Luxurious Long Weekend In Scottsdale-Part One

Chris and I were very fortunate to be able to take a long luxurious weekend to Scottsdale from July 14-17th. It was such a GREAT time, and so nice to get away. My amazing parents volunteered to keep the boys for those days, and we are forever grateful to them for that. :)

There is just something about being able to get away and just enjoy that alone time......without having to take care of anyone else. There is something so nice about being able to take as much time as you want to get ready, as long of a shower as you please, a walk to the bathroom with no one following you, a long conversation over an amazing meal (without having to feed a toddler), to sleep in until you wake up, and to just be by yourselves for some adult conversation. It is such a huge treat that I just cannot seem to get enough of it these days! HA! :) Must be the two kids under 2 thing....LOL! :)

Chris and I chose Scottsdale b.c of the amazing resorts that they have there, along with the spas, fun activities like hot air balloon rides, etc. We chose it b.c it was hot but a dry heat...so not quite as miserable as we experience here in TX in the summer. :) And they have AMAZING weather at night in Arizona. WOW! :) It was just something different and fun...and we are so glad we went.

Here are some pics of our weekend. :)
We stayed at the Four Seasons Troon North for the first two nights..and it was nothing shy of incredible! :) We had a great little casita and the service was impeccable! :)

The casita was so cozy! :)
They even had this fun concoction all laid out for us when we arrived. It was a mix of different juices, champagne and fruit...and it was yummy! :) Chris on the way to the pool.....walking down the paths through the adobe casitas.Gig'em cactus! :) The Spa....ahhhh! :) The highlight of our trip to Scottsdale was definitely the sunrise hot air balloon ride that we took on Friday morning. :) It was magical!! :) We had both always wanted to take one of those rides and we finally got the chance. Woo hoo! :) We absolutely LOVED it even though we had to wake up at 3:30 am to get ready, head to the launch site by 4ish, and meet up with the rest of the gang by 5 am. The crazy thing about that part of the country is that it was definitely getting light outside by 5:15 am! :)

Once we met everyone then we had to start the process of finding the right place to launch the balloons based on the wind currents, etc. We would drive to different spots with the crew and they would throw balloons up into the air. If they did not perform like they would like then we would head to another spot and try it all again. When we got to the perfect spot then we were all ready to go! :)

Early, early in the morning waiting to get the balloons out. Time to fill up the balloon...Chris was assisting. :) Our basket only held 5....4 of us and the pilot. Some hold 8-12 folks though.....and there were some of those up in the air as well. :) Time to heat it up and take off! :) Up, up and away!! :) We are off!! It was the most peaceful, serene feeling as we took off and just started floating!! :)
Bye bye cactus! :) Love this pic with another balloon coming over the mountain. There were about 6 other balloons that launched right around when we did...floating over the Sonoran desert. :)
It really was just gorgeous up there!!! That is Lake Pleasant in the background.
So pretty..... It was so neat to be 3000+ feet up in the air...but cool to float about 100 feet over the desert floor too. When you float low you can see the jackrabbits, foxes, havelinas, etc all traveling around. :)We were so sad when it was time to land...after about an hour or so up in the air. It was neat to look down and see the "chase" trucks following our balloon to make sure they were there when we landed. The landing was interesting too b.c they have you get in a certain position in hopes of the basket not tipping over, etc. You just kind of bump along the ground until you come to a stop...and then the crew helps to get everything under control while folks start jumping out. Here the ballloon is starting to deflate, and there is a guy in the distance running out in front of it, pulling it down. The balloon is HUGE by the way. :) The other balloon in our party is coming down for their landing... Champagne toast and a little breakfast after the landing. :) We did it! :)
We got our balloonist flight certificates. :) YAY!!

More fun to come in the next blog post. I will have to do a Part Two b.c of all of the pics! HA! :)