I know whatever I'm about to type is not going to do this trip justice. We had such a GREAT time. The weather was amazing, the company was fantastic, the kids were a delight, the agenda was just the right balance of relaxation/adventure/baseball. It's no secret that I LOVE Arizona. I don't know what it is about it, but it makes me happy. I think it's the wonderful weather and the fact that everything you do is outside or open air. That being said, I've never visited in the middle of a hot Summer either! I think I'd like to keep it that way too. But anyway, this was the first time the kids had been and they too are now big fans. We decided to go to Arizona for Spring Training even though our beloved Cardinals are in Florida. Arizona is just set up so much better with multiple teams that are so easily accessible and close together. Also, see above...amazing WARM weather. We had some friends that are also big baseball fans and we convinced them it would be fun to vacation with our family of 5. They probably went home needing a vacation from their vacation, but we were sure glad to have them. The three boys were inseparable and dare I say...well behaved. I tell you it was dreamy.
I'm going to attempt to go day by day, but I know I'll be missing some stuff and I believe it or not I didn't take pictures of everything. But I do think you'll get the jist, and maybe the travel bug. Day 1 we went on a quick little hike. The destination was "The Hole in the Rock", appropriately named as you will see. It was a nice beginner hike for the kids to get them excited to do more. We let them jump around and hide and explore. And then we went to a Microbrewery to celebrate our athleticism and to try out the local brews.
Day 2 was all about Baseball. We went to the Brewers facility on this particular day, but the team actually had an away game. The facility was still bustling with activity though, with all of the up and comers and also a minor league game. The boys were quick to get 1 million autographs of anyone wearing any sort of Brewers gear. Certainly they have a keeper in there somewhere, problem is...we don't know who any of them were or which autograph is theirs!
Next up, probably my favorite day. We decided to take a trip to Sedona, which was about 2 hours away. I'm not sure I have an actual "Bucket List", but this hike would definitely be on it if I had one. I've seen lots of people on this bridge before and I knew I HAD to go there. The hike was to "Devil's Bridge". And I will not lie, it is not for the faint of heart (as you will see when Dana is walking across the bridge). If you are at all afraid of heights, it might not be for you. Personally I don't think these pictures even do it justice. You can't tell how far of a drop it really is because some trees almost make it look like it's not a bridge. But I assure you it is...and a narrow one at that! But if you're willing...GO. It is my most favorite hike I have ever done in my life and the end goal is so worth it. We took a pretty straight forward hike there, not strenuous at all, but then on our way back we kind of went a round about way and really earned our beers for the day! The kids were all troopers, even the littlest one so we rewarded them with swimming at the house afterwards :).
Back to baseball. On this day we visited the Arizona Diamondbacks facility. And we were NOT disappointed. First of all, we were like the only people there (okay not the only but 2 of like 4 or 5 families). Second, we got to see all kinds of "big names" and we even lucked out with some of their autographs! There was a pitcher in particular that Nolan had his eye on, Zack Greinke. Well, Zack is known for being reserved and not one to mingle with fans all that much. One of the guards told us a secret of where he would be after batting practice before heading to their game for the day. So, like good little stalkers, we waited it out. And waited and waited and waited. I'm fairly certain he was the last one to leave. But, he was walking right past us (wasn't going to stop unless we asked) and Nolan yelled "Hey Zack, can we get your autograph?". I couldn't believe it, my shy little boy really did it! And with that, Zack stopped in his tracks and came right over and MADE THEIR DAY! It was so so so amazing and I know Nolan will never forget it, especially because we have a special ball with ONLY Zack's autograph on it! Another favorite of the day was Jake Lamb. He was doing a little practicing off to the side by himself and marched right over to talk to the boys and sign some autographs. These players really are great with the kids.
Well, we were not done with Baseball for the day. We went to a game that night as well, it was the Colorado Rockies vs the Kansas City Royals. We were a family divided! Nolan is a Nolan Arenado fan (duh) and Bennett has always had a little allegiance with the Royals (I blame my parents). So we dressed the part and headed to the game. The boys got to play a little wiffle ball and then ate their weight in snacks...and Bennett even lost a tooth! Quite the day!
Our last full day we spent...at the Cubs facility. I know I know, I don't even know what to say for ourselves. But I will admit, we have a Cubs "fan" in our house. Bennett has declared himself a Cubs fan, though we think it's just him being defiant...we are still TRYING to be supportive. Trying, being the key word in that sentence. Besides, Chad will even tell you although he may not like the Cubs they do have a lot of talented players. So we will go with that! The Cubs facility was a little disappointing as far as player access. You couldn't really get all that close to them BUT they did do a lot of batting practice and the boys got to stand behind the field and catch homerun balls! So that was entertaining for quite some time. We did go to a game there that afternoon as well and we had gotten tickets in their like party patio, and that was totally the way to go. We had space to get up and move and the kids could run around a bit. It was lovely. Our fun story for that day was when we went down to try and get autographs. We decided we should go to the visiting side, as we thought we would have better luck with less people. We were right! We ended up calling over Hunter Pence, who was sooooooooo amazing. I mean, I know you'll recognize him from Fuller House :). At one point he was signing autographs for the next set of fans and I told the boys to turn around and smile for me, I was going to sneak a picture of him in the background. Well, he saw what I was doing and stopped signing and came over and stood right behind them for the picture. That man knew the way to my heart. Hunter Pence fan forever.
Finally, just a little house shenanigans. These boys loved this tree and would bring snacks out and just hang out there forever so I had to document!
