It all began with a long road trip on Thursday, June 26, 2014.
We snacked on fresh peas and Pringles while Kevin drove. Our sanity was saved by our newly installed in-headrest DVD players. It made the trip very quiet for the adults.
Relaxing in the hot tub in Henderson.
"Beth really needed a break from those brutal elementary school days!" --Aunt Eli
Enjoying the pool and waterfall that was way too cold for mom.
Giggling with Grandpa after breakfast.
Before resuming our drive on Friday we were lucky enough to visit with the Millingtons. They are transitioning from Henderson, Nevada to the Boise, Idaho area so this will be our last visit with them in Nevada. Hannah and Bennett were so cute with Beth and Andrew. Liz did Beth's hair. I wish I knew how. Jade was in Boise so we didn't get to see him on this trip.
Scenic overlook of the Colorado River.
Pure cuteness.
Aunt Eli, Jeffrey, and Baby Josephine got in so late on Friday night that we had to wait until the next morning to finally meet Baby Josephine. We all fell in love right away.
Saturday night's flashlight tour was a highlight of the trip. We saw many cool desert plants and animals. One of my favorite things about it was the absence of mosquitos unlike a night in Utah. The mating call of the Woodhouse toads did sound like screaming babies which was disturbing but catching bugs and spotting lizards was very fun.
Sunday involved a trip to see the new Phoenix temple and sacrament meeting at the church next to it. It's a beautiful building with cacti on the temple grounds.
Later that day we had a screening/sing-along of Frozen.
Mother and Daddy seeing Frozen for the first time. It was so cute to hear the kids sing along to the songs.
Mike surprised Kevin with Blue Bell ice cream. Kev hasn't had this since his mission when it was one of his favorite treats.
Monday, June 30th. Several people from our group headed off for a four wheel adventure in the desert. Back at the resort, we cheesed free donuts off the activity staff and ate them at the playground.
It got so hot that we decided to let the kids dip their feet in the pool. But, they couldn't resist getting their fully clothed selves completely wet.
Quiet time enjoying little Jo.
Andrew, "Mom, why don't we have a baby like Baby Josephine?"
Spotting our first scorpion in the wild on the way to make s'mores. The smaller they are they more dangerous they are. We left him alone.
Yummy s'mores at the fire pit.
Shaking off the stickiness.
Jake's hand for scale. Small enough to be dangerous.
Tuesday, July 1st started with a drive to see where Mike and Melanie live. I am going to be very tempted to spend my winters in their casita. I think trading the snow for the large desert bugs is fair.
Lunch at one of Mike's favorite Mexican restaurants--La Tolteca.
Tuesday afternoon we visited the Pop Culture Museum located at the Paradise Valley Mall.
One of my favorite figures. I'm always curious about the process that leads to the production of characters such as this.
Admiral Ackbar would have warned us that it was a tourist trap.
Thousands of action figures, new in box.
"Beam me up, Scotty."
This collector did not heed the words on the Kermit box that said "Play with it."
Checking out the wall of Matchbox and Hot Wheels.
The Lazy River at the JW Marriot resort across the street from our villas became a favorite spot for my family. It's so relaxing and warm. We also enjoyed the little water slide they had here.
Andrew is becoming quite the swimmer and is training himself to stay under water.
Elise and Jo catching some much needed rest.
Wednesday, July 2nd a blessing for Baby Josephine. She is very loved. Daddy blessed her to be happy and kind. He said that she would serve others without selfish motives. Beth loves anticipating what a new baby's talents will be.
Beth holding "The Great Calvini"
Trying to keep up on her summer reading.
Jo was enthralled with the story about Amelia Bedelia.
Beth wanted to hold her every chance she could. Beth's post-trip analysis "Jo was very fun, but she was very tired and squirmy."
Thursday, July 3rd Pretty sure we could have spent three times longer at the Arizona Science Center than we did.
Cycling to make the ball rise to show how hard you would have to cycle for an hour to burn the amount of calories in certain foods. They both made the ball rise but I didn't get pics of that.
Beth pulling herself up.
Andrew working on a ball maze.
Rolling large wheels.
Generating enough power to light up a light bulb.
BED OF NAILS!
Experimenting with musical string vibrations.
Science Pictionary.
(Answers: Sun Dog, Heart, Smoke)
Building homes for the earthquake table.
Catching shadow marbles.
Warping our family photo.
Water and balls outside.
A large ferris wheel made by a 9 year old out of K'Nex.
We definitely need to make a return trip to the Science Center.
The girls making Canyon Villa Signature Salsa on a very warm day.
For dinner on Thursday night, Dave and Ely made some delicious spring rolls filled with chopped vegetables and tofu.
The uncles.
"Mom, save me."
Preparing to say goodbye--my least favorite part.
Friday, July 4th was a frantic rush to get packed up and checked out.
Dave returning my sunglasses.
Some last minute doting on Jo.
And some last minute photos.
"Do you need a photographer?" This guy jogged over from his golf game to offer his services--so kind. Turns out he graduated from BYU.
COUSINS!
Attempting to get the kids to all look the same direction and smile.
Now, we just need Katie in this picture.
"I have binoculars!" --Andrew
Grandma and Grandpa Newman--the two who made the whole trip possible.
These two had a lot of fun together.
This melted my heart.
Look who we ran into in Flagstaff. It was 63 degree and raining. 50 degrees cooler than Phoenix. We needed hoodies.
Listening to a movie, playing the iPad, and eating pizza. I don't think he even knew he was in the car.
Stretching our legs at the Glen Canyon Dam visitors center.
Dinosaur footprints at the Glen Canyon Dam visitors center.
We made it to Panguitch in time to check into a hotel, eat dinner, and watch the fireworks. I love small town celebrations.
On the putting green at the hotel.
On the way back from the fireworks, Andrew broke this reflector off its pole in a pot of flowers at The Adobe Sands hotel. I went into to tell the owner and ask if we could pay to replace it. "Don't worry so much." the owner said in his accented English. That could be my mantra. He offered the kids candy and told Andrew he could keep the reflector.
Posing with the "old fashioned key" from our hotel.
Eli, we thought of you when we saw that Panguitch is 1,002 miles from Portland.
Our breakfast spot. We have eaten here a few times before during our other Panguitch stops.
The Gem Theater and Restaurant--fabulous, affordable food. The chef is taking a year off from being a training chef at The Cheesecake Factory. The soup, sandwiches, and homemade ice cream were superb. It has only been open for 9 weeks.
Our hotel, which was highly rated on Trip Advisor.
Mother making a new friend, the owner of the hotel.
Finishing our road trip, with a detour to the lakehouse.
We didn't want our vacation to end. We are already looking forward to the next time we can be together as an extended family. We made some great memories!
