Castle Keeper Girls’ End of the Year Outing

Last week we celebrated the 6 Castle Keeper girls who received the highest award at the end-of-the-year-party. We had a grand time but our original plans were changed since my husband sprained his ankle almost a month ago and still isn’t able to get around without crutches. (If you don’t know what Castle Keepers is, you can read about it here.)

So instead of our first plan of a canoe trip, we went to the big city – Phoenix.

First stop was glow in the dark golf which isn’t as fun as regular mini golf but it’s a good thing to do when it’s hot and humid outside and since we had never did it it was fun to give it a try. If you decide to do this, check Groupon because I found a really good deal there.

Then we went to an escape room. Now that was a lot of fun!

We went into a small decorated room and were given 1 hour to solve the mystery. One wall was faux books and the other walls had miscellaneous decorations and some pieces of furniture. We had to “tear” apart the room to look for clues. There were locks that we had to figure out the combination to get them to open. In the control room, the man could watch us on a security camera and would type some instructions occasionally on the monitor. If we needed a clue, we could call him up for a hint. We were allowed 5 hints in all for the game.

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the room and unfortunately, we didn’t solve the mystery in the hour we were given. We needed about 5-10 minutes more. Truthfully. 🙂

We would totally do an escape room again. Very fun and there are different challenge levels you can choose. Ours was an beginner/intermediate level.

Then it was time to head to the resort – Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch.

We’ve stayed at this resort a few times and decided to take the girls there. They loved it.

We didn’t know when we purchased our rooms that we got a great package that came with it, but we did.

The package involved food and more food and we enjoyed that aspect oh, so very much!

First off we enjoyed the free h’ordeuvres that were offered in the Regency lounge.

Orange chicken, shrimp pasta salad, specialty cheeses and meats, crackers and other items. It was very good.

We were already full by the time we left the lounge area but we wanted to treat the girls to a nice dinner, so after about an hour we headed to the Alto Ristorante which was located at the resort.

And then(!)…. we went back to the lounge and enjoyed ate the free desserts. I was so full at this point, I only had about a bite of each thing and can’t say I really enjoyed. I would have to say I definitely overindulged.

Because we had eaten at the Alto Ristorante, we were given tickets for a free 10 minute gondola ride. That was very pleasant. The gondolier who paddles you around has to be auditioned before he is hired and must be a classically trained singer. Our gondolier had lived in Germany for several years singing classical.

We enjoyed this activity.

The next morning we headed back to the Regency lounge for a free breakfast. It was marvelous. It was kind of a combination of American and European breakfast’s. Scrambled eggs, oatmeal, breads, pastries, specialty cheeses and meats. After indulging so much the night before, I thought I wouldn’t be very hungry but I didn’t have too much of a problem eating the scrumptious offerings. (not a good sign for me, is it? haha)

We enjoyed our breakfast outside since it was cool enough. We ate in a garden area that we called the “secret garden” and we had it all to ourselves.

Russell was practicing his own opera skills, being inspired by our gondolier from the night before.

…. and this little birdie seemed quite mesmerized by it all.

Room Service!

Hair Stylin’

These girls have such beautiful, long hair.

Sisters

We had to do some fun pictures, too.

Can you guess what they’re signing?

My hubby and me along with our two CK girls.

So proud of these lovely girls and their heart for home.

Our outing was a success. The girls absolutely loved the hotel and wanted to stay there all day. After staying at the hotel half of the afternoon, we finally left. We had one more activity to do and we finished up the outing going swimming at a friend’s house. From the elegant we went to the humble for I made them plain bean and cheese burritos for their lunch!

Congratulations to these girls for working so hard through the year. To achieve the Proverbs 31 award, they had to attend at least 7 of the 8 monthly meetings and complete all 18 challenges that were given. Good work, girls!

Our 5th year of Castle Keeper’s year is about to begin and we’re looking forward to it!

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