Day Thirteen: OH MY HEAVENS!

Please forgive me but tonight's photos will just have to wait. 

I cannot begin to describe the divinity of this day. The gloriousness of it all.

We went to sleep last night and I just melted into the most comfortable bed with the softest sheets you could possibly imagine and lots of big king size fluffy pillows. It was divine.

A few notes I forgot from yesterday:

When we arrived in our suite, the iHome was playing music. It was lovely relaxing music. Just lovely.

The Free in-room coffee and tea is a coffee press and a tea pot with a hot water pot - yeah!! Hot water for tea that doesn't taste like coffee.

The suite has a doorbell. A doorbell. How fun is that?

So this morning we decided to go to breakfast at a restaurant, not room service. On our way we stopped at the resort spa. I decided to put it in God's hands, as I sometimes do in situations where I can't just make a decision. I walked in and asked "Is there a female therapist available for the such and such treatment in the early afternoon?" 

Ok, fine. I'll tell you what it was. It was the rose treatment. Roses. As in Rose Scented. Dry exfoliation, rose bath, and a massage with rose hip oil. I am a rose ho. It is "my" thing. Roses. OMG. How perfect is that? Well.... uhm, the price tag said how perfect it wasn't entirely. 

So I asked. And, well, they did. So I booked it and the receptionist gave me some more details about the spa facilities and I decided I would arrive early to utilize some of them.

On to breakfast, the bistro has a "family dining room." I hate it. It's a dining room with a little play area to the side. I'm sorry, but if I wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese, I'd go to Chuck E. Cheese. At home, we turn the tv OFF to eat dinner because otherwise, CS will not focus on his meal and will be distracted and dinner will take forever. At a restaurant, we want our children to NOT think it's ok to jump up and down out of their seats during the meal. This room ENCOURAGES just that behavior. Last night at dinner, we did not sit there and declined it when we were offered (After we'd already been seated at another table.) This morning, without asking our preference, we were put there and I sort of felt like I was stuck there as if we were not welcome in the main dining room. Are you ready for it? CS didn't even get out of his seat to play. It was the big boys who wanted to play. If they want a family friendly environment, provide a good kid's menu (which they DO,) and provide good service (which the sometimes do, read on.)

The waitress was very friendly despite feeling relegated to purgatory. We had brought the boys suits and such in a tote bag and headed out to the pool. We had forgotten a couple of things so Daddy Doc headed back to the suite while I went to concierge to ask for an eyeglasses repair kit. (My lens had fallen out after my shower. I needed a good repair.)

The concierge advised me that a store by the slide pool had pool toys to purchase so we headed out. There was no pool store, but there were a few tubes to play with at the pool, so that was cool.

For the next couple of hours, the boys swam in the pool and went down the slide. If Daddy Doc signed a waiver, they'd let him go down the slide with CS. So he signed it and they went down.

As I was sitting pool side, a very sweet girl named Ashley came by to see if I needed anything and I asked for a diet coke. She took my room number and name and for the rest of my time there she stopped by "Are you doing ok, Mrs. PerkyMommy? Can I get you anything else?" I would giggle and say "I want to live here" and she'd giggle back.

Eventually I called the boys out, including the big one, to be sprayed down with sunscreen. I made them stay out of the pool for a bit so it would "soak in." Ashley came by to get a drink for Daddy Doc and to see if we were ready for lunch. I said not yet but that I was going to be leaving for the spa and she would have plenty of time to help DR. Daddy Doc. She brought me a Diet Coke refill for the road and on my way out, and sure enough called DD "DR. Daddy Doc" when she asked him if he needed anything else.

On my way out, I stopped to tell her that no one ever calls him Dr. DD much and he gets a kick out of it, but he's not snooty about it, but thank you so much for using it. She smiled and promised to take good care of the boys for me. With that I came back to the room and packed my bag for the Spa. I was there at just about noon.

I signed in and noted that the sign-in sheet asked if I was a president's club member. I told the receptionist that indeed, I was a member of the PC but I didn't have my number on me, although it was attached to my reservation file. The PC got me a 10% discount on all services!!! WOO HOO. Every Little Bit Helps!

Then Kandi gave me a tour of the spa.

OH MY HEAVENS!

