Arizona!
April 2-7, Eli, Silas, and their pregnant mom took a trip to Arizona to visit Grandpa and Grandma Van Guilder who were there on spring break. We had a great trip and saw some beautiful sights, such as the red rocks of Sedona and the Grand Canyon.
The boys had a lot of fun throwing rocks in Oak Creek behind my parents' timeshare condo in Sedona. It is a beautiful area.
Grandpa Dennis is showing Eli how to putt in mini golf.
And it paid off! Eli got a par 2 on hole 2!
After the first few holes, Silas decided it was just plain easier to walk up to the hole and toss the ball in!
My mom (a.k.a. Grandma Dianne) and I went for a short hike through the desert-terrain of Sedona. We saw lots of different species of trees and bushes and cacti, as well as two coyotes running through the brush, and thankfully no rattlesnakes!
My dad and I hiked up a little hill to get to this picturesque spot.
In Sedona, there is a church built into the rocks for people to come visit and pray in. Here is Grandpa praying out loud with his grandsons. Grandpa would pray a line, and the boys would repeat after him. It was too precious (insert weepy-eyed pregnant mommy here)!
Sedona has quite the art culture, so we walked through an outdoor gallery. Silas loves eagles so we stopped by this sculpture. I have entitled this, "The Offering."
Grandpa and Eli looking at the red rocks from our balcony.
We thought it would be fun to go out to eat at the Red Planet Diner, which did have a pretty cool Mars and outer space theme going for it. Unfortunately, it didn't have its food or its prices going for it (6 bucks and some change for a kid's grilled cheese and five french fries?!? I'm talking cheap white bread and one slice of cheese...you've got to be kidding me!!! I mean, what kind of profit margin is that?!? ...Okay, I'm over it now.)
Every day we went swimming! Silas had a lot of fun splashing, and both boys loved jumping into the water and having one of the adults catch them!
The boys absolutely loved going under the "waterfall" that came spouting out of a mushroom-shaped fountain in the kiddie pool. Here are Eli and Grandma coming out of the spray. I think I went in and out of the waterfall with Silas about 30 times!
After spending a couple of days in Sedona, we drove up north to see the Grand Canyon! We got there just as the sun was setting and it was getting really cold. The Grand Canyon really is "grand!" It is so huge, it is difficult to capture its magnificence and beauty on camera. At this point in the canyon, the average distance from one side to the other is 10 miles. Here is Silas looking out at the canyon and saying, "AriZOna!"
The Grand Canyon at sunset.
The next day we spent touring the Grand Canyon, and we were lucky to see a California Condor! This bird is considered one of the rarest bird species in the world and is critically endangered as there are only 297 known condors to be living, with only about 50 of them inhabiting Northern Arizona (the rest live in regions of California). They also have the largest wingspan of any North American bird at an average of 9 feet! The bird circled above us (it is in the vulture family...it must have noticed my dad's shiny bald head) and then flew away. I quickly snapped a photo of it, and then had to significantly zoom in and crop the photo in order to post it on the blog.
Enjoying the view!
Eli is exploring the canyon using Grandpa's binoculars. He wasn't in the mood to pose for any pictures.
This is so I can show our baby that he or she was at the Grand Canyon when they were the size of an avocado. (Looks like I should've worn my sunglasses in this picture).
That muddy brown stream way down below is the Colorado River, which starts in Rocky Mountain National Park, not very far from where we live now, and runs all the way down to Mexico for a total of 1450 miles, 217 of which are through the Grand Canyon.
Our last day in Arizona, we drove down to Phoenix and stayed in a hotel in order to be close to the airport the next morning. Here is my dad trying to catch some last rays before going back to Michigan. We had such a fun time! Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!
April 2-7, Eli, Silas, and their pregnant mom took a trip to Arizona to visit Grandpa and Grandma Van Guilder who were there on spring break. We had a great trip and saw some beautiful sights, such as the red rocks of Sedona and the Grand Canyon.
The boys had a lot of fun throwing rocks in Oak Creek behind my parents' timeshare condo in Sedona. It is a beautiful area.
Grandpa Dennis is showing Eli how to putt in mini golf.
And it paid off! Eli got a par 2 on hole 2!
