Vacation time!

About five moths ago, we got a call from Adam's sister Heather. She asked us if we would be willing to rent out our home for her in-law's family reunion. Her sister-in-law had been trying for months to find a cabin or home on Northern AZ that could accommodate their large family for a few days, but wasn't having much luck finding anything within their budget. They made us a very generous offer and since we knew the family that would be staying, we were happy to oblige.

We had a lot of ideas of where we could stay while they were here,  but in the end, we decided on a trip to the Grand Canyon!  With the money we were given for our home, we were able to not only stay in a nice hotel in Flagstaff for a couple of days, but we were able to do so many fun things!

We started with a trip to Williams where we picked up Sarah who had been visiting her cousin for a week in Bagdad, AZ. 

We met up with the Hulses at Bearizona and had a wonderful time! It was so neat to see so many animal up close. Of course, everyone's favorite animals were the Bears! 

Well, everyone except my nephew Daniel who had a strange fascination with the beaver! Haha! (You had to be there...)

Sorry about the blurry Picture. We weren't allowed to roll down our windows so we  had to take pictures through the Windows. We couldn't  believe how big this Guy was!

After we drove through the park nad saw the big animals we walked around and viewed some of the smaller animals!

These little guys were so cute! I guess my Trio weren't the only triplets at the zoo!

"THE BEAVA IS IN THE WATA!!!"

   

From Williams we headed back to Flagstaff and went to the Lowell Observatory. While there,  we were able to look thru some gigantic telescopes and see the moon, Saturn and a cluster of stars that we can't remember the name of! It was so neat! Seeing Saturn, was definitely the highlight of the night.

The following morning, (Friday) we were off to the Grand Canyon! We spent the entire day there. We went on a nice hike, had a picnic, and enjoyed the beautiful views.

This was a tunnel that was carved in the side of  a cliff  on a really neat hiking trail. The trail goes all the way down to the bottom of the canyon, but we just hiked for a couple miles. 

On Saturday morning we went to a place called the Lava Tubes in Flagstaff. It was a cool cave (literally, it was like 40 degrees in there!) I don't usually enjoy caves that much because I am a bit clostraphobic,  but this one was pretty spacious. It was almost a mile long and  most of the time ceiling was about 20 feet tall and the tunnel walls were pretty wide. The kids LOVED IT!! We recommend taking your family when you get a chance. It's free!! 

Getting through the entrance is the trickiest part of the cave. After that , it's a fairly easy hike inside.

After going to the cave, we took the kids to snow bowl to ride the scenic ski lift! It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect!  

Going Up!

Going Down!

The view from the top! Breathtaking!

When we arrived home on Saturday evening, our home was spotless. The Anderson family took great care of the place and from what we hear, they all had a great time! 

It was a win-win situation! We had an awesome family vacation, and they had a fun family reunion!  Things worked out so great, that Adam suggested that I advertise our home as a "cabin for rent"! Haha! Hey, if we could get another free vacation out of the deal it's pretty tempting... But, I love my home too much to let just anyone stay here.  Though, the Anderson's are welcome back anytime!