Upstairs there was a counter with two kinds of iced tea, coffee, melon water and various cookies to choose from. Downstairs she showed me: The station for water and prickly pear lemonade. The lockers with robes, slipper/sandals, a bottle of water in it, and a set it yourself lock. The waterfall jacuzzi with three different waterfalls to sit under of various intensities of strength. The women-only jacuzzi and cool plunge bath. The Steam room with Eucalyptus (OH MY HEAVENS!), the bowl of rose scented chilled washclothes, the infusion room with eucalyptus oil again, the sauna, (the swedish shower was broken,) and of course the restroom facilities. 

These were all mine to use until 9:00 pm tonight!

I went upstairs and filled my now-empty diet coke cup with sedona red tea (red tea infused with several berries. YUM.) Then I went into the steam room. (OH MY HEAVENS!!!!!! The Eucalyptus was pure heaven.) The waterfall jacuzzi. Remember how I hate getting wet? I just sat in that heavenly waterfall to be in the moment. OH MY HEAVENS. Then back to the eucalyptus steam room. Then I filled my cup with a little water and ice into my tea and I sat in the waiting area until my treatment.

OH MY HEAVENS.

My therapist came out and she was the sweetest thing. She described how it would go and left so I could get undressed and lay on my stomach.

First she did a dry exfoliation with a brush (which she gave me to take home.) Then I got into a jacuzzi tub with two kinds of chamomile stuff in it, an ice cold bottle of water, a chilled lavender infused washcloth and she sprayed rose water into the air over the tub.

Needless to say, I melted INTO THE TUB.

OH MY HEAVENS.

She swapped out the washcloth a little bit of the way through. Then at 10 minutes in she gave me the option to have five more minutes which I very very readily accepted. I then got out of the tub and back onto the table on my stomach.

She got out the rosehip oil and had me take a deep breath of the oil from her hands before she began. Oh, wait, No. First she put a towel over me and the sort of dried me but she was pulling on my back in various ways that I don't remember having had done before. It was very very nice. THEN she started with the rosehip oil. I must have had something going on in my right shoulder blade because she did a lot of work there and it felt very nice. 

Now, I imagine that it will come as a surprise to no one at all that I am the type of person who enjoys a little chit chat with my massages and treatments. Well, come on, it's not like EXFOLIATING is entirely a relaxing process. It didn't hurt but she was brushing off my skin for goodness sakes. We did not chat during the bath. But for most of the oil rub we chatted and we had a lovely lovely conversation. We talked about how I met Daddy Doc. We talked about how I have no vanity after three kids. We talked about no epidurals and three 9.5 lbers. (She's due with her second next month.) We talked about progesterone evilness and my procedure last fall. (Actually, I mentioned it in passing and she was asking me questions about it which I was happy to share.) I don't expect anyone else to think this sounded lovely to them.

To me? I LOVED IT. 

When she was done with my body, she wrapped me like a mummy in the sheets and she started to work on my back and chest. Then she wrapped my shoulders in the sheet and started on my face and head. Yeah, we didn't talk for this part. Then she wrapped my face in a warm towel and unwrapped my body. Finally she unwrapped my face.

Oh - and she had the world's greatest Boobie Drape. For those of you who have never had a massage or who don't have girl boobies, when you're on your back, they have this way of covering the girls up with a towel so they can pull down the front sheet to do abdominal work.

She had this towel warmer and her boobie drape towels were moist and warm. 

OH MY HEAVENS!

And at that time, she also put a rolled up, wet, warm towel under my neck.

OH MY HEAVENS!!!!

I was one with the table. It was an incredible experience. She was extremely sweet as we said our good-byes and I went to sit in the infusion room for a bit to let the oil 'soak in.' I could've stayed longer but swanie aka the Creator of my Barbie Self was arriving at 4 and I had to catch up with the boys. I'd asked DD to call and let me know where he'd be after I got out of my treatment.

When I came out the receptionist told me he was at the pool still. Problem: Pool's on the other side of the property and it's really hot and I have to get back to my room on THIS side of the property so the idea of back and forth to the pool was NOT fun. Receptionist offered to call a cart for me!!

Within 2 minutes a golf cart arrived and John drove me to the kid pool. He was very sweet. I asked him to wait and drive us all back to the suite, but the boys weren't ready yet and he had another call to pick up so he advised me to have the bar call for a cart when we were ready.

