On our recent trip to Arizona, we managed to pack in a whole lot of activities, sightseeing, family and fun!
The Grand Canyon
Our first full day in Arizona, we left Phoenix and drove up to the Grand Canyon. We didn’t get to stay too long, but we got to stay long enough to show the kids the ‘great big hole in the ground.’ (That is what we used to call it when I was a kid. Growing up in Arizona and having relatives from all over the U.S., that was a place everyone wanted to visit. I have seen it more times than I can count. In fact, I shocked my parents by saying I wanted to go on this trip since I used to complain loudly about having to go to the ‘big hole in the ground.’) It was fun to show the kids this wonder of the world and see their reactions. Neither of them realized it was as big as it truly is.
In case you haven’t been to the Grand Canyon, I have plenty of pictures for you. Above, you can see our family at the canyon – which I don’t remember it having that railing when I was a kid. I was so nervous about my 2 kiddos and the huge canyon drops, but thankfully they have added lots of railing! Yay! No heart attack for Mommy today! 🙂 Although as you will see below, we did find many sections without railings.
Also, above, Pumpkin found a crevice in which she could fit both feet.
The kids had fun hopping from rock to rock on the path as we walked along the rim of the canyon. You can see Mr. T at the edge, contemplating the deeper things in life and looking like an 80’s stud with his collar up. 😉 In case you are counting, I didn’t pick up some stray children at the canyon. We meet up with my cousin and her 2 cuties. We also meet up with my Aunt, Uncle, another cousin and her partner. It was so fun seeing so many family members we haven’t seen in years….Oh and the beautiful canyon..wink…wink!
Thanks to my cousin, we actually got two pictures of all four of us at the canyon. This time we were ‘daring’ and went near an edge with no railing.
Love this final picture. The rays of the sun you can just barely see and the clouds as well as their shadows on the canyon. It really is a beautiful and amazing sight. If you have never been, I do highly recommend it.
Exiting the canyon, we saw a whole bunch of cars pulled off to the side of the road. People were out of their cars looking at the herd of elk. We of course joined in as it is not a sight we’ve seen very often. The elk are all over the canyon rim. My cousin even had one sitting in her campsite.
Walnut Canyon
That night we drove to Flagstaff and stayed at my brother’s house. He was actually river rafting the Colorado River (the river that runs through the Grand Canyon). We picked up his two girls and took them with us to Walnut Canyon and on to Phoenix, the rehearsal and wedding(An Arizona Wedding).
Walnut Canyon is just 15 minutes (maybe not even that much) outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. It is a fantastic place to see Indian Cliff Dwellings. We had studied Native American history and culture earlier this year, so it was a great way to see some southwest style Indian homes in real life rather than on our internet field trip. I like Walnut Canyon because they allow you to walk right up to and even in some of the cliff dwellings. There are other sites in the area that only let you look from afar. While they may be impressive, my kids (and my brother’s kids) prefer to be interactive with things.
I will say that Walnut Canyon is not for those who don’t like or can’t walk stairs. There are 240 steps down (and back up) to get to the loop trail and walk through the cliff dwellings.
By the way, can you see the cliff dwellings in the picture both above and below? When they were in use, water used to flow through the canyon. Do you know whose job it was to go down the cliffs to get water? The women and the children!! I don’t know how they kept their children alive while living in the cliff dwellings and sending them off to get water and such. They really are CLIFF DWELLINGS there were no stairs or paved paths!
It was soooo windy and chilly the day we were there.
I LOVED spending the day with my sweet girls and my sweet nieces! It was so fun to get to know them better (since we live cross country from each other and have only gotten to see them three times in the last 7 years.) We had a fantastic time with all four of them at Walnut Canyon!
The girls in a cliff dwelling…can you see how windy it was?
A beautiful flower we saw on the loop trail.
On our way up the 240 steps, I tried something to keep the kids from complaining about all those steps. IT WORKED! I didn’t think for a minute that it would, so I thought I would share it with you in case your children would be temporarily occupied and distracted. At that time, we didn’t know how many steps there were. I asked them how many they thought there were and then told them to count the steps. They worked together to count the steps. Their final count was only off by 4 steps! They didn’t complain even once about all those steps! Ohh La La! I felt like supermom! or one of those homeschool mom’s I am sometimes around with her brood of children who all seem to follow along and do just what she asks them to do….what a moment! It was only a moment…no worries I am no longer supermom..haha! I will remember my supermom moment for years to come. 😀
All four girls finished the Junior Ranger book out on our loop trail walk. It does take time to complete the book. We just broke it up into pieces as we walked the loop. We have done Jr. Ranger programs before. Usually, the Park Ranger takes about 5 minutes to look through their book and maybe ask a question or two or tell them a fact or two. Then they swear them in as a Junior Ranger. Apparently, the Ranger at Walnut Canyon takes things very seriously. He went over every page and quizzed the girls. He taught them more about the canyon and the people. All in all, he spent about 20 minutes with the kids before swearing them in as Jr. Rangers and giving them their badges.
It was neat and again the kids didn’t complain(nor did they even look bored), but I kept looking at my watch because I knew we had a time frame to get to the rehearsal dinner. Thank goodness they moved the rehearsal back an hour from when we thought it was or we would have been late. (You can read about our Arizona Wedding here.)
If you are traveling to Arizona or even if you live there and you haven’t visited either of these sites, I highly recommend them. They are both very pretty and there are tons to learn at both sites. Just leave extra time for completing the Junior Ranger badge at Walnut Canyon. (We didn’t have enough time to complete the program at the Grand Canyon, so I can’t comment on that one.)
I will be back with one more photo filled post from our trip to Arizona as well as one related post about making Mashed Potato Doughnuts. See you then!
Read other posts about our trip to Arizona:
@Shiloh It sure was! I hope you make it to the Grand Canyon someday.
bjamarrsfam Thanks so much!
Meredith Hilton Yes, I am sure if you have taken many trips to the Canyon you have very similar pictures. I have many such similar pictures over my lifetime. Now I guess I can start the same for my kids! Have a great weekend!
Kristine Toone We loved seeing the Canyon with you all as well!
What a great trip! I don’t care for travelling, but I really want to see the Grand Canyon sometime.:)
I am probably more like your visitors. I went to the Grand Canyon once and thought it was wonderful. Thank you for your kind comments on my blog and well wishes for my daughter. If you are interested, I have a blog hop called I Saw it on Vacation. It would be great if you would link-up.
https://highhillhomeschool.blogspot.de/p/i-saw-it-on-vacation-blog-hop.html
Wow!! Great pics 🙂 The Grand Canyon is on my bucket list. New follower too 🙂
What a Fun Fun Trip! WOW great photos and your family is adorable! So happy to have found your cute blog!!
We’ve taken so many trips out to where you’ve visited and your photos look so similar to ours! I love those hikes! Glad you enjoyed it!
@Carol Thanks Mom!
Mar We did have a great time! I hope you get to visit the Grand Canyon…it is beautiful!
What a great write up and photos of your trip. Loved reading and viewing the great pictures. What a beautiful family.
Those pictures are amazing! It looks like your whole, lovely, family had a great time. The Grand Canyon is a place to visit on my life bucket list. New follower! I hope you’ll stop by my blog when you get a second. http://www.raisingbean.com
Great pictures!! The Junior Ranger program at the Grand Canyon was great! It was a bit more in depth, and definitely took us more than a few minutes, but well worth it. Loved seeing the Grand Canyon with y’all!