We had a great trip to Arizona this year. We drove to Phoenix first and spent a week at Grammy Anne and Grandpa Fred's house, or the Desert House as it has come to be known. Most of the daytime was spent in the pool.
There was much nakedness among the babies (Trevor and cousin Lauren)
The kids enjoyed the pool house, and ping pong and fooseball were frequent activities.
Lance climbed Camelback Mountain for the first time with dad and Grammy Anne, as is tradition when the kids are five years old. He made it the whole way and showed us he'll be a great hiker.
Calling Mom from the summit to let her know he made it.
My favorite picture from the trip
The other part of the tradition is receiving a Beanie Baby Camel after the first summit of Camelback Mountain. Lance was very proud of his and carried it around the rest of the trip.
Rachel and cousin William on the piano
Grandpa Fred harvesting his watermelon crop
We took a trip to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, a brand new museum with instruments from around the world.
Lance and Russell took a turn on the big gong.
Next was a trip to the Phoenix zoo. We went EARLY to beat the heat - the zoo closes at 2 pm anyway as no one is crazy enough to brave the afternoon heat.
Feeding the stingrays
The kids all love the carousel
There is a brand new orangutan exhibit and the newest baby was having a ball performing for the kids.
Cold drinks to beat the heat
There was a Marvel Superhero exhibit at the Scottsdale Library. The kids dressed up in costumes and took turns in the Batmobile, which turned out to be one of those little coin operated car rides - but they had fun anyway.
Then it was on to Greer. One of the great things about Greer is taking the kids on all the adventures we went on at their age. Here we are at Benny Creek - a short hike I remember from many years ago.
Russell spent a great amount of time whacking on trees and rocks with his stick.
While we didn't tackle a huge puzzle this year the kids had fun doing the smaller ones. (again, many of the same puzzles we had as kids) Rachel became quite the puzzle builder.
Up near the spring
This is a picture taken right after the previous one, as the log they were sitting on crumbled and the kids fell crashing to the ground.
Hiking up the creek
The bridge picture
There were a few fishing trips to the pond, but patience doesn't last too long in the little ones. I think we caught at least one fish.
Lance got his casting down pat.
I took one afternoon and went on a mountain bike ride on the Los Burros trail near Pinetop.
The Miles came up for an afternoon and we spent most of the time on the red swing.(here with cousin Rhylan)
Russell and Nick
It was another fantastic Arizona trip. Each year the kids enjoy the cabins more and more and they're already asking when we're going back.
FUN!!!!!!
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