Sedona

Since we moved to Arizona we have wanted to go visit Sedona. We figured it has to be beautiful since all the calendars and screen savers of Arizona are shot in Sedona. We finally decided to be adventurous enough to go (and it was still nice and warm outside to allow for the fun stuff). Our first stop was Slide Rock state park, which is a little canyon where the creek has smoothed the rock over and formed a natural slide. IT was a lot of fun to go down the slides, but the water was COLD!!

Just getting our feet in for the first time. It took quite a bit of coaxing to get the children in the water since it is all snow run off from the mountains.

Hadley was the bravest and tried to go down some little slide portions. Neither girl really liked the sliding part since it was cold and they kept falling over from slipping on the rocks.

Miles was less sure of the water temperature. I got him to do a few slips down he shallow portion.

Allie liked to sit on the sides and see the water. She had the first big fall when we got in the water and after that was not so sure about the whole thing.

We had a lot of fun though.

The Canyon is all red rock and makes for pretty scenery around for the day.

The kids were kind of cute scenery too.

Especially when they get a long and play well together.

Rachel got a chance to go down the big rapid portion, and it was awesome.

She even convinced Miles to go down it with her (which is much more difficult since you have to hold him up through the deep parts).

A nice view looking up the canyon. We spend the whole afternoon there and only left once the storm clouds came in further up the canyon (we decided it would not be good to have a bunch of little kids in a canyon with extra rough water).

That night we found a portion of the same creek down in town. We wandered down behind some shops to look at the water and try to skip some stones.

Allie was trying to skip stones, but had no luck. So the next best option was to through really big rocks in the water to make a splash (Miles liked that idea better too).

After a long night int he hotel (where the kids kept jumping on beds and causing complete trouble instead of sleeping) we went hiking the next day. We did one hike up in the mountains close to town and did pretty good for having so many little legs.

At the halfway point we stopped to rest and have a snack (which was Hadley's favorite part of hiking).

Miles liked to play in rocks, dirt, leaves, or anything else he could finds along the way. 

It was a long, short hike.

After hiking we went to a lookout point in the middle of town to get a better glimpse of all the mountains.

Hadley found the one telescope that didn't need quarters and got some extra close up views.

Allie wanted to get and take pictures, so here is one of her (but none that she took of the mountains, sorry).

The whole family on the mountain top.

Miles found the fence and decided this was a good look for him.

Our last stop on the way out of town was the Church in the rock. It is a chapel built into the rock and looks out over the valley away from town.

It was good scenery, smooth hiking, slick swimming, and fun trip! After it was all done, we found out the girl's favorite part was the hotel (at least we tried)!

Don't go chasing waterfalls

I convinced everyone to go do something touristy for the day. So we went up the mountains to go visit a waterfall. It was beautiful scenery on the way up. We drove through part of the Alpine loop to get to the hiking spot (Cascade Falls). It was a little overcast and drizzly in the mountains which made for a cool day for hiking. When we got there, we had picnic lunch in the back of the car since the kids were too cold to eat outside.

They loved the alternate accommodations for lunch though.

We hiked the mile or so loop around a bunch of small cascading waterfalls. The kids wanted to get lots of pictures not he bridges. All the cray cousins got in this one together.

Miles wanted to punch the wagon instead of riding in it (which would have been the preferred method of hiking with him).

Allie loves her cousin Brooke and they were basically inseparable for the whole hike (either way out in front or way back behind).

The majority of the merry hikers are pictured here.

Miles loved leaning out over the waterfalls to see everything. I got to carry the awesome Minne Mouse hiking pack (since the girls no longer wanted to carry it).

At the top of the trail we got another picture of the group. 

Hadley and Kaylee got to hang out with each other and spend time exploring along the trail.

They are also becoming great little cousin friends.

The hike was fun, cold, and long (took a little longer than expected to get there, oops). That night the girls and their cousins all wore the same pajamas and had a party before bed. It has been great to spend time with our cousins. We had fun on our family adventure.

We are family!

For this vacation, we decided to not worry too much about doing things, but instead about being with people. So we did a lot of sitting around while our kids played with cousins (and as I now know, that makes everyone happier). Today we spent time at the park and in the canyon.

Miles found a new buddy at the park. 

Jordan would go around with him and help him on all the obstacles. It was awesome.

In the canyon we got a little bit wet (and naked).

Got real close with our cousins.

We explored the creek.

We got close to the wildlife (at least Aubrey got close enough for the whole group).

We played games.

We explored new places.

And we captured one grandpa.

Fourth part 1

This year we made the annual pilgrimage back to Orem, for a Shaw fourth of July. We (basically me) decided we needed some more fun stuff to do before the fireworks start at night time. So this year, we got a bounce house with a water slide! It was great fun and the kids enjoyed it for most of the morning. It was a good way to get out lots of anticipatory energy.

The kids mostly just liked the water slide portion. 

The bouncing was limited to preparing to go down the slide.

Our girls had so much fun with the bounce house, but more fun playing with their cousins.

They both had fun moments with the slide, but different reactions to the whole thing (Allie - more cautious, Hadley - a little tornado).

It was even better because we got to sit in the shade and relax instead!

Miles was a little unsure of the slide, but he really loved the popsicles afterward!

They also liked the tattoos they got to put all over themselves (watch out for our little firecracker).