Well Rounded

Long time, no blog... Guess I've been too busy living life to blog about it!  We just got back from Arizona where we squeezed a month's worth of sightseeing into a few short days.  Here it is...

Day 1

We survived the plane ride and arrived in Phoenix in the morning.  We went straight to the Phoenix Zoo, and by straight, I mean that we only had a few directional mishaps.  Little Miss E fed a giraffe with Uncle Caleb.  

  

Adam and I wandered off and found this ginormous cactus.

 

Then we came across this scary Dracula-like monkey. 

  

Little Miss found a place to cool off, and although I took about 274 photos of her splashing around, this out of focus one is my favorite! 

  

After the zoo we went to a little outdoor marketplace in Tempe.  The only thing that was purchased was a box of Beanboozled Jelly Bellies.  That went a little something like this...

"Here try this.  It could taste like licorice.... or skunk."  

Makes you want to vomit, huh?!?! Well guess what, Barf was a flavor option too!

  

We had lunch at a pub and waited for Uncle Ian to arrive from Texas.  Ian had no idea that his long-distance girlfriend, Jamie, was coming along.  There are next to no secrets in our family, so this surprise was huge!  Wow, did I ever drop the ball on the pictures... This was the best one!

  

We finished the night with a long drive to our home-away-from-home in Williams.  

Day 2

The Grand Canyon

 

Yep, the Grand Canyon.  Enough said.  

  

Nice Ian!

  

We ended the day with a stroll through Flagstaff where we caught a local Easter celebration, strolled through some cute little shops, sampled some locally brewed beverages, and took in some fine art.   

 

Day 3

Hoover Dam (and a detour)

 

  

They are looking for my lens cap that took an unfortunate leap to its death over the side of the Dam.   

 

After the Dam tour a few of us thought it would be fun to just buzz on over to Las Vegas, just to check it out.  This is what we saw.  Well, this and quite a few people exercising their right to have open containers while strutting up and down the sidewalks.   Well, both of those things and a few freaky adult stores, some scary gang-looking people, and a few sets of fake hooters. To all you naysayers of the Vegas detour... you were right!

Day 4

Easter!! and Sedona

Munchkin had an unfortunate accident during Mass.  She finished out the service wearing a blanket and Adam had to wear my brother's jacket.  So, no great Easter pictures.

  

After a nice brunch, we spent the day hiking and taking in the sights of Sedona.  In my opinion, it was more beautiful than the Grand Canyon.

   

 

We walked up to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  

 

Luminaries lined either side of the Chapel.  

Sedona is said to be filled with "vortexes" or places with high energy.  We climbed up to the Cathedral Rock Vortex.  I developed a terrible fear of heights on the way up and began trembling and crying.  I think it was the energy from the vortex that amplified my fear.  (Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)  

Day 5

Train Ride to the Grand Canyon 

 

The last day Adam and I decided that we would take the girls back to the Grand Canyon by train.  The train ride kicked off with a western shoot-out.  Then we boarded  and enjoyed a two hour ride to the Grand canyon. We walked the west rim and found some breathtaking views.  The ride was a little long but exciting and authentic.  

  

Each attendant and actor was dressed to play the part.  They even had a mock stage coach robbery on the return trip.  We saw our fair share of wild life, four antelope even raced right beside the train. 

We had such a great time while we were away.  The trip went by way to fast and I almost miss the beautiful landscapes. Now we are trying to get back into the swing of real life, and me back into blogging. 

Stay tuned for some exciting projects!