During my parents' visit in March, after Lennon's birthday, we all took a road trip down to Phoenix for a Martz family reunion. We looked into renting a minivan so that we could all go in one car, but after seeing how expensive it was we decided on caravaning with our own cars. However, our Saturn is old and small so Adam's parents graciously let us use their Impala.
We left the house at 4am and set off on our 12 hour drive. Lennon was so excited to get up in the middle of the night that he remained awake when we transferred him to the car. I have no idea how he was able to stay awake when it was pitch black out...in fact, he didn't fall asleep until about 2 in the afternoon!!
Here we are after a lunch break at a rest stop--it was super windy and cold, so I don't feel like we were able to enjoy being out the car as much as we wanted. Overall, the kids did great--there were times when they were switching activities every 5 minutes, and reaching back to help them was getting old, but we were very impressed at how they did.
The first day we were there we all ventured to the Children's Museum. It was awesome! Denver's Children's Museum isn't nearly as cool, otherwise we would be there all the time. Both kids took awhile to warm up and stop being cranky. As you can see in this picture, they both look thrilled to be there!
But they warmed up and had a blast...
Grandpa and Tesla taking care of the babydoll:
Fountain fun:
That night we went to the Organ Stop Pizza and had so much fun....well, after Lennon got ear plugs. It's this awesome place where a guy takes requests and puts on an amazing show on the organ, topped off with lights, puppets, and bubbles.
However, it was much too loud for Lennon and he was freaking out. Thankfully there was a Walgreens next door and I ran with Lennon to buy some ear plugs. It was like magic--he went from being the crankiest kid to the happiest kid, dancing along with the music (why have we not tried ear plugs before?!!) The ear plugs have no become a diaper bag staple.
The next night we went to a yummy BBQ place, and boy was Tesla hammin' it up! She connects with teenage girls, so we knew she would have fun with Lara. I wish we would've been able to spend more time with them, because I know they would've had a ton of fun together.
Tesla is hilarious sometimes--I see some class clown in her!
The Fam!
Outside the train on our way to the Grand Canyon:
At this point in time, the kids were getting a tad sick of riding. It was about a 2.5 hour drive to catch the train, which was another 2 hours to the Grand Canyon.
It was cold up there--I pride myself in being a good packer, but I had a major fail when packing for this trip. Adam and Lennon had warmer jackets, and Tesla had good layers, but all I had was a sweater, a thin sweater. Thankfully we did a bus tour when were got there, so we (I) could warm up on the bus in between sites.
It was pretty incredible seeing the Grand Canyon--but it was also hard to take everything in, the vastness of it all.
Goofing off on the bus...
...and after lunch!
Adam's new boss was amazing about this trip--he worked three days and then she let him take off the next 5 days of work. It was really the first vacation-y thing that we've ever done as a family and we really enjoyed it.
On the train ride back to Williams, there was an "armed train robbery," which was their fun way of getting tips...
...However, Lennon didn't love the experience!
With Aunt Patty:
Cuddling with Grandma at dinner the night before our long trip home. The ride home was a bit harder and whinier, as we expected--we were all tired and ready to be out of the car!
Goodbye kisses for Grandpa and Grandma:
It always makes it easier to say goodbye, knowing they'll be out again in about 2.5 months for Tesla's birthday!
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