Arizona Adventures

About a month ago we were able to go spend a week with my side of the family in Arizona. I think the last time we took a family getaway was summer 2009 when we went on a four wheeling trip in Richfield area (we ended that trip in St. George for Jase's mission farewell). Anyways, I think it's safe to say that it was definitely time for The Campbell side to all get together and go away.

We ended up going to a resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Shay, Nixon, Brooks and I all headed down Friday afternoon....My parents and Ryan flew down Friday afternoon...and Nick and Jase drove down LATE Friday night. Surprisingly the drive down was a BREEZE! The kids slept a good chunk of the drive, we stopped ONCE in Flagstaff (SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TOWN) to eat and get gas...and then 2 hours later we were in Scottsdale!

Saturday was "recovery" day. Jase and Nick (mainly Jase) slept a bunch since they got there around 3 am, and every else headed to the pool to relax and get some sun. That night we headed to some family friends that used to be in my parents ward (The Jensen's) for some swimming and a BBQ. They live in Gilbert, just right down the road from the Gilbert temple, so we stopped by on the way out. It was seriously beautiful!!!

Sunday we went to Wet 'n' Wild in Phoenix. What a fun waterpark! It was HOT out but luckily they have misters and coverings over the lines most the time. We had a blast!! The new Phoenix temple that is being built was again right down the street so we drove by that afterwards. It's ALMOST finished and it too was so pretty!! We stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream cone, went back to the resort and then headed to PF Changs for dinner.

Monday we headed out to Sauguaro Lake where Preston Jensen took us boating. We hung out on the beach for a bit and did some wakeboarding. The water was SO SO warm...it really felt like you were stepping into a warm bathtub. After boating we picked up some Chick-fil-a, went home and rested...made the yummiest Honey Lime Chicken Taquitos and then went to the pool to hot tub.

 

Nixon was so sad that he wasn't on the boat this time.

 

Brooks didn't care, he was just happy to be sleeping

Tuesday was the day (unfortunately) that the boys had to leave. Nick and Jase were headed back for work. BOO! We sure enjoyed having them there while they could though! Before they left we went to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park and took Nixon on a train raid and carousel ride. HE WAS IN HEAVEN! That boy is obsessed with "choo-choo's". It started to DOWN POUR so we left a little earlier than anticipated and went to California Pizza Kitchen for some food. The streets were flooding and it was just crazy outside so Nick and Jase decided they better leave a little earlier...stupid rain.  My mom, Shaylee, Ryan and I went and did some shopping later that day while my dad stayed home with N and B.

Wednesday we got up and spent the morning at the pool. Our family even won the "poolside game" of "Name That Song". Wahoo! Go Campbells! Jamburrito food truck was out from of the resort so we grabbed some food there for lunch. A little later me, Ryan and my parents went to Ocutane Raceway to do drive some go-karts. Ryan won everytime...dad 2nd..me 3rd...mom 4th. It was pretty dang fun! Shay stayed home with the little babes while they took naps! Later than night we cleaned up and headed to Old Town Scottsdale to look around. Dad stayed with the kids while the rest of us went to a couple little shops and got a treat at the Sugar Bowl. Seriously such a cute little diner/ice cream parlor!

Fully aware I look like a sister missionary in this picture

Brooks hanging out with me in bed while I did some work, he just stared at me like this forever

 Thursday we just took it easy. For lunch we went to a Mongolian restuarant where we had PLENTY of food! I was so unbelievably full after. We did some shopping after that and then I think we stayed in for rest of the evening.

Friday we got up and finished packing and then got on the road about 10:30. I wish I could say that the drive home was as easy as the drive there was. This time we had to stop approx. 5 times for Nixon to go potty on the side of the road. Good thing I love that little guy so much because we were in a rush to get home so I could make it for Jase's little brothers first football game. Literally we pulled up to our house 10 minutes before we needed to leave, so I hurry and threw my hair up and changed clothes so we could go.

It was SUCH a fun week and I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend with all my family. It doesn't happen often enough so I took full advantage of every minute! I'm thankful for the memories we made this trip, I have such a great family! (:

California Love

We had our first real "road trip" as a married couple this last weekend! (Going to SLC doesn't count)

A couple weeks ago we decided we really wanted to go visit Jordan, Gordie and Britt who were in California doing summer sales. We thought it was the perfect excuse for a little getaway and we were right! We had a blast!