After the first few holes, Silas decided it was just plain easier to walk up to the hole and toss the ball in!
My mom (a.k.a. Grandma Dianne) and I went for a short hike through the desert-terrain of Sedona. We saw lots of different species of trees and bushes and cacti, as well as two coyotes running through the brush, and thankfully no rattlesnakes!
My dad and I hiked up a little hill to get to this picturesque spot.
In Sedona, there is a church built into the rocks for people to come visit and pray in. Here is Grandpa praying out loud with his grandsons. Grandpa would pray a line, and the boys would repeat after him. It was too precious (insert weepy-eyed pregnant mommy here)!
Sedona has quite the art culture, so we walked through an outdoor gallery. Silas loves eagles so we stopped by this sculpture. I have entitled this, "The Offering."
Grandpa and Eli looking at the red rocks from our balcony.
We thought it would be fun to go out to eat at the Red Planet Diner, which did have a pretty cool Mars and outer space theme going for it. Unfortunately, it didn't have its food or its prices going for it (6 bucks and some change for a kid's grilled cheese and five french fries?!? I'm talking cheap white bread and one slice of cheese...you've got to be kidding me!!! I mean, what kind of profit margin is that?!? ...Okay, I'm over it now.)
Every day we went swimming! Silas had a lot of fun splashing, and both boys loved jumping into the water and having one of the adults catch them!
The boys absolutely loved going under the "waterfall" that came spouting out of a mushroom-shaped fountain in the kiddie pool. Here are Eli and Grandma coming out of the spray. I think I went in and out of the waterfall with Silas about 30 times!
After spending a couple of days in Sedona, we drove up north to see the Grand Canyon! We got there just as the sun was setting and it was getting really cold. The Grand Canyon really is "grand!" It is so huge, it is difficult to capture its magnificence and beauty on camera. At this point in the canyon, the average distance from one side to the other is 10 miles. Here is Silas looking out at the canyon and saying, "AriZOna!"
The Grand Canyon at sunset.
The next day we spent touring the Grand Canyon, and we were lucky to see a California Condor! This bird is considered one of the rarest bird species in the world and is critically endangered as there are only 297 known condors to be living, with only about 50 of them inhabiting Northern Arizona (the rest live in regions of California). They also have the largest wingspan of any North American bird at an average of 9 feet! The bird circled above us (it is in the vulture family...it must have noticed my dad's shiny bald head) and then flew away. I quickly snapped a photo of it, and then had to significantly zoom in and crop the photo in order to post it on the blog.
Enjoying the view!
Eli is exploring the canyon using Grandpa's binoculars. He wasn't in the mood to pose for any pictures.
This is so I can show our baby that he or she was at the Grand Canyon when they were the size of an avocado. (Looks like I should've worn my sunglasses in this picture).
That muddy brown stream way down below is the Colorado River, which starts in Rocky Mountain National Park, not very far from where we live now, and runs all the way down to Mexico for a total of 1450 miles, 217 of which are through the Grand Canyon.
Our last day in Arizona, we drove down to Phoenix and stayed in a hotel in order to be close to the airport the next morning. Here is my dad trying to catch some last rays before going back to Michigan. We had such a fun time! Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!
6 comments:
Loved the pics - your camera is great. Hi to my sweeties,
LOve, gr. Dianne
The pictures were beautiful. I can only imagine how beautiful it really was... a camera just can't capture God's creation! Sounds like a great time. I wish I was there... as I look out my window at the rain!
What a fun trip! It looks like my little niece or nephew is growing! And I remember when Eli wore that cute green and plaid outfit...Silas sure is growing!
Hi Amy! I remember Eli wearing that little outfit, too! What great pictures! I sure miss those boys! Too bad it didn't work out for us to come and see your family, but it looks like you had a great time with your parents. I'm glad you could have a few days away to see some of that area of our beautiful country. The scenery is just amazing!
Love, Sandy
looks like you guys had fun! don't you love that they compare baby sizes to fruits and veggies?? i remember getting an e-mail that abigail was the size of a kumquat. i don't even know what that looks like...
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I love the photo of the boys and Uncle Dennis at the church in Sedona. You look amazing Amy. Love you all.
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