Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Grand Canyon

New Fish was totally in love with our friend M&A's little baby C.  We've decided on an arranged marriage.  ;)  She was constantly hugging him and kissing him and calling after him.  The whole way home yesterday, she kept saying: "Miss baby C." 


 Sorry- these pictures are out of order but it's the best I could do. Thursday night we left for the Grand Canyon.  We stayed there until Sunday lunchtime and then drove to Zion Canyon and spent a couple of days there, returning last night.  It was a good trip and we mostly had a nice time and got to spend some good quality time together.

We stayed the night in a motel in Kanab, UT.  My brother and his wife slept on the floor of our room.  Red Fish slept pretty well but New Fish didn't.  New Fish has this ability to scream endlessly at an ultrasonic pitch, louder than any child I have ever met.  I don't think people quite believe how loud it is until they experience her at her most uncontrollable.  There is no comforting her and no quieting her down.  You pretty much just have to ride it out until she stops.  Unfortunately there was a lot of screaming (sometimes during the night) on this trip.  Thursday night, we stayed in a motel and my brother and his wife slept on the floor.  New Fish did her best to wake the whole building.  However, she did much much better on the drive this year.  She didn't cry at all.  So that was much more pleasant than our road trips last year. 

We got up on Friday and finished driving to the North Rim camp ground.  We had a group site so we could all set our tents up together.  After we set up camp and had a picnic we went to the Grand Cnayon Lodge and walked out to Bright Angel Point for an awesome view of Bright Angel Canyon, and the Deva Brahma and Zoroaster Temples.  We also walked down the The Transept Trail and took a look at Roaring Springs Canyon and the canyon rim.  The girls did great.  We took Red Fish's ski harness with us so we could keep a hold of her since there are some very steep dropoffs and our little girl isn't afraid of heights (or much else.)

We had the perfect group to go with.  Everybody was really fun to be with. We spent some time hanging out at our campground and we had an awesome dutch oven dinner and roasted marshmallows over the fire.  It was classic mountain camping.  I was really surprised by how forested everything was.  I think I must have had a really strange picture of what the Grand Canyon was going to be like.  I expected it to be much hotter and deserted.  It was nice and cool and covered in trees.

Unfortunately, Red Fish and New Fish didn't sleep well in the tent at all.  We were up all night, both nights in the tent.  New Fish did her ultrasonic scream multiple times and woke the whole campground, which completely stressed me out.  They were pretty happy during the day and behaved really well though, especially considering they were running on next to no sleep.  I had to give myself a pep talk several times that "family vacations are important, we are building traditions that will bond our family together forever blah blah blah."  We did have a really good time but there were several moments that I was frustrated enough to contemplate how hard it would be to pack up and run home.  Traveling with little kids is hard work!

On Saturday morning, the first thing I saw when I woke up was New Fish's grinning face right above mine.  She grinned at me and said: "Mom?  Need hug?"  Kids know when their mommies need some love.
Dirty baby- you can tell where her shirt tucked into her pants.
 Little Miss New Fish was also completely in love with the dirt. It took a close second to baby C. She was so filthy.  She kept just rolling around in the dirt and sprinkling it on herself.  I don't think she has ever been so dirty.  It was hilarious.
The whole group.  Two Fish's brother W, his wife A and four kids came with us.  Two Fish's brother M drove up from Southern AZ with his daughter M, Two Fish's mom came, our friends M&A, and my brother "Doo" and his wife "M.E."  We had such a big group and everybody was all over the place so I didn't get nearly enough pictures of everyone.
 On Friday, we drove up Cape Royal road and stopped at Point Imperial (the highest viewpoint on either rim) and Vista Encantada for a view of the Brady and Tritle peaks. We walked out to Angels Window viewpoint, which I thought was especially beautiful. 
The top of the world

Cute little cousins: New Fish, Cousin R, and Red Fish sitting around the campfire.


My first experience with one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  In case you can't think of the others (because I couldn't) they are: Great Barrier Reef, Rio de Janeiro, Mount Everest, Aurora, Paricutin Volcano and Victoria Falls.


Two Fish with his Mom and Red Fish

The four of us

New Fish with my brother's walking stick.

Red Fish just loved wandering around the campground and the woods.  She is a definite outdoors girl.
 I think the girls had more fun just hanging around the campground playing than they did anyplace else.
Hide and Seek

 The girls had such a great time playing with their cousins, aunts and uncles.  There was plenty of hide and seek running around.
Sleepy little hikers
 I was surprised by how much Red Fish wanted to be carried this trip.  Last year, when we wanted her in the backpack, she didn't want to be in.  This year she loved it!

Divas
Uncle M

Cute Little Cousins

Thanks family and friends for going with us!  We love you guys!

2 comments:

The Clem Family said...

Again, great pics! And, a camp trip would not be complete w/out totally filthy kids! ;)

Linnea said...

We still wish we could have come with you guys--it looks like you all had a great time!

Believe it or not but New Fish is just like my oldest--supersonic scream and all. She had to cry herself to sleep for many months--there was nothing we could do for her. But I think she's turning out OK!! We hit a sweet spot with her when she turned 4 or so and have never really looked back.

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