By the time we decided to go, we looked up flights and they were about $400+ a person so obviously we decided that we would just have to make the drive! I was thinking it was 8-9 hours but it was more like 10-11 hours!

The drive actually wasn't that bad....we each took a turn driving and to my surprise, it went a lot faster than I was anticipating. We drove through Tehachapi, CA and there were thousands of windmills. Jase and I were both like a little baby staring at a ceiling fan. It was so cool to watch all of them. I think there are about 5,000 windmills in that area. I tried to take some pics but they didn't turn out that great!

We left Friday mid-day and got to Gordie and Britt's at about midnight. We stayed up late chatting and catching up that night. We sure miss having them around to hang out with. We are so lucky that Jase's cousin/best friend married someone as great as Britt! She's one of my best friends and it's so fun to be able to double with each other!

Saturday we went to breakfast at the delicious Denica's. Britt told me about a cookie dough waffle they have, so I of course had to order that since I LOVE cookie dough. IT WAS BOMB! Jase ordered a breakfast burrito which was also delicious! Great choice B...thanks for taking us there (:

After that Jase decided to go knock doors with Jordan for an hour so he could get a little more time with him and see what "summer sales" is all about. Him leaving for an hour, left me and Britt no choice other than to head over to the outlets. J.Crew was good to me this trip (: After doing a little shopping and literally SEARCHING ALL OVER the parking lot...we found our car and headed to pick Jase up. We stopped at a cute little drive-thru dairy and got ice cream cones. Why does California have the cutest towns EVER?!

 

Next, Jase and I made the 45 min (more like hour and a half w/ traffic..grrr) drive to San Francisco! First we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge and WOW....it was so amazing! It was so cool with the fog surrounding it! After we snapped some pics at the bridge we drove back into town to get tickets for the Giants game. Jordan, Gordie, and Britt took the BART into town and met up with us for the game. They played the Los Angeles Dodgers and apparently they have like the best pitcher in the league or something! He was pretty dang good actually. The game was a lot of fun! We got ourselves some super nachos and the tiniest/most expensive basket of garlic fries ($8, are you serious?).

That's Alcatraz way out there, wish we could have done a tour

After the game we seriously drove ALL OVER San Fran. That town is SO UNIQUE! Some of the roads are SO steep. There was one time where we were driving up a hill and I really didn't think our car was going to make it up! I don't know how people who live there can stand driving on those roads all the time! Despite that.... I love it there so much. I wish we would have had at least one more day to go back and spend some more time there.

We drove to the famous Lombard St. (World's "Crookedest" Road) first. It's a way cool street with a great view!

Then we headed to see the "Full House" home. Jase climbed up the side of the stairs and into a tree to look in the house! I was thinking, great he is going to get in trouble for trespassing, but luckily he didn't get caught.

Next up was Fisherman's Wharf. We watched one of those guy's who creates artwork with spray paint. (HOW DO THEY DO THAT?) And then walked to Pier 39. It was late by now and everything was closing so we just walked through the cute place. There is a crepe shop there but it had JUST closed. I was so bummed...a crepe sounded amazing at the time! We messed around on the "piano stairs" and just roamed around.

Finally we ended up at Ghirardelli Square and we couldn't leave without getting a delicious treat! We shared a brownie sundae and this SUPER yummy cookie crumble sundae. PURE GOODNESS PEOPLE! Pretty sure we each gained a least 10 lbs just from everything we ate the couple days we were in Cali! Whatevs! It was worth it (;

By this time, I was pooped and so ready for bed so we headed back to Gordie and Britt's apartment.

Sunday we went to Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom. The group consisted of Jase and I, Gordie, Britt, Jordan, McCrae, Jaron and Caitlin. Jase of course wanted to play a few games and ended up winning 2 basketballs and a b-ball banner. JUST WHAT WE NEEDED! (; I love Six Flags so much, their rides are a freaking blast! My favorites were Madusa, V2, Superman (minus the long wait), and Roar! But really ALL the rides were a blast! To end the night, we had just a little bit of time left and we decided to ride Madusa one more time. After the ride, Jase stands up and says "My phone's gone!" YUP! HIS PHONE FELL OUT OF HIS POCKET during the ride. He was so bummed....I felt so bad! They told us that they search under the rides when the park closes so we should go fill out some paperwork and check back to see if they found it. Here's the thing: Madusa happens to be about 90% over concrete...the other 10% being over gardens. So his chances of that phone surviving were not in his favor. Jase went in the garden areas and did some searching himself. No luck. It was close to closing so we stuck around for a bit. Jase, Jordan and McCrae were contemplating jumping the fence with a "NO TRESPASSING" sign on it and going to the concrete area to search....but thank goodness they decided that was a dumb idea. We went and got our car, drove up to the front of the park, and GUESS WHAT?! They had found Jase's phone and it worked perfectly!!! It was a freaking miracle and Jase was so pumped! I seriously can't believe that thing survived!

