A beautiful clear afternoon at the Grand Canyon.
We stole the Grand Canyon idea from the Bairds and caravaned with them on this trip. They live a few doors down and our kids play together all the time. It was so fun to have them with us. This was about as far as we ventured down the canyon. The dramatic drops offs were too much for me. My nerves were done after a few minutes of trying to keep the boys from taking a curve too wide. It came in handy on this trip that Sophie never leaves my shadow.
I always wondered by my parents never took us to the Grand Canyon. Then I saw the mile high cliffs with no railings and it suddenly made sense why taking seven children there wasn't ever on the itinerary. It was beautiful and breath taking as ever, but made me nervous. DB sized this up quickly and did his best to torment me by hanging close to the edge. When that got old, he capitalized on another fear of mine and started petting sure to be rabid wild animals, squirrels to be exact. Except for losing track of Jake for a few terrifying minutes in a porta-potty mix up, it all went off without a hitch.
Sophie and I take in the sights. She's was a scaredy cat like her mom.
My "boys" and a random tourist intent on ruining my picture.
Sophie is standing at the entrance of the Lava Tubes. Next time you are in Flagstaff, you need to check this out. It is a cave formed by lava and is about 15 minutes off the beaten path. It is a little rocky getting into it but it opens wide up inside and goes for almost a mile. We did this as an afterthought, mostly because we were too cheap to pay for another tourist attraction. It was the highlight of the trip for the kids. Even Sophie loved it, although if you take kids much younger than five you need a headlight so that you can hold their hand and negotiate the rocks without falling. It is amazing just how dark it is in there and the best part is that it is 42 degrees year round. I'm considering living there next July. Not very many people seem to know about it based on the lack of any crowds, but we are sure to return.
Inside the cave. Even the camera wasn't sure what to do with the extreme darkness. A piece of advice if you go - leave the coat in the car. The hike in and out is strenuous enough that you break a sweat and you will find yourself wishing you could shed some layers. The hats did help buffer the low parts without any concussions - not so much an issue for the kids, but I got my bell rung pretty good at one low spot. Again, the headlight instead of the one dollar Walmart flashlights are advisable.
The Bairds are big fans of the
Cars movie so they were thrilled to see some of the actual sites on Route 66 that the film had in it. Wes lived on Route 66 for awhile in Joseph City, so the novelty wasn't so much there for him, but what the heck, everyone needs a pic on Route 66!
We stopped at the Williams Little League field for a game of kickball. It wasn't long before the kids figured out how to climb on top of the dugout. I have no idea what this pose is about. Wes apparently had the kids in a trance of sorts while Tricia and I got in a short jog. (I figure it would benefit me to "train" at 6000 ft so that my Utah relatives don't humiliate me in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I am counting on that mile we ran to make all the difference!)
A beautiful clear afternoon at the Grand Canyon.
We stole the Grand Canyon idea from the Bairds and caravaned with them on this trip. They live a few doors down and our kids play together all the time. It was so fun to have them with us. This was about as far as we ventured down the canyon. The dramatic drops offs were too much for me. My nerves were done after a few minutes of trying to keep the boys from taking a curve too wide. It came in handy on this trip that Sophie never leaves my shadow.
I always wondered by my parents never took us to the Grand Canyon. Then I saw the mile high cliffs with no railings and it suddenly made sense why taking seven children there wasn't ever on the itinerary. It was beautiful and breath taking as ever, but made me nervous. DB sized this up quickly and did his best to torment me by hanging close to the edge. When that got old, he capitalized on another fear of mine and started petting sure to be rabid wild animals, squirrels to be exact. Except for losing track of Jake for a few terrifying minutes in a porta-potty mix up, it all went off without a hitch.
Sophie and I take in the sights. She's was a scaredy cat like her mom.
My "boys" and a random tourist intent on ruining my picture. 
Sophie is standing at the entrance of the Lava Tubes. Next time you are in Flagstaff, you need to check this out. It is a cave formed by lava and is about 15 minutes off the beaten path. It is a little rocky getting into it but it opens wide up inside and goes for almost a mile. We did this as an afterthought, mostly because we were too cheap to pay for another tourist attraction. It was the highlight of the trip for the kids. Even Sophie loved it, although if you take kids much younger than five you need a headlight so that you can hold their hand and negotiate the rocks without falling. It is amazing just how dark it is in there and the best part is that it is 42 degrees year round. I'm considering living there next July. Not very many people seem to know about it based on the lack of any crowds, but we are sure to return.
The Bairds are big fans of the Cars movie so they were thrilled to see some of the actual sites on Route 66 that the film had in it. Wes lived on Route 66 for awhile in Joseph City, so the novelty wasn't so much there for him, but what the heck, everyone needs a pic on Route 66!
We stopped at the Williams Little League field for a game of kickball. It wasn't long before the kids figured out how to climb on top of the dugout. I have no idea what this pose is about. Wes apparently had the kids in a trance of sorts while Tricia and I got in a short jog. (I figure it would benefit me to "train" at 6000 ft so that my Utah relatives don't humiliate me in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I am counting on that mile we ran to make all the difference!)
1 comment:
What a fun time. I'm sure that mile jog is really going to benefit you in 6 weeks time. I'm training hard now, but as soon as my race is over in 3 weeks, I probably won't run another step until the Turkey Trot. Bruce might outclass us both.
Post a Comment