Weekend in Suncadia

I wanted to do a post on the little mini-vacation I got to go on with Kent and Natalie's family while I was in Washington.  Kent planned a really fun weekend in Suncadia which is a mountain resort much like Sun Valley, on the way to Seattle.  Natalie barely had time to bring in her clothes and items from the camping trip, re-pack with some clothes that didn't smell like bonfire, and we were off!

 On our way through the beautiful green valleys to the mountains.

The view from the balcony of the suite that Kent got for us.

Immediately upon our arrival, Kent and Ethan were off to the golf course, so Natalie, Ella, Cannon and I went on a nature walk.

Absolutely breath-taking scenery.

That evening, the resort had a bonfire so everyone could make s'mores.

Yikes!

Doesn't get any better than this!

The grand kids are such good sports with my constant picture-taking!

The next morning, we decided to do a little bike riding.

As we were picking out our bicycles, that's when we all realized Ella couldn't keep up on training wheels on the paths, and their dual bikes weren't available, so Kent would have to ride a mope-head while the rest of us would have to pedal our bikes--Natalie with a baby carriage behind--and yes, up and down mountain paths!  (That's another reason, we absolutely knew Ella needed to learn to ride a bike without training wheels when we got home, and luckily she did!)

Cannon was all comfy in his little riding car.

Along the way we stopped at a little park.

We rode along some beautiful trails, some next to the gorgeous golf course.

Natalie was such a good sport because although Cannon isn't very heavy, pulling that little carrier behind on those hills wasn't easy!

Yes, the bicycle ride was a great success.  We definitely got our workout for the day and had a great time doing it!

Next stop:  The pool to cool off!  This was the indoor pool which had two big tubular slides.

In the afternoon, there was an ice cream break--the only thing was, the kids had to make it themselves.

Putting all the ingredients inside . . .

Then the shaking began.

Add some sprinkles after it thickens up, and there you have an ice cream treat.

So that evening, Kent wanted to treat us to a really nice meal at the lodge dining room.

During the 45-minute wait to get into the dining room, Kent and Ethan played chess.

Natalie had done Ella's hair up so cute.  She looked so fancy.

I love this picture!

We kept hearing someone saying "Ella" in the main lobby.  Soon, we realized another little girl's name was Ella, too.  Soon, both Ellas were having fun playing together while the families waited for their time to eat.

Ethan even tried teaching Grandma how to play chess.

Finally, our name was called and we were able to go into the dining room.

The scenery was just beautiful from where we sat.  However, after an hour and a half wait inside, Kent nicely asked if our food could just be delivered to our room when it finally came.

The people apologized profusely about our very long wait.  They never did explain why it had been so long, but we did finally get to eat in our room--and they gave it to us for free.  They even brought us a complimentary bottle of wine, but we explained that we were Mormons and didn't drink.  We told them "thanks so much" anyway.  The kids had been such good sports to wait so long.

The next morning, we went back to the dining room for breakfast and had a lovely breakfast which didn't take that much time.  A young lady came and talked to us and again apologized for what had happened the night before and told the family that we could do any of the activities on her list that we wanted today for free.  That certainly made everyone happy.

I wanted to take a few pictures of the beautiful suite we stayed in.  The kids slept on this couch which made down to a bed.  There was a huge master suite to the left.

A full kitchen . . .

And this was my bedroom.

This was the activity that the kids wanted to do the most.

After taking a few pictures, Kent and Natalie went over to the spa while the kids and I stayed here at the lake.

Then it was back to the pool--this time, the outside pool.

Cannon and I stayed in the shade while we watched the kids.

Ethan and Ella were having a great time in the water and a great time together.

Soon, we packed up and were on our way home.  Such a great weekend get-away.  Thanks so much, Kent, for planning all of this.  It was so fun for all of us!