Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A Grand Adventure

Pin It Now! Columbus Day has never been a homeschool holiday for us, but since Daddy gets that day and all those other government holidays off, he surprised us with a quick little trip up North.

After church, we drove to Flagstaff and stayed the night. You would've thought we'd spotted gold by the way we all ooohed and ahhed over the aspens dotting the roadside woods and far-off mountains. Rocks, cacti, dirt, and HOT-as-you-know-what temps do tend to wear on the soul after a while. Cool, tingly temperatures, the musky scent of pine, and vibrant fall colors were the perfect ingredients to awaken the senses of this desert weary girl!

We stopped and stretched our legs by the neatest looking chapel. If not for the paved road and cars whizzing by, I might have thought I'd stepped back in time. I imagined myself sitting inside wearing some kind of vintage dress, worn Bible upon my lap, and a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside upon my return. Anyway . . .

 
 
My favorite thing about this chapel was the door. Love it. :)
 

 And what do we modern-day folks do when we like something? We pose by what it is we like and take a billion pictures!
 
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Shiloh couldn't wait to collect pine cones, something we can't really do in the dust bowl.
 

 
And, yes, if there is a tree, Lincoln WILL climb it. I've been waiting for the day he falls and breaks something. Thankfully, I am still waiting. ;) I hate to admit it, but when I was much younger, I loved climbing trees, too, only I'd go one step further and hang upside down. Don't tell Lincoln, though.
 
After a fun night of going to dinner at Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, then to Starbucks for fun drinks, and getting a little bit of sleep, we were ready for The Grand Canyon! (The best part of going to Flagstaff was getting to comfortably wear a sweater and a pair of boots in October - yeehaw!)

 
This was my second time to see The Grand Canyon. It was Mullin's and Shiloh's first time to see it. As expected, the 7 yr. old wasn't all that impressed - said it just looked like any other mountain. Oh well, I enjoyed seeing this amazing raw beauty up close again. (I didn't enjoy the agonizing shin splints I suffered the next few days. Too much walking on an incline, I guess? Seriously, I couldn't walk, I had to shuffle.)
 
 
 

 
Totally off the subject, but I just think it's so neat that all 3 of my kids have different hair colors. And at least for now, all natural. :)
 

And, yes, I saved the best for last. The picture below was taken in May of 1996. I was a mere 20 years old. Ahh, so young! It was my first time to ever see the Grand Canyon. Mark's, too, I suppose. We were visiting my mom and sister. Little did I know that Mark would propose 6 months later and we'd be wed that very next May.
 
I never thought I'd actually live in Arizona again, but here we are 16 years later taking our 3 kids.
 
Life. Goes. By. So. Fast.


 
 


 

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