On our way to paradise: Day 1

Don't laugh, but we went our first "vacation" this past June. Now, don't get me wrong, we really do go places with our kids and have fun, but they usually involve mountains and four-wheelers and occasionally a trip northward. When Cameron came home from work and told me he'd been invited to go to Mexico with some guys from work I really thought he was going to say no. I was in complete shock when he was the one being gung-ho about it. Who would have thunk it. So away we went. We spent several months getting everything ready and, despite our flooding adventure, made it out the door on Friday June 10th.

We took the scenic route down 89 and up over the Kaibab and then over Marble Canyon. The kids were troopers. Especially when traffic slowed to a measly 35 mph in construction and there was no place to eat until Flagstaff. :( Instead of a tiny 9 inch DVD system where only two kids could see it, we purchased a 19 inch flat screen, made a stand to go in between the front seats and hooked it up to a DVD player and power converter and our kids rode in style.

First picture out. Notice James and Emma strategically placed where they couldn't touch anyone and Hannah in the back to take care of the baby.

Picture on Marble Canyon Bridge overlooking the Colorado River. This is where Emma decides she has to go potty and there isn't one on this side of the Canyon, so we have to turn around and go over the bridge to find one.

We went on to Phoenix for the night so it wasn't the whole 13 hours in one shot. We were a little annoyed at the La Quinta because they ended up not having a crib for Alice so we got stuck in a King room with the 3 kids on the pull out sleeping sideways so they fit and Alice in bed with us. She had a fever for the first few days, so it was a ruff night.