Ashley had taken care of DD and the boys all afternoon. We settled their tab and left a VERY handsome tip for Ashley. We didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her and I wish we had. DD said she was just delightful all day long. 

The boys packed up and the next cart arrived to take us back to our suite. BOY, do we have some sunburns. DD's face and back never got sunscreen on them. For the record, I left them with a gallon sized ziplock with THREE bottles of various kinds of sunscreen to choose from, thankyouverymuch.

Before I go any further, I have to tell you how sweet everyone here is. My massage lady knew about me before she picked me up because the girls at the front desk told her: "She's got three kids, this is her anniversary celebration, they've been traveling for two weeks all over the state." Everyone smiles and is so helpful. And no one has their hands out. I talked to the laady at the spa desk about that and she said that they just don't expect anyone to have to carry cash at the resort so that when there's an opportunity to tip, they attach it to the charge to the room or give you a slip to sign. If you don't get a slip, you're just not expected to tip.

Well, almost no one had a hand out. The driver that took us back to our suite is the only person who ever EVER sort of hung around waiting to be tipped. It was awkward and unattractive, especially given what the receptionist had told me.

We got back to our room and DD and I freshened up for dinner. MG was on the lookout for swanie and girls. They arrived and our evening fun began.

The boys and the girls hit it off very quickly. Hers are all exactly the same grade-level ages as mine. (Her eldest is one year older than my eldest but due to different school cut-off dates in different states, they're in the same grade.) We took turns disciplining excited children. Then we all headed out to the South Pool just as Mr. Swanie arrived. The adults selected some adult beverages from the bar and the kids and Mr. S got into the pool.

Ok, well everyone except SBS. SBS had realized that somewhere between the slides and our suite, he's lost his green goggles. He was pouting a SEVERE HEAVY pout with bouts of tears that ONLY SBS could come up with. It was bad. We tried to ignore him for the most part. Miss SBS was trying to get him to join her in the pool with her sisters and his brothers but he would have none of it!

We got a chance to have a lovely chat with swanie (we are so alike it's scarier and scarier.) She and Daddy Doc even traded some stories about their mutual college alma mater.

Eventually it was time for us to go to dinner. As we left the pool area, we could see that he was smiling and we expected him to be swimming soon.

We arrived at the restaurant when it was a bit slower and it was lovely. We were treated to three kinds of fries with three sauces (herbed, truffle oiled and chili powdered with onion ketchup, truffle aioli, and another ketchup.) They brought a cast iron pan of foccacia.

I started with a tomato soup with lobster grilled cheese. DD had a kobe beef carpaccio with tomatoes and a thai chile dressing. YUM YUM YUM

OH MY HEAVENS!

At one point, a manager arrived to give us a message. SBS was in the pool playing. He got in the pool within moments of our leaving and everyone was just fine. We laughed. We appreciated that swanie took the time to make sure we got the message! She wanted us to not worry about SBS during dinner!

He had steak, I had rack of lamb, we shared spinach souffle with parmesian sauce. Then we had a creme brulee with three beignets. They wrote Happy Anniversary! in chocolate on the plate with dessert. We had a bottle of a Sonoma Cab, too. It was very nice.

But it was getting very loud and I was worried about the time as I hadn't left a key with the swanies et al. 

We met them back at the Bistro on the patio. They had gotten there at about 7 for dinner and the service had been very bad. Despite contacting the manager, the situation never improved. We were still there for sometime after our dinner was over, and we were only there for dessert!

We sat around and chatted. Then we moved to our suite and chatted some more while the swanies changed out of suits - and even afterwards. 

Now, the kids are all passed OUT in their beds. The swanies are on their way home. MG was falling asleep even before their dinner was over. He was a zombie tonight.

Our boys, unfortunately, have a bit of some sunburn on them. They are WORN. OUT.

Oh.My.Heavens. This has been such a lovely lovely LOVELY place to be full of many many blessings on us. From the amazing staff to the amazing facility and experiences (except for the dinner at the Bistro tonight...) And the swanies - such a great blessing, too! Our kids had a lovely time and the adults have a lovely time. And the swanies were very gracious to give us a lovely anniversary gift of watching our kids. And playing with them. CS has two new friends: Miss CS and her Daddy, Bob.

I'm exhausted myself. My body is full from dinner but I'm still floating after my treatment. 

I have a soft sheeted lovely bed to melt into, now. Good night!