Arizona

We took our annual road trip to Arizona on July 18th. The kids did really well in the car, despite the fact that we had to squish into the Pathfinder {thanks to shoddy work by Jiffy Lube on the Durango. We didn't have time to fix it, and thus took the smaller car}.

We had such a great time with Matt's family! The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, and we had fun relaxing, chatting and playing games.
Of course we did a TON of swimming, and with Matt's "one week a year" swimming lesson Lincoln learned to swim by himself. It was so funny to watch his little bum up in the air! He and cousin Ty became quite the little fish, and were swimming all over. Poor Jake couldn't join in the fun due to his big blue cast, and he was sad. Jackson wanted to be like the big boys and kept taking his floaties off. He had a few near drowning moments, and I can now see how a kid could drown in a pool full of people.



{sorry for the blurry video. faulty camera.}

We also watched a bunch of movies, most of which were not as good as I thought they would be {Mamma Mia, Knowing, Bride Wars} and a few that I really liked {Seven Pounds, Igor}.

After 5 days in Gilbert we headed to Snowflake for some cabin fun! Grandpa had 2 new ATV's and they were definitely the hit of the trip! The kids could not get enough of them, and neither could I! I don't know why, but driving around on those things is totally relaxing to me.

One of the favorite places to ride was the wash. We saw coyote dens, rabbits, and even a really cool looking snake that let us "play" with it for awhile!

We also discovered the water tower and the black mesa on this trip. It was such a great view up on the black mesa, and the lava rock was strangely pretty. It was a bumpy drive up there, and not that easy while holding on to Jackson with one arm and driving with the other! Kensie became quite the driver and drove all the way up without letting Alayna help {I'm sure Alayna was praying the whole way up!}.


We spent time looking for more arrowheads {which we never found} and pottery {which we did find}, hanging out around the campfire & roasting hot dogs, collecting rocks, watching movies, and eating yummy food {mmmmm, roast in the pit!}. Jackson was never without a bag of chips :)



We were totally spoiled, of course, and can't wait to go back!!