Our first day staying in Arizona, we just let ourselves rest (and get groceries). It was much needed. It's averaging a high of 100 each day we are here, so we are taking advantage of the "cooler" morning times to get some fresh air. The porch here is phenomenal, views on both sides all day long. Here's Penn and Jansen playing LIFE at about 7am (they have been waking really early!!).
When Doug ran errands, he took Penn, Jansen and Koen and I stayed home with Tavin. Poor Tavin has been struggling with a cold or allergies or just lots of congestion for some reason (turns out it's a Swimmer's Ear infection we now know a few days later). We wanted to some fresh air (and everyone knows I love to use time well!), so I gave him a haircut as we took in the view.
It was getting pretty hot after that, so we gave ourselves a break and played board games and watched movies inside for the remainder of the day. We all needed it! Doug watched Jurassic Park with Penn and the older boys for Penn's first time and then I got to snuggle up with Jansen and watch really old Disney movies about bears. I think I totally got the better gig.
In the evening, Doug and I got to go on a date and the older brothers watched their younger brothers. This is such a new fun phenomenon. We couldn't do this when we had our foster daughter, but now that it's just the boys and Koen is 15 and Tavin is 12, it's a thing! I'm quite the homebody for date night, but this does allow us some more flexibility for meeting up with friends. And that's what we did Friday night. We got to have dinner in the old, "haunted" ghost mining town of Jerome with Doug's co-worker and her husband that live in a town near where we are staying (and own the amazing place we are staying in!).
The town was charming and had an amazing vantage point of the red rocks and mountains beyond. Our hosts definitely know how to pick a date night destination!
After that restful day, we were relatively refueled to embark on another national park adventure. We drove the two and a half hours to the Grand Canyon on Saturday morning, the 11th. Here's our backseaters getting creative with WikkiStix as we headed out. So cute!
There are obviously many different ways to see the park. We decided to drive up through Flagstaff, then through the adorable old Route 66 town of Williams (known as the "Gateway to the Grand Canyon"). From there we headed north into the park on the South Rim. Today we used a gift Doug gave me for Mother's Day for the first time. The GypsyGuide app. It's amazing. Recorded stories, tidbits and informational pieces along the way. They are all activated by GPS, so it's perfectly timed and once you've started, you don't have to do anything but listen and learn. We love it! Huge fans already and many more parks/places to go where we can again take advantage of it. This was a much anticipated park for Douglas. He's always wanted to go. Very exciting! And for me it meant a lot too. This stop is the first one that overlaps with stops I made with my parents, brother and sister almost 30 years ago when we did a cross country trip. And that trip was the inspiration for this one. I loved the memories and the exposure to our beautiful country and wanted our kids to have a similar opportunity. Thanks, Mom and Dad, you taking on that trip has made an impact in my life and now your grandsons' lives too!
This is the boys' first glance at the amazing view. Spectacular!
And before we started our short hike on the South Rim trail, we spotted a mule deer right in the backyard of the El Tovar Hotel!
And here's Douglas taking in the canyon on one of our stops along our mile or so hike along the South Rim trail. It's quite an overwhelming site. I just can't believe what explorers must have thought coming across this!
A little selfie action to commemorate being back in this gorgeous, humbling place!
I LOVED this find that Doug noticed. Very fitting Scripture on the side of the "Lookout Studio" historical building on the edge of the South Rim. How manifold are your works, O Lord!"
After our start on the South Rim near the Bright Angel Trailhead and seeing some great overlooks on foot, we piled back in the "Venture Van" to continue on towards the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. On our way we spotted an elk!!
The boys have been so excited to get to a park where we would let them use their hard-earned money to buy a souvenir. Finally we said yes! Koen got a sweatshirt, Tavin got a hat and Penn and Jansen got the most adorable stuffed animals. Penn's is a California Condor (he named "Connor") and Jansen's is a mountain lion that he named "Apex." So you'll be seeing these new things on the following pictures from here on out (although not the sweatshirt...way too hot!).
As you see, we made a lot of stops at classic outlooks along the way. And really they are all quite stunning. Actually a little overwhelming trying to take something so gargantuan in in such a small amount of time. I'm glad we came, but I already want to come back (in a cooler season) for some intense hiking.
So in between some of these views, we spotted more elk and then all the sudden Tavin had an amazing find. A skeleton of some predator's victim!
One recommended stop was called, "Duck on a Rock." It's relatively apparent why...
This is the best family picture we got thanks to another family with a couple of boys in tow. Poor Jansen had a little tumble just a few minutes before the picture opportunity and hadn't really recovered yet.
Next picture is a pretty good summary of stop who-knows-what-number. Check out the tired younger ones! And then Koen was super into photography at this park, so he was all about the views.
Our last stop was the Watchtower. We listened about the architect of this building on the drive over...Mary Colter. I love the way she incorporated the environment and the native peoples' style in her design. Rather than detracting from the beautiful natural site beyond, it was a lovely compliment.
On the East end of the South Rim you can get a much better view of the chocolatey, swirling water of the Colorado River. Tavin brought his binoculars and we enjoyed spotting rapids, boaters, campers and the buildings down in the bottom of the canyon.
We got the boys some celebratory ice cream and then headed back to our place two and a half hours away. That relative "quick" drive flet like the longest one of the trip. A combination of factors, but a couple stir crazy kids and we didn't allow show-watching equaled a boisterous middle row (the littles in the back continue to set a high bar for van behavior, it's amazing). And then poor Tavin was really uncomfortable with ear pain with all the elevation change on the way back. Oh we were all so glad to end that ride! We got home in time for dinner and then sped the boys through showers and to bed!
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