 After Six Flags we went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (never disappointments). It was Caitlin's birthday so she got to choose where we went, GREAT PICK!

Then it was time to head back to G&B's apartment and hit the hay. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! I was e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d.

Monday we woke up and it was time to head home. BOO! We really wanted to stay another day but we knew we shouldn't because we needed to get back to work. I was so worried the drive would feel longer than it did on the way there, but once again it actually wasn't that bad! We had lots of fun singing and jamming out to songs (haha) and just enjoyed each others company! (:

It was such a fun weekend getting to spend time with friends and family, cooling off in the Bay Area, and making more memories together! (: Traveling all over with my hubby is my absolute favorite! Where to next? (;

A little "Keeping up with the Langstons"

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALMOST AUGUST! Summer is FLYING by and it's bitter sweet. I am SO done with the heat....but summer always brings lots of fun festivities!

Here's a little re-cap on the last little bit:

4th of July weekend we headed up to northern Utah. On the 4th we woke up and went to breakfast at Layton Park, then headed to float the Weber River, came home and cleaned up and headed back to the park for the fireworks! I love this holiday SO SO much!

Saturday we did some shopping at Station Park in Farmington (Ohhhhhh how I miss northern Utah shopping) then we headed to Taggart's Grill and it was SO tasty! If you haven't been there....you are missing out on some amazing food! We were able to go with my parents, Shay and Nick, and our good family friends, the Fry's. It was a lot of fun. Sunday we headed back down to the blazing heat in southern Utah.

Tubing the river

At the park waiting for fireworks

Taggart's Grill Date Night

So apparently Jase and I are hikers now! I was at work on a Friday and I get a text from Jase saying "Want to hike angels landing tomorrow?" I ABOUT DIED! He hates hiking. Quickly after that text he said "or Three Falls" (Much easier/shorter). Anyways, I thought "why not? That'd be fun!" We live in such a beautiful place and I hate to admit it, but I definitely don't take advantage of it very often.

We packed a lunch and headed to Three Falls the next day. There wasn't a drip of water in the falls so we decided to hike straight up them instead of taking the side path. Not my most favorite decision we have ever made.

My short little legs aren't made for 'rock climbing'. Jase would go ahead of me and tell me where to put my feet and hands but about halfway up I got  STUCK! My right leg was up and I was standing on my tip toes on my left.  I COULD NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME push off or pull myself up. Jase grabbed my hand and told me to let him pull me up. So I did. BUT the second he lifted me up I was in the MOST AWKWARD position and began to panic. My heart was beating so fast, I literally thought I was going to have a panic attack. Seriously my hands started sweating and I'm pretty sure I shed a few tears.  I HAD to let go of Jase in order to secure myself and untangle my body from this awkward position but I thought for sure if I let go, I would fall and it would have been BAD news. Even Jase was worried for a second. He was gripping my hand SO HARD and just kept telling me it was going to be okay. What a good husband!!

Anyways, obviously I made it out of there alive....but it was seriously so scary.  Moral of the story.... If you have short legs like me, you should probably take the trail instead of climbing the falls if you ever go do this hike! You will feel a lot safer!

The next day we got an invite from Kylynn and Taylor to go hike Kannaraville Falls! I'm so glad they invited us, it was such a cool hike! I want to go back and do it again! It was so pretty!

Three Falls

 

 

Kannaraville Falls

A few other things:

You better believe that everyone at work dressed up as a cow in order to get free Chick-fil-a! Love the people I work with!

 

Jase was super proud that he got Brooks to sleep

Had to buy Nixon these cute Jordan sandals to match uncle Jase

Got to do a photoshoot with Brickyard Buffalo...I love their website so much!

That's it for now! Next up on the blog....our quick but FUN trip to California this last weekend! Stay tuned (;