Summing Up Spring Break

Lowell Observatory

• no pictures
• we waited in line (in the cold) for far too long to look through spectacular telescopes
• not sure if it was worth it (a.k.a. boring)
• got in free with museum reciprocity

Grand Canyon

• first time for all of us
• SPECTACULAR
• nobody fell
• awe-inspiring
• will definitely be back to do some hiking
• way too many pictures - and yet none seem to do this magnificent place justice
  
  

Goodbyes

Lots of Driving

Zion National Park

• we took a little round about route home through our third national park of the week
• had no idea what to expect
• we are anxious to come back to camp here and spend days exploring
• gorgeous and so different from anywhere we've been
• scary (high edge of cliff) hiking (for me!)
  
  
  
  (We are on top of that arch!)
  

BYU-Provo

• swimming, eating ice cream, and visiting with Mr. Man's little sister (we love her)
  

Home

• no more 80 degree weather
• back to real life

According to My Second Grader

(For the life of me, I cannot get this picture to turn around on here... turn your head sideways!)


I'm partial to the "junk" bubble.

Pornography

There were a pile of these sitting on a table at the Doctor's office.

I saw a coupon.

My son, bless his heart, saw something else and was horrified that a pediatrician's office would have pornography just laying right out there.

I love his innocent little mind.

May he stay nine for always.

Yet Another Scientist in Our Family

Two items that are permanently on my shopping list:

-vinegar

-baking soda

Personally, I love it. (Most of the time!)

Family Togetherness

Every family, and extended family, should have to play mini-golf together! Talk about fun times! We were all pretty horrible, and had a great time poking fun at each other.

Horseback riding was a MUST and we loved returning to the same ranch where dressing up is part of the experience. What a fun treat for all of us.

You'd have thought my boys had never seen toy guns before. Right. Like we don't have a weapons bin at home. At any rate, they were in their glory!

Little E actually came with all of his OWN cowboy gear, and even was complimented on his nice leather vest!
Even the little ones, who spent time with Grandma during the long ride, got to go on short rides of their own. (We owe Grandma a day at the spa for that one!)

It's snowing... so I might as well keep blogging about Spring Break in AZ

It was so relaxing to be outside so much. The kids thrived. (I thought it was a little hot!)

The cousins worked together to build a rock race track for the remote control cars... there was construction going on, so they were a bit limited with outside activities at the house.
Such creative little minds and hard-working attitudes.

This was the cutest thing - she kept going up to the statues and giving them hugs!

Makes me really start to look forward to our beautiful perfect summers here.

Celebrating Birthday

My son just turned nine. NINE!

His party is upcoming, so I will post when I have ALL the pictures (note to self: take pictures at party.)

But we did get to celebrate my niece's second birthday while we were in Arizona. Here's a few snapshots of the birthday girl enjoying her day. Isn't she sweet?!

Cousins

Mr. Man's brother's family came to visit too. We hadn't seen them in almost three years, so it was quite the reunion - and our first time to meet their youngest. (HOW DID WE NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF ALL THE COUSINS?!) While our family sports mostly boys, they have four little girls! I was in my glory with little nieces: beading bracelets, reading princess stories... so fun! Of course the kids had a blast with their cousins too. Miss J and the cousin closest to her age have been connecting through email and phone calls a lot lately and they were INSEPARABLE!


Little J was a bit worried about all the "girls" and had a hard time at first remembering names, so he kept calling each cousin "little girl." He was discussing the issue of too many girls with his brother, and Little E informed him... "Not A! She's a girl, but don't worry - she's like us!" Indeed she was! Those kids played in the dirt, raced around with little shotguns... you name it - they made some great memories and we can't wait to meet up again this summer!

Attempting to Post Museum Videos

Our Spring Break 2012 {Part II}

For many years we have taken advantage of being members of our local museums. Being a member brings many advantages, one of which is the reciprocity agreement with OTHER museums whenever we travel. We were able to hit up two different museums using our membership during this trip - and they even let the grandparents in free with us too! We were headed to the Children's Museum, but Mr. T INSISTED we at least check out the Science Museum. Since it was free, we agreed, and ending up spending almost the whole day... and could have spent even longer. Mr. Man was with his Dad checking out pop-up trailers (a WHOLE other adventure for our family) and so Grandma and I enjoyed the four little monkeys.

There was an outdoor water exploration center - outdoors because it was 80 degrees the whole week we visited! My kids went nuts with this center! We literally had to drag them away (soaking wet) to the next exhibit. (We stopped at the restrooms to use the hand blowers to attempt to dry off - notice the shirts getting "darker"!)

I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but there was a water stream that could power spray the balls into the air after you allowed them down a ramp. My kids used their long arms to hold the balls, and create a whole stream of balls to have flung into the air one after another. Yup, those are my kids!

The best part was watching them work together to manipulate the machines to their limits!

So much of the museum was hands on and very kid-friendly.

Finally, we spent a good hour at this one spot! I wish I had taken a picture of the grown-up audience my boys had as they played with this exhibit FOREVER! Their laughter was contagious... we should have charged a viewing fee! Even now, looking at these pictures I captured, I can hear their giggles in my mind! Absolutely hilarious!

We finished our day gathering all together at Oldtown Scottsdale. We had cowboy boots to shop for and old fashioned malts to enjoy before heading back to Grandma and Papa's house for dinner. What a great day! (WHY IS THIS LINE HERE TO STAY?????!!!!)

Our Spring Break 2012 {Part I}

Trying to catch up on happenings in our home...

Spring Break was a big deal this year. We traveled for days (2 days)... stopping at Bryce Canyon National Park and staying at our favourite inn from last year.

Little E begged to have his picture taken with this statue. He is obsessed with Native Americans lately; studying and reading everything he can get his hands on about their culture... so he really enjoyed this trip! (Of course swimming at the hotel is always a bonus to any vacation!)

The scenery was just as spectacular as we remembered it, but warmer (and muddier) so more exploring could be done.

Breath-takingly amazing, I tell ya.

We left the snow completely and entered seguaro land... ah lovely Arizona!

Our week consisted of visiting with family (fun cousins we haven't seen in almost 3 years), being spoiled by grandparents, horseback riding, museum visiting, shopping and finally Grand Canyon. Of course there are many more pictures and stories to come. I figure if I spend a few minutes here and there, eventually I'll have a coherent record.