The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is amazing. Before we entered the park we watched the IMAX movie about some of the people who first explored the canyon. Talk about crazy! I can't imagine getting on a wooden raft and heading down a river that you didn't know anything about. John Wesley Powell was nuts...and he only had one arm.

For only $2 more, we also watched a bird show which included a falcon, hawk, condor, crane and money taking crow (I think it was a crow--it was black).

You can't take enough pictures of the Grand Canyon.

 

I don't have much to say about all these pictures. It was spectacular and amazing and beautiful and on and on. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Most of the time. It was a little hot and we did a little bit of walking and sometimes the buses were crowded and sometimes we didn't get our way....

 but it was definitely worth the trip. 

The Route

Visiting the Grand Canyon has been on my to-do list since we bought a National Parks pass almost a year ago. Time is running out, so we picked a weekend, invited John, Michelle, Sean & Luke and hit the road. 


The way to the Grand Canyon from Vegas involves driving by the Hoover Dam. Which means we had to drive across the newly built bypass bridge. I saw it with my parents in October and just looking at it gave me anxiety. 

I crossed it! I also drove it both ways because it totally freaks me out and I needed to be in control of the situation. I may be a little over dramatic because the dam isn't even visible from the bridge (not that I dared take my eyes off the road) so you barely know you are driving across it. But the thought of it makes my heart race.

We also had a little navigation error which turned took us off the main road and onto Route 66. What a great mistake! We eventually stopped at a nearly deserted diner along the way to make sure we would eventually end up at our destination and to take pictures of all the random things that were there. (It was smelly, so no eating.)

We saw Herbie,

Betty Boop (Zack was too embarrassed to be in the picture alone)

and a rotary phone. Ben has impressive old school dialing skills.

Along the route I nearly ran over a prairie dog that was standing up in the middle of the road. He totally beat me in the game of chicken he must have been playing with me. 


We enjoyed reading the red signs for Burma-Shave.  Back in the day, this was a clever and effective advertizing campaign. They were fun to read even though the meanings were a little vague and/or cheesy.  

We stayed in Williams, Arizona (about an hour from the park). Williams is a fun little town.

The restaurant we ate in had a whole bunch of fun retro signs and decorations. The food was good too. 

 Check out the bathroom:

 Yes, Williams is awesome. We are fans.

Summer Plans

 I requested a summer to do list from each of the boys. There are some very interesting ideas.....

Zack's list:

On second thought, Zack wrote this list. Watering plants didn't make the cut while good manners somehow became important.

Ben's List:

 Noah's List

I never promised we'd do everything they wanted and I think it's pretty obvious what won't be happening (Australia). But I plan to make sure that we can check off a few things.

Welcome, Ricks'!

We wanted to tag along with the Ricks family when they went to Disneyland, but the kids were still in school and they actually do school work here during the last week. No last week field days in Nevada- it's hard core here. Noah had tests!

At least they stayed with us for a few days on their way back. With the exception of Macy, none of the kids have been to Vegas. We had to show them a good time. 

First up-the Paseos park.

Then we kicked it up a notch and went to the pool.  

Macy knows what to do (or at least what I do) at the pool.

Of course we had to check out a few family friendly places on the strip, like the M&M store:

And the Coke Tour of the World. Watching someone drink Beverly for the first time never gets old. Never. 

We even got some adult fun in too. While Matt & Scott saw Cake at the Cosmopolitan. Lacey & I saw the show Ka. Amazing. The show and the fact that we didn't get stuck with the kids while the boys went to a concert. 

End of the School Year Summary

Zack was the winner of his class field day flag design.  His class was assigned the fox for their mascot.

Ben received two awards for his efforts in third grade. He made straight A honor roll and was also awarded a "role model" student award. I am really proud of him because he had a bit of a rough go with school this year. He was assigned to a class, liked the teacher, made some friends and then was switched to a new class after a few weeks. I felt bad that he had to make so many adjustments. But he did fine and I am glad he was rewarded for being such a great kid. His teacher was constantly telling me how she wished she could have an entire class of Bens.

Noah was a teacher's assistant in guitar for the last semester. He is getting pretty good and developing his dad's love of guitar and love of strumming away while we are trying to do something else (like watching tv or talking on the phone).  Matt took him to the Hendrix Experience for his first ever concert. They had a great time.

 

Father & Sons Camp-out

I have three boys. Zero girls. It works for me. Having all boys should be especially fabulous because of the annual Father and Son's camp-outs. Up until this year, I have been ripped off. In our old ward it seemed like they were always being canceled or Matt couldn't get off work. One year all the boys got sick. It's been lame. 

This year, we were all determined to make it work. The weather was good, the boys were all healthy-no reason not to go.  I helped them gather sleeping bags, load up the tent and sent them on their way.

Our stake planned a service project for the morning of the camp out. I will admit that I knew my boys weren't going to be into stacking wood. So when they got  home just after 9:00, I was a little concerned. Did they sneak out after breakfast to avoid working? That could make church a little awkward! Then I noticed something else odd--they were too clean. No campfire smell either. Something was wrong.

Turns out that even though Matt left the house with every intention of driving to the mountains the lure of the Strip was too much for him. While the kids bought Slurpee's he made a reservation and....

well, they all had a good time.

 

 And I didn't have to wash stinky clothes. I just hope he hasn't set a precedent. Next year I may have to drive them to the campsite myself just to make sure.