We recently booked a last minute (literally-booked it 5 days before!) trip to Arizona and it was a great, unforgettable trip! We were in need of a quick getaway in between moving and new baby’s arrival, and I”m so happy we took this refreshing trip. We stayed at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ. We absolutely loved it and used our hotel points for our stay.

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We loved how just across the street from the resort there was an adorable shopping/ restaurant area you could walk to. It even had great restaurant options that we like to go to in Denver: True Food, North Italia, and many more.

 

The pool options at the hotel were also great. The family pool, was pretty large and had a lazy river (which the kids LOVED). While the adult pool wasn’t useful with the toddlers, I did get to lay out one day during nap and greatly enjoyed myself there.

On the resort, there is also a beautiful golf course, coffee and frozen yogurt to snack on, and a HUGE back patio to relax on in the early mornings or at night. We also watched the final 4 game on a gigantic TV on the patio too! We love Old town Scottsdale as well, so one evening, we drove there for dinner and had ice cream, at our favorite spot: Shakes and Cones. On our final morning, we also had a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny at our hotel door! This was such a special surprise for the kids! Even though it was a quick trip, we were so happy we could enjoy one last trip as a family of four together.

 

I also wanted to share some tips for packing and traveling since we enjoy it and travel a decent amount to visit our families. One main thing I can’t live without is our travel stroller. I did a ton of research before our trip to Europe on the best double stroller and came across this Zoe XL2 double stroller. It is the lightest double, umbrella stroller there is, and it had great reviews. It also fit through all of the tiny doorways across Europe! It is so easy to snap and fold and the kids love it. Great storage at the bottom as well for getting through the airport. When traveling through a busy airport, I really need my kids seated in the stroller and behaving well in order to get through the chaotic points, so having a stroller is a must. We also have this stroller bag that we put the double stroller in. The strollers tend to get beat up during travel, so this is a great alternative. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a travel bag because again, the airlines tend to beat them up, so this bag has been awesome and can be carried over the shoulder. We just keep the bag in the bottom basket until we get to the gate, and then just before family boarding, we pack up the stroller in it. In addition, we always use Priceline to bid on rental cars, and we always rent car seats. We traveled once at the beginning with a car seat and it was such a hassle and too much to carry…so we have found renting car seats to be more efficient. Another necessity for traveling, is the tablet for the kids. Now, we are big sticklers on these; and we only use them for traveling. That way the kids are excited to use them, can sit for a few hours, and they aren’t just an every day toy. I had a hard time finding headphones that worked properly for them FYI (otherwise the sound was really quiet), so I found these headphones for kids, and they work great. I also let the kids bring one backpack with some activities or small toys. This back pack also always comes to restaurants with us. This way the kids can color or do stickers, and play quietly while we all enjoy a meal out together. We love the Melissa & Doug stickers, Water Wow!, (love these two, because they’re reusable!) and Magic ink coloring books.

When we have to share a hotel room or rooms at our family’s homes, we love having a sound machine with us as well. In addition, when we are traveling in the summer time, and sunscreen is a must, I love this Kiss My Face sunscreen that is organic and safe for kids. I also, love having a sunscreen stick with me at all times (since we live at high altitude and in a sunny place). Lastly, I love this wet bag for swim suits and diapers that is really handy at the pool. You can click on the images above to check out other travel must haves! You can also shop our style, at the top of this page, for this trip as well! I was pleasantly surprised at how fun and refreshing this quick getaway was…it makes me want to plan more spontaneous trips like this in the future!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter/Spring break!

XO Jillian

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