Travel with Kids: Arizona Grand Resort (The Good)

 We didn't travel far from home this weekend to visit the Arizona Grand Resort.  The resort is only about 40 minutes from our home, but it includes a water park and a chance to get away from nagging chores and long to-do lists.

We checked in Friday night and visited the water park right away.  Lydia had been talking about the lazy river (also called the crazy lake, the silly river, and the lazy lake by Lydia) so we immediately hopped in.  The lazy river is a big circle, with stops along the way, including a stop for the 3 water slides in the park. 2 of the slides are 8 stories, while one is 5 stories.  Nate, especially, had been looking forward to the water slides so all the boys hopped out near the slides.  We also visited the wave pool, which all the kids enjoyed.

Since this post is about the good parts of the weekend, we'll re-visit the waterslides & wave pool again in tomorrow's post, where I'll discuss the not-so-good parts of the weekend.

We headed back to the room for a bit, and then Colin & Bo went back to the pool area to watch Tarzan, which was shown on a big screen above the wave pool.  We enjoyed room service for a late dinner and then everyone fell into bed. (Question about room service -- anybody reading know how much of the 23% service charge the server receives?  There is a $3 delivery charge, and then a 23% service charge added to the room service bill.  I know this is standard -- but how much does the server receive vs. how much does the hotel keep?  It seems ridiculous to add another 15% tip, but I also want to make sure the server receives a tip.)

On Saturday, my sister came out to join us and we spent the majority of the day at the pool again.  There is also a splash pool that is only about 18 inches deep and has a splash pad that is perfect for small children, including Lydia. Dinner found us at Claim Jumper, and then the boys were back at the pool enjoying another movie.  Nate spent the entire movie floating in the pool.

We checked out on Sunday, but spent the majority of our day in the water park again.  The kids had an amazing time, and the variety of pools were great.

It was nice to get away again, and while we have a backyard pool, we don't have 8 foot water slides, a lazy river, or the ability to create big waves in our pool. The service was good, the food tasted good, and it was a very short drive back home.  We did pack plenty of drinks and snacks this time, which allowed us to snack in our room with ease.  We enjoyed eating poolside for lunches, and I even had a drink or 2.

Click here for the 2nd part of this post.