Spring Break Vacay Part 3: Northern Arizona University detour, Sedona, and Arriving in the Land of Lemons

okay...remember how I said that we got a flat tire?

Well thanks to Google Maps, and the kind folks at Discount Tire, this little hiccup was really not a big problem.  Just a little snag.  About an hour detour is all.  No biggie. :)

To pass the time, we decided to take the kids on a scooter ride around the campus of Northern Arizona University, which was just around the corner!  Fun RIGHT??!

We are nice like that.

Here are some of the interesting things we found.

Trev and I debated on whether this is supposed to be "artsy" or funny...What THE??

After this little tour we were back to our car, and off to the Grand Canyon. :)

(All about that in the previous post.)

Fast forward to the next morning, we continued our journey south.  Through Sedona.  Boy, oh boy, were we in for a treat!

First off, the views on the drive were just gorgeous.

We stopped at a place called Rock-Slide Park. It was this cute little area alongside the river where there are natural water-slides and the kids can wade in the water.  We didn't get the swimsuits out, and never got to the water-slides, but if we go back we will definitely do that!  We did however, wade in the water and it was F-I-N-E...ahhhh.

This is leading up to the river.  An orchard, old house, water fountains, and lots of stickers...Claire was not pleased with those little "pokies."

But the water...OH she was great with that.  We all were.  Can you tell? :)

Abby and Morgan both fell in.  :)

On our way out, we stumbled upon this little guy and about 50 of his closest friends and family...

He didn't like us near as much as we liked him.  :)

Oh Sedona...I wish you were closer.  I hope to make it back there someday.

After this fun stop in stunning Sedona, we were in hot pursuit of the heat that only Phoenix can give.  We arrived in the evening.  It was sunny and I could almost taste the fresh lemons as we drove into Megan and Ernesto's neighborhood.  

Not too long after arriving, the boys headed off to Buffalo Wild Wings to stuff their cheeks and watch the Cougars play in March Madness.

Us girls went walking and scouring for lemons!

Told you these were important to me. :)

We came home and made these.  Mmmmmm....

After everyone was back, fed, and pj'd, we rounded out the first night like this.

Oh lady Lu...so sweet!  

More fun in the sun to come...stay tuned. 

Colorado Spring Break - Part 2

On to the rest of our Colorado trip...

After the first couple of days in Colorado, we noticed that a big snow storm was going to be rolling in the day I would be traveling home with all the kids.  Alone.  In the mountains.  After my previous experience with being stranded on the way out, I was a lot more apprehensive about driving in those conditions.  So we unfortunately had to cut our trip short. We really only had one more day to play before we needed to leave in order to avoid the storm.  So we did what my kids love the absolute most about Aunt Vicky's...fun family time at home, 4-wheelers, and of course, the BIG one...riding SUNNY!!!!  I swear to my kids...Disneyland doesn't even come close to being as fun.  I am grateful that the things that touched me so much as a kid resonate with them as well.  It is a neat thing to share the same experiences with them, that I cherish in my childhood memories.

I usually get lots of 4-wheeling pics, but this time, since I was driving...simply couldn't.  But the 4-wheelers never disappoint.  My kids could ride them all. day. long!

However, I did get plenty of riding Sunny.  Here they all are, taking their turn on the best horse in the world...Ms. Sunny...with our favorite Horseman, uncle Bob.

In all the excitement, we did discover a little something about Mr. Jake.  I think he is allergic to horse hair.  He didn't seem to have a problem right away, but after his rides were over, he was COVERED in hair and kept rubbing it into his itchy, watery eyes.  Pretty soon he had a few hives bubbling up...he took a bath and seemed a little bit lathargic, but he was fine.  Other than sad that I wouldn't let him go have another ride on Sunny. :)  He LOVES her.  We will just have to be a little careful in the future with him.  Interesting.

We also had another first.  Morgan rode A BULL!  I've never done that... :)

This bull, named RIO, was as tame as can be...but still pretty cool accomplishment for an 8 year old.  Here she is trying out her bull-riding skills.

My uncle used to ride bulls in his younger years.  I am sure they were a little more squirrly than sweet ol' Rio. :)

To finish out our day before making the trek back home, we took a little more R&R.  The kids played with their cousins, we watched America's Funniest Home Videos, and even had pizza for dinner.  

Do you notice Abby has an "A" on her hand...my uncle marked both the girls (A&C) so he could always tell them apart.  So funny!

After dinner, we finished the night with a project.  Morgan had to pick an animal and create a habitat for it for school over Spring Break.  I was a bit bugged about the assignment in the first place, I mean seriously...let these kids have a break!  Ugh.  Plus I have done a few too many of these "little" projects already this year, that I was just not wanting to participate. :)  So my sweet aunt and uncle helped her do it.  What animal did she pick??  A horse of course!  She couldn't have had better resources to help her.  They did a much better job than I would have. :)

Here they are constructing the habitat as M quizzed uncle Bob on horse facts.

Pretty great right?!  They bought her a horse to put in her habitat, helped her pick sticks for the fence outside in CRAZY winds, and had a plethora of craft supplies to enrich the project.  We even used the pizza box from dinner as the base. :)  All I had to help her do when we got home was fill out her animal brochure with the info uncle Bob gave her, and create a trough with water and "alfalfa."  It was AWE-SOME!  

Here she is home and ready to take it to school...you might notice a different horse.  We are not sure when or how the horse we had got lost, but we are pretty sure we know who the 3 year old culprits are.  So we used one of their horses instead.

As you can see, we made it back home the next day, and with no major incidents.  Thankfully.

Even though our trip was cut short, I am so glad I took the kids out there.  I always treasure my time with our Colorado family, and I love the relationships my kids are building with each other and their relatives.  Even though we live far apart, trips like this are creating bonds that will last forever.  I love my dear family and I just feel so grateful for them.  Both immediate and extended.  I am convinced that loving families are where true joy is found.  Just glad for mine.