Life is Grand

We set out last weekend for a week of vacation -- a few days in Kanab, where Chris had to work for a week, and then a few days at the Grand Canyon. We were so excited to get away together as a family and spend some time having fun.

Since we drove down on Sunday after church, the kids couldn't spend the drive playing video games -- you can sort of see their distaste for that policy in action.

At the hotel in Kanab -- and when I say hotel I mean MO-tel -- the kids and I kept busy by swimming in the pool all day. At first Joseph was very timid about going in the water, but by day two he had shed his floatie and was trying to get away from me.

The hot tub was a little too hot, and the pool was pretty chilly -- it was hard to find a comfy balance. Kanab is really windy, so there was always a breeze keeping things cool.

I love taking photos of the boys jumping into pools -- they are always so funny. This one looks like Bradley is jumping on Lindsey's head.

Double jumpers.

My cutie little swimmer.

Doing a "Mario Bros run" into the pool.

The hotel was far from luxurious, but it was clean, and the kids loved the pool. And they had free breakfast. Is there anything more wondrous to kids than free, all-you-can-eat breakfast? You'd have thought they were in heaven, being able to eat all the eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, and muffins they could hold. It was funny to watch their excitement and wonder what I have done to create this phenomenon in them.

Check out these skinny legs!

One day we visited the Little Hollywood museum of sets from old cowboy movies. It was sort of cool, and the kids thought it was great. Here's a jail set, which Bradley liked.

In Kanab there's a really cool place called Jacob Hamblin Park, and we spent a lot of time there. The kids really enjoyed the playground, and the surroundings were beautiful.

Lindsey's upset because I made her pose for a photo when she wanted to go swing, and Joseph seems to be asking himself, "What mischief can I get into next?"

Having a little lunch in the park . . . what a bunch of handsome boys!!!

My beautiful baby girl.

Could this kid be any cuter??

After playing at the park in the hot sun, we went to Wendy's for a cool treat. Mmmmmm, Frostys!

My crazy little monster . . . there was an older lady who stopped me in Wendy's and said, "That little boy has a mind of his own, doesn't he? He's something else!" I had to agree completely.

Snuggling with mom at the hotel. I love these moments. Those eyes absolutely melt me.

We visited a pretty sweet place called Moqui Cave, which was basically a cool cave that had been turned into a museum of all the neat things that had been collected by the man who once owned it. There were some cool things to see, and the kids really enjoyed the artifacts and the rocks that glowed under blacklights.

Next we checked out Kanab Canyon, a pleasant little spot.

The kids enjoyed the movie set museum enough that they wanted to take their dad back to see it after he was done working for the day. Here we see Chris in a cowboy bathtub.

Bradley pretending to pull the wagon.

My crazy boys.

They had to ride the merry-go-round thingy in front of Honey's grocery store.

A little down time in the room . . . cartoons.

Kanab City Pool is a great place to spend an afternoon -- except that if the warmish spring wind blows when you're soaking wet, it feels like an arctic blast. Despite my inability to regulate my body temperature, the kids had a great time!

Back once more to the park -- Nathaniel played a little catch with his dad.

Friday came, and we hit the road for the Grand Canyon. How horrified was I to see this heinous bridge over the Glen Canyon gorge. Not cool.

The kids, especially Bradley, thought the bridge was super-cool.

Anyone who knows me well knows that bridges over water are my biggest fear . . . I was freaking out on the bridge, and I was still over the land!

Dam.

Our first glimpses of the Grand Cnayon. It was truly breathtaking.

Setting up camp . . .

Having a little dinner to warm us up.

Settling in for the night.

Looking so cute in his sleeping bag, which of course he did not stay in for long.

Snug as an adorable bug in a rug. Yeah, the kids slept soundly and were plenty warm, even though it was freezing cold! (It was unseasonably cold when we were there, of course -- we have pretty bad travel timing, but what can you do?) I tossed and turned and eventually ended up "sleeping" in the van. I hate being cold!

And in the morning we find Joseph in Chris' sleeping bag . . . and not quite ready to wake up.

Cooking a yummy breakfast on his brand new Camp Chef stove.

All ready for a big day of hiking in the Grand Canyon.

And we ended up stuck in the car, in the pouring rain . . . and hail.

Once we got on the shuttle bus, Joseph was in heaven!!!

We saw a few elk hanging around. Pretty cool.

The rain meant we couldn't cook our planned camp meal, so we went to Wendy's instead. Gross. And Joseph's expression says it all. He seems to be saying, "You expect me to eat that?"

One cool by-product of being rained out -- we took the kids to see the Grand Canyon IMAX movie in Tusayan, which they really enjoyed.

Eventually the sun came back out, so we headed back to the rim once again.

I couldn't help taking about a million photos of this beautiful boy. He's so scrumptious!

Checking out a beautiful view.

Venturing down below the rim, on Bright Angel Trail.

Sunset was beautiful.

Yes, Lindsey has to go potty. (Side note: like most moms on family vacations, I spent a great majority of my time taking kids to the bathroom. It's just life, but I had to vent a little.)

Joseph was slow to wake up again the next morning . . . he almost seems to sleep better in a tent than at home. Hmmmmm.

Helping dad cook breakfast.

A few last looks at the Canyon, Sunday morning, as the weather started to warm up a little.

The kids worried me to death dancing around at the edge of the rim -- they seemed to have no clue about how dangerous it was and were just so excited to explore and check things out that they didn't notice how nervous they were making me. I tried not to be too overbearing with them, but I was pretty worried a lot of the time.

Joseph wonders what the big deal is.

On the road home . . . a little sad to leave.

Eating Oreos, watching "The Wizard of Oz." What could be better?

No kidding . . . driving down the road, watching "Oz," and what do we see in the distance but a rainbow. Too cool.

This adorable smile captures our happiness at being almost home. It was a long drive!

Much like this post, it was a long, long week. We had lots of fun being together and doing some pretty cool stuff. I can't wait to go back to the Grand Canyon and do some real hiking down to the river . . . maybe someday.