Westward Look Resort Tucson

Scrolling back in our little family blog I'm starting to see that Ian's little business trips are really nice mini vacations. I'm grateful for that. Well here is another one. We decided to go on at the very last minute. Well more than the last minute. Ian drove back after leaving to get us to go to Tucson with him. Sweet huh! He so busy right now I just couldn't bear to be without him a weekend I didn't have to be. We dropped everything packed our bags and left town.

This trip was for Ian's work Christmas party. As many of you know he works for Compton Ag. That is not gangsta kinda Compton but the owners last name. Jimmy Compton to be exact. Just a really great guy to work for. In Arizona the company is called Fertizona and I believe they have at least one site in Mexico. No idea if the name is different or the same. Well every year Mr. Compton gets all his people together for a nice party. This year was in Tucson at the Westward Look Resort.

The actual party itself was someplace else on a really neat ranch. They had a really good dinner and dancing. I didn't get to see this for myself this year but they did the same thing year before last. We got there Friday night after several stops. One of which took us miles and miles to find a Costco. Why are they not always in obvious places? Anyway now we know where the Costco distributing center is in Arizona. Why the Costco goose hunt? Well because Jade is not the easiest little monkey to travel with. So we wanted a really big container of Jelly Belly's to hush her up.

We finally did find the Costco and decided to have dinner there. You just can't beat $5 to feed your whole family drinks and all. I found the Costco in Tempe has a whole bunch more stuff than the one I go to in Palm Desert. We are already planning a trip there in January. We set off to get to Tucson. With jelly bean bribes it was a pretty pleasant trip. Teagan got to experience peeing in a bottle (not the first time I think). We told him to slow down on the soda. Teagan thought it was hilarious. We all did and he kept reminding Ian not to drink it.

There is only one thing better than a nice hotel. A nice free hotel. They had remodeled since we were there two years ago. It was nice before but it was even better now. I was really worried about being on my own with the kids in a hotel but then I saw the huge tv! Luckily there were still cartoons on that time of night. We let the kids stay up really late having snacks and watching tv. Teagan didn't like his bed and decided to sleep on the couch. Crazy kid. The beds were awesome. I just think he is used to his rock hard mattress at home.





Jade was not going to go to sleep so Ian took her for a drive. Something we have never done but we were desperate not wanting her to wake the people next door. She came back asleep and then woke up at 5am which is 4am California time. Teagan had fallen off the couch. I put him back on it. Ian tried to distract Jade with the tv and when she would no longer be quiet Ian took her for another drive. They both slept in the Safeway parking lot for a while and then brought us breakfast. Fruit, cheese, milk and donuts. Yum! Fruit and cheese seems to be my traditional hotel breakfast. This time though Jade had partially eaten both pieces of cheese Ian got. So I got half a piece of colby that looked like it had me handled a bit to long. Mmmm!

We were all so tired. Ian had his sales meeting to go to at 9am. The kids and I got ready. We walked to see the giant gingerbread house in the lobby. Although it was really cool the one two years ago was even cooler. Can you imagine baking the walls for this thing? I can't. Luckily they put out a little dish of candy because who can look at that and not want a bite? Note to self: Someday make giant gingerbread house. After that we walked back to the room and got our stuff together to go shopping.



Teagan was not the least bit excited about going sock shopping. He just wanted to get "Chinese Food". When he says that it's not just any chinese food. He wants Panda Express. I think he could happily eat only orange chicken, chow mien and sprite the rest of his life. I was trying to wait to see if Ian was going to eat with us so I made a few stops first. As we were driving toward the mall I saw a sign for a craft fair. Cool let's check it out. It took me a bit to find it because I didn't realise when they referred to the Harrelson Craft Fair that they meant the school not the street. By the time we got there if had just ended. Darn!

We drove one looked in a couple little stores and called Ian to see if he would be joining us. Nope he was getting lunch there so we headed off to the food court. We ordered and Jade is literally jumping out of my arms. She sees all the people and things and wants to go explore. I have to set her down to get the tray and ask Teagan to stay with her. She of course if off like a shot and leaves Teagan running behind her. He tackles her to the ground and grabs her arm. She manages to pull out of her sleeve to get away. So they are both on the floor and Jade is half dressed at this point and all I can think is that I'm not going to be able to go any where ever when I have more children. Yes I forgot my leash. Trust me I won't next time.

At this point a lady eating her lunch is laughing out loud. I laugh to because it is funny. At this point I have Jade and I'm searching for a highchair. Of course the only one is all the way across the food court. Teagan is already digging in. I motion to the lady that was laughing to keep an eye on Teagan. She agrees and moves over to sit with us. We talk a bit. She is going to be a grandma for the first time soon. Her family is in farming. As she is chatting away all I can think is I hope I'm near this friendly one day.

After lunch we hit Old Navy because Teagan needs some pants. The kids are going crazy. Teagan is pushing Jade around in the cart as though he is a race car driver. Jade is pulling down stacks of tops and grabbing everything that goes by. Ian calls and would like to joins. Umm...Yes please! So we get back to the truck and drive back to pick up Ian. We come back to the mall and do some more shopping. In The Children's Place Jade falls in love with a monkey in a sweater. We of course get it for her hoping she will make those cute little lovey sounds forever if we do.

