for this summer, because we have to save all of S's days off for when the baby gets here. Then my father-in-law was talking to S about what he would like for a late birthday present and he offered to get us two nights at a hotel up in Flagstaff, and suddenly a short vacation was in our future!

If you're not from Arizona, you may not be familiar with Flagstaff. It's a little mountain town, nestled high above the heat of Phoenix, and it houses the university where S and I went to college. We love it. It's an amazing town, with cool, fresh mountain air, funky little shops and bars, tons of local food and a sense of laid-backness. It's only a two hour drive from Phoenix, but with the kids and busy work schedules we usually only get back up about once a year. It was long overdue, and once we got up there I instantly felt more relaxed.

(apparently the boys thought the drive up was a a bit boring!)

I can't even tell you what a relief getting into the cooler weather was. Normally, I'm totally a heat girl. I love summer and, honestly, the hot temps in Phoenix don't usually bother me too much. But for some reason, this pregnancy is just kicking my butt with being hot. I don't remember it being this bad with either of the boys, but I wake up at night sweating and I'm constantly just in a state of over-heating. The cool 70 degree temps in Flagstaff were heaven... not to mention being able to crank the air conditioning in our hotel room without getting lectures from S about our electricity bill!

We got to Flag late Friday afternoon, and after settling into the hotel we headed out to dinner at a local place that wasn't there when we were in college, but that we had heard good things about. S got a delicious locally brewed beer and we the boys loved that the restaurant overlooked the train station. (And trains in Flagstaff go by about every ten minutes! Annoying when you were a college kid trying to get to work, but awesome if you're a member of the four and under crowd!) We ended our night early with ice cream at the hotel. We were very excited that S's dad had gotten us rooms at the Embassy Suites, so that the boys could have their own "room". We figured we'd get the boys settled in and asleep and then we'd be able to go into our room and relax and watch a movie. Um..... L2 had other ideas. I have no idea what his deal was, but he would not go to sleep in that pack and play. End of Story. And he is normally an awesome sleeper, but both nights we ended up having to bring him into our bed while he fussed until he finally wore himself out enough to fall asleep and be transferred back to his bed. Needless to say, we never got to watch our movie!

On Saturday we had a lot to pack in, so we started our day early by going up to Lake Mary to take the boys fishing. Again, I just couldn't get over the weather, and also how beautiful this place is.

(You gotta love a baby wearing dad... Am I right?)

The boys had fun fishing, but only lasted about an hour. After fishing we headed to a local used bookstore and let the boys pick out a couple of books. At this point the boys were already starting to get a little tired and hungry (A.K.A. cranky) so it was time to hit Biff's Bagel for lunch. L is definitely his mother's son... the kid loves a good bagel! After that we did some shopping at the shops downtown and then headed back to the hotel for naps. Finally, to wrap up our busy Saturday, we headed to San Felipe's for dinner. San Felipe's is a bar/restaurant that I worked at in college. Probably one of the most fun jobs I've ever had and a huge part of my college experience! It's so fun, and also kind of weird, to see my two sons in a place that holds so many memories for me!

After getting our fill of Flagstaff (OK, I think I could have stayed for the next three months, but S has to go back to work!) We headed back down the hill on Sunday, but made a pit stop in Sedona for some creek time. Sedona is another one of S and mine favorite places, and also a major throwback from our college days. It was a great though in theory, and while we had fun while we were there we only stayed about an hour. L2 got super cranky about 30 minutes after we got there. I think he was tired and worn out and just at the end of our rope, so pretty quickly we packed it up and headed home. That's OK though. It was a great trip, and it was also nice to get home in time to be able to unpack and unwind and enjoy Sunday night before our week starts again tomorrow.

I needed this trip, I really did. I feel so refreshed and ready to start of this next week fresh. We have lots of stuff coming up.... birthdays for the boys and a mile long to-do list to get ready for the new baby, and I feel ready to tackle it all!