Back to tell the tale

So we did make it back. I know, it took me way too long to finish up the recap of the trip. And I am already starting to forget little things so I have to hurry up and write them all down somewhere.

First I have to say that our kids were the best travelers EVER! Yeah they cried, and complained, and argued a little bit. But they also got along great, helped out when they could, and went for looooooooong portions of several days glued to their car seats so that we could cover massive amounts of the southwestern states quickly. Our kids ROCK!

Now, on with the recap!



So we made it to the Grand Canyon, and it was grand. In fact I don't think that Grand really describes it very well. It was magnificent, awesome, inspiring, beautiful, impressive... etc, etc, etc. It looked like a painting it was so magnificent. I am sure that we will go again, a completely doable trip if any of you are thinking of going. And surprise, surprise, the kids found another Lizard! I know, how do they do it? We walked along close to three miles of the rim and found a different view every step of the way. At one point it started to rain and then it was sunny again. I guess that that happens at over 7000 feet above sea level. The kids were thrilled to take the shuttle bus there just as much as they were to look over the edge into the great abyss. (Don't worry, we made sure that they kept a safe distance).



After the Grand Canyon we headed to Laughlin and stayed there for the night. The room was in a Casino/Hotel, that surprisingly didn't seem much like a casino. The kids were a little disappointed that we got there too late to swim, I guess that that means that we will have to go swim some other time.

On Friday morning we got up bright and early and headed for home. Along the way we stopped at the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California. It's a desert that is half sand dunes, a quarter volcano and lava flows and 1/4 mountains and anything in between is flat and full of cactus. At one point it was a boomtown. Audrey wanted to know what a Boomtown is and so I asked her what she thought it was, she thought for a minute and then said, "A town that blows up a lot of bombs." Cute kid. At the visitors center the kids got to be locked in the towns holding cell. Good Times! We almost left them at that point, but they know our address so they would have gotten home eventually.

We got home late on Friday night and unpacked the car and slept in on Saturday morning (if you count 7am PST sleeping in).

We had so much fun that on the way home we were already talking about our next family trip. If you have any ideas pass them on. Here are a few of my favorite group shots from the past two weeks...

Sue with the kids at the end of the day in the Arizona Ghosttown.
This one makes me laugh...I miss those Arizonan's already! (Clockwise left to right Jimmy, Lizzie, Sue, Stevie, JJ, Audrey, Katie Jo, Kaylee)

On our way to Texas we stopped at the Rockhound State Park. The kids were so strong picking up all of those rocks that they had to show me their muscles!

Glenn, Jay, Me, Lisa, Mark, Chris, Cheryl, Kari, and Tomas in Texas in the Angeli's backyard.

The cousins all posing. I think that JJ's leg up is hilarious! (Back row: Clay, Trevor, Marisa, Malaki, Troy Front Row: JJ, Olivia, Chris, Audrey, Kaylee, Logan)

And last but not least Chris' light show. When we were almost home (around San Jose, CA) Chris started making this sound effect for the glowstick totally spontaneously. Jay called it the speed of light. If you look really closely you can see his little face "lighting up" because he is having such a good time.