Husband-1st, Dad-2nd, Golf Pro-123rd

My wife and I enjoy taking special little weekend road trips. Since we have been together we have mountain biked the Red Rock in Sedona, fly-fished in Greer, survived a hale storm camp-out at the Grand Canyon, surfed the buffets in Vegas, strolled the beaches of San Diego and steamed with Colin Farrell in Scottsdale (this happened to only me but my wife would probably have enjoyed it more). When time is an issue we head for the Valley of the Sun. There's a lot of fun things to do in Scottsdale. The number of restaurants to check out is overwhelming but once you do its very cool and exciting. Shopping, fughedaboutit! There's a mall or shopping center on every other corner. Lots of sporting events, the three major ones with the Diamond Backs, Suns (insane, we saw Michael Jordan play his last season with the Wizards), and the Cardinals (promising, but grew up on the Cowboys) offer a great time. For you golf fanatics this is mecca. Loads of courses all over the place, I've got to play the Karsten ASU home golf course and hopefully visit the Ping manufacturing plant.
My wife had a couple of days off last week so we decided to run up to Scottsdale and celebrate the great news. Friday morning I shoot down to Benson where my folks live to drop off our eldest son, Bailey. He has been a part of my life since October 1996, he was just 6 weeks old when I purchased him. He is absolutely the best!

Aidan and I are doing a little shopping at Hooper's Store

Now that we have a sitter for Bailey we can hit the road. I arrive back at the house to a bustle of activity. Julie is finishing the last of the packing and Aidan is topped off. We load up the 4-Runner, hit a Starbucks and we're off cruising I-10 by 10:00am. We have an exciting day planned, our first stop is the Arizona Science Center to visit the traveling Sesame Street exhibit "The Body". We've had the advertisement taped to the fridge for the past month or so. Its an interactive exhibition all about the human body. There's Elmo's World, the Count, Hooper's store and other cool stuff for kids to play on. Here's Aidan and mom hanging out in Elmo's World. The place looked so real that you felt like you were one of the characters.

After about three hours of the digestive system, exercise, and hygiene not to mention all the other exhibits the center offered we're off to the hotel to check-in. Its a brief commute from downtown Phoenix to north Scottsdale just enough time for Aidan to take a power nap. Julie and I haven't eaten since, oh wait we didn't eat, unless you count the Americanos and the cinnamon scone we shared in Tucson. Needless to say we're starved and we dare not wake Aidan, so what do we do? Like a beacon in the fog the yellow arrow pointed us to nutritional delight, In-n-Out Burger. Julie barrels her way in and orders a couple cheeseburgers with grilled onions, not just good but damn good. With the burger in one hand and a fist full of fries in the other we enjoy our meal in the air conditioned cockpit of the 4. No less than 2 bites and half a dozen fries later Aidan wakes up saying "fren fry" and pointing. The sweet smell of fried potatoes must have rattled his little receptors.

After our quickie at the burger joint we finally check into the hotel. With its free happy hour, all you can eat made to order breakfasts, pool and golf course you can see why this is one of our favorites. We eagerly make our way up to the room to check out our "room with a view". Strolling in we are greeted by a gush of cold air and a cluster of cumulus clouds. The room is on the sixth floor and is overlooking the pool and entire golf course. I'm already making plans to sip a cool beverage with my mate and enjoy the night summer breeze on the balcony. But first I have to tackle the Stonecreek golf course before the day is over.

I'm on the course at four with John, he's a club member I've been paired with for the afternoon, and have made plans for Julie, Aidan and a couple tequila sunrise's to meet me at the turn. The round is going great, its the first time I've played from the tips and doing pretty well if I say so myself. John is doing pretty well too, we're right there par for par and bogey for bogey. Its nice playing with someone that doesn't slow you up or rush you to the next hole, just right. I could sure use one of those tequila's right about now. Sure enough as I'm heading to 10 my babydoll and babyboy are waiting for me with snacks and drinks. John decides to replay the front nine which leaves the entire back nine to my little family and I.
I've been playing golf for many years now and not once have I had as much fun as I did on this particular day. We're all in the golf cart together cruising from shot to shot and hole to hole. Aidan couldn't get enough air in his face, everytime we stopped he would give us the "more" sign. I'm not sure what he enjoyed more the cart rides, collecting pine cones, the lakes, or running the greens. Once at the green we'd all jump out and let loose. I would putt, Julie would tend the flag pole and Aidan would grab the ball, what a team!

Aidan is keeping a close watch on dad's ball so it doesn't get buried in the long grass. We finished the round with a scrambling par save and a great smiling huggie for dad. What an awesome ending to a delightful afternoon.

After a quick clean up we set off to find a family friendly restaurant. Aidan's bedtime was coming fast so we opted for a Chili's that was right around the corner from the hotel. Pre Aidan Julie and I would explore some of Scottsdale's hotspots without time limitations now we try to be in by nine as to not disrupt Aidan's schedule. Honestly, it can be frustrating at times. Our impulsive decisions need to be planned out and our activities choreographed but when he laughs all those concerns just melt away. One thing that still frustrates us is Aidan's appetite or lack thereof. He has a great breakfast a pretty good lunch but a shallow dinner. He'll have a snack or two between meals, a pudding cup or fruit. Maybe I'm too focused on the "three squares a day" routine. I'm still tweaking the eating schedules, we'll see if something sticks.

After a lackluster dinner of grilled cheese and corn on the cob we moseyed back to the hotel. Aidan got prepped for nite nite and I set up the playpen. After a little storytime and snuggling he went down. It had been a long day so there wasn't much of a fight. A drive to Benson, a drive to Scottsdale, the Arizona Science Center, burgers, golf and dinner, this was a great day to be a dad, husband and golf pro. Julie and I finally settled in for the night with showers, a little relaxing conversation and the quite breeze of the desert air. Dog gone it, I forgot the cocktails oh well maybe next time.