May

In May we went on our First Big Family Vacation! I was really excited because we hadn't really been anywhere other than camping and family reunions (at least that's how I felt) We decided that since Heath's cousin would be coming home to Arizona from his mission that we would make Arizona our destination.
We left on a Thursday afternoon and drove to Page Az. We made it all the way to Kanab before we had to stop, and Hailee refused to get out of the car. So we made another two stops shortly thereafter. One on the side of the road, with no luck and another a short distance later where there happened to be a port-a-potty :)
We had hoped to go swimmming but it was an outdoor pool and a bit too chilly. Instead we met Grandma Great Allred, Karol, Kathy and Kylie and saw the Glenn Canyon Dam, and then went to Denny's for dinner. (That place always looks more appetizing than it ends up being!)
*tip* if you click on these picture pages they should enlarge for easier viewing.


The next morning we headed out to the Grand Canyon! I had never been and was really looking forward to it. We drove and drove and drove and finally made it to our first stop, The Watchtower. We went all the way to the top and came out on a landing to overlook the Grand Canyon and heard Hailee say, "Okay, can we go now?" It was also very cold at the GC and since I packed for Arizona weather I didn't think to bring jackets. At lunch we had a picnic and layered the kids in clothes to keep as warm as possible. Then we hiked a little ways down the rim with Hailee on Heath's shoulders, Alyssa falling asleep in the pack on his chest and Spencer falling asleep in my arms. We didn't go too far before deciding we'd be better off to call it a trip!

We made it to Scottsdale on Friday afternoon and went swimming and had dinner and watched TV (by the end of our summer travels we found that our kids loved the pool and TV more than anything else we had planned-go figure!)
Saturday morning Grandma and Grandpa Hall and Nathan met us and we headed to the Phoenix Zoo. It was a really big, neat zoo. The animal enclosures were much bigger than Hogle Zoo and they had more things to see, so it was fun to go to a different zoo. However not far into that trip Hailee was asking to go back to the pool. That afternoon we went swimming, ate dinner, then headed to Uncle Ted's house for a homecoming party for Alex.

Sunday was the homecoming talk, we stayed and had lunch and visited for awhile then headed back to Page for the night. On Monday we drove through Cedar City so I could stop and see my friend Sara. On the way home from Cedar the kids slept for about 2 1/2 hours-the longest length of time they slept in the car during the entire trip!
It was a really fun vacation and I am glad that we went (in May on a cool week for Arizona!).


We finished off the month by going to Grandma Hall's Fancy Hat Tea Party! Grandma worked so hard to make fancy tea party foods. We all dressed up and wore fancy hats (maybe not for long, but we did have them at some point!) We fed the kids and got our own food and all enjoyed some wonderful food and wonderful weather. We spent the night at Grandma's and had a fun time! I think this is a new tradition and I am looking forward to next year.