Ian(not Teagan)is dying to see Bolt. So we get our tickets and our little lovely 3D glasses. I get us some popcorn and soda while Ian and the kids get settled. We get situated and Jade is not interested in wearing her glasses at all but it's a movie about a dog so she is hooked for about 3 minutes. After that she wants to roam around the theatre, climb the stairs and scream. Okay I guess I've seen enough and she and I leave while Ian and Teagan finish the movie. I can tell she is just exhausted so I stroll her around the mall while I search for the perfect purse(huge, cute, $20 or less)until she falls asleep.




When the guys are done with the movie we do a bit more shopping. We let the kids play for a bit in the little playground in the mall. Then we decide to head back to the room so we can all relax together for an hour until Ian has to go to the party. Well we drive up and see the buses there. Hmm they are early. I look at Ian's truck clock, think for a second and then shout, ARIZONA TIME!! Ian officially has five minutes to get changed and get on the bus to go to the ranch. Oops! We might as well go shopping again.

We drop Ian off and finally head to Walmart for some sock shopping. Walmart is always good for at least an hour of entertainment. After that I drive around in the strange city to find a Radioshack. Gosh I'm good! I didn't even get lost. I got the kids Wall-E at Walmart and wanted to hook up our little DVD player to the big TV. The cord I thought would be $3 was $30. By now I'm tired and desperately want these kids to be entertained so I buy the dumb cord.

We hit KFC drive thru for dinner and head back to the room. When we get there I try to hook up the DVD player to the awesome TV and it isn't working at all. I finally give up and order a movie from the pay per view. The only one we hadn't seen that we would want to was Igor. Big mistake. We watched it but frankly didn't like it at all. Teagan didn't even like it. It was mean and ugly and the story was terrible. Teagan said it was not a nice movie. Had I any sense I would have shut it off halfway through.

I decided the kids were going to bed so Ian and I could have to time to ourselves. I put Jade in her crib and she fought it but did finally go to sleep. I let Teagan watch Wall-E on the little DVD player under the covers for a while. When he got tired he shut it off and went to bed. That boy is just awesome! I decide to make use of the great shower during my me time and text Ian. Just not in that order or at the same time.

I find out Ian missed the bus to get back by five minutes and has to wait for another one. When he finally does get on the bus he texts me little stories about what is happening on the bus. Apparently the last bus is filled with all the drunk people. The you don't have to go home but you ain't stayin' here type. Luckily these aren't stranger drunks but people that work for the same company. Somewhat comforting. They start to get political in their intelligent state of drunkenness and Ian is laughing.

When Ian finally does get back I've fallen asleep. The next day I wake up and hear the shower going. Both the kids and Ian are in the bathroom. Jade is in the shower with Ian diaper and all(diaper for Jade of course). She doesn't really care for showers at home but because of the way this one is made she stays warm and loves it. I love the shower too until Jade gets her fingers smashed in the door. That sucked! Bless the cleaning lady that gave me more Eucalyptus shower gel from the spa. Thank you, thank you!

We packed up and headed out. In Tempe we hit a sporting goods store to get Teagan some wrestling shoes. They had all kinds of cool stuff in there. I got the kids some cool water bottles too which actually make them want to drink water. Bonus! I admire the basketball hoops while I wait for the guys to get done upstairs. I really wanted to get one. Thank goodness for the cash budget or I would have. Nice growing up and learning to wait for things you want.

Next we go to Ikea. I've never been to one before but I've heard great things about it from Kelsey and Kathleen. We drive up and they have family parking. What the heck is that? When we get inside the guys have to go to the bathroom which takes forever and Jade and I can't leave because they will never find us in the huge store. So we walk around in front and admire the swedish goodies. The food is cheap and looks yummy. It's like a Swedish Costco. Nifty!

I go look at the child care but don't really like the airport-like assembly line way in which people dump off their kids. It makes me nervous and I decide against it. Feel free to tell me about your wonderful experience with Ikea child care and change my mind. I'm a nervous nelly about that kind of stuff. We finally go in and see the glasses and kitchen stuff. Yeah that is kinda cool. When we get to the furnished and decorated rooms I'm in love. Yes I'll take all of it please.

Ian likes it more than I do. I love that man. He picks out this entertainment center that is exactly my taste. Teagan at this point is a bit hyper. We have to keep reminding him to calm down. It's very unlike him but he hasn't had a chance to run and play for a few days. We find a loft bed that we want to get Teagan. Ian wants to get it then and there but again, cash budget. We decide to wait at least until January. We left with two hanging lamps. Lime green cords with fuchsia shades. They will match my bedding perfectly and each came in at under $10. We are going back for some white magnet boards they had as well. Love Ikea!

We finally head home. On the way home we played "Would You Rather?" It's a game Ian has been wanting for a while. We opened it up and just asked the questions. Teagan thought if was so funny. Some of the questions were...Would you rather be a woman with man hands or a man with woman hands? Would you rather be really attractive and smell really bad or be really ugly and smell irresistible? Would you rather jump out of a plane after your parachute or dive down in the ocean after or oxygen tank? You get the idea. Teagan would almost always take my side. He would say, "I'm with mama! I'm diving down after the tank too!" What a trip. It was so much fun and was much needed. I feel like we don't see Ian much lately. We all really had fun!