Summer Vacation 2009

Well our summer is almost over, the kids went back to school on Wednesday. Vivian is a 7th grader, Henderson a 3rd grader and Gabriel a 1st grader. We had a great summer and capped off the end of July with a camping trip to Northern Arizona. We camed on the Oak Creek in Page Spring AZ which is about 10 miles south of Sedona. We chose this place because of the proximity to Grand Canyon and Sedona , for day trips we had planned, but the campground itself was so fantastic I could have never left. The kids played in the creek any chance they could. The water was cool, and clean and very safe to play in. The kids did great camping and I was very proud of their "roughing it " attitude. They roasted weiners on the fire for dinner and didn't mind the bugs and skunks. Northern Arizona is NOTHING like the Arizona we think of when we imagine hotness and cacti. It is green and has lots of creeks and water. The temperatures were in the high 80's and very comfortable at night. I really liked it there and would return for a second visit anyday. The next few posts that follow are of our various day trips to Sedona, Slide Rock and The Grand Canyon. Enjoy and leave comments!!!

Camping Pictures continued

Our nightly visitor...never sprayed, but sniffed around the campsite all night every night.

The lovely Vivian

She''s growing up fast....but still is a very sweet girl who only rarely shows me a glimpse of the pre teen within.

Handsome Henderson

He is an assortment of photos of Henderson.....even though I think he is the most photogenic of the kids..latley its hard to get him to smile.

Goofy Gabriel

He is the biggest ham for the camera....I have no idea where he picked up the pose in the last two picture. It remindsme of those Captain Morgans commercials.

A day in Sedona

We took a full day to hike a few trails in Sedona. It is a really neat little city with lots of opportunities to get outside and be active. It had a very busy main street with shops and restaurants and lots and lots of galleries. But unfortunatley Iwasn't there to shop amd these galleries were FANCY. We had a great day just wandering around and taking in all the beautiful sights. The last picture is of a beautiful neighbor hood with some really interesting custom built houses.

More Sedona

Grand Canyon

So the whole reason we chose this trip this year was so that we could all go to the Grand CAnyon and I wanted the kids to be old enough to remember. The day we went was a great day to go. The sun was out then behind the clouds and then there would be a thunderstrom and then the sun would come out again. So the colors of the canyon were constantly changing. It was beautiful. We did about a 5 mile hike (roundtrip) above the rim...and I took a lot of these pictures. The rest were from the end of the day when the light was really tricky, but I really love the last one posted here. I think I may order a blow up of it and hope that is is good enought to frame and hang on the wall in the family room

Grand Canyon continues

More Grand Canyon