Flagstaff

The day after Steve's STEP 2 board test we loaded up the kids and headed for the Greensboro airport to endure the 7 hour trip (about 5 hours of flying and 2 hours of being in airports) to Flagstaff for a little meetup vacation with my parents. That flight has now become the-flight-we-don't-speak-of (suffice it to say, we were "that family" with the screaming kid) but the rest of the vacation made up for it in spades.

We met up with my parents the following day (after a trip to the Nordstrom's super outlet, Last Chance, where I scored 3 pairs of $60+ shoes for $12.50 each, and where Steve literally said, "This is like something out of Dante's Inferno" which, if you haven't read it or at least seen the illustrations, is a bad thing--he doesn't like massive groups of crazily shopping women...).

Gracie was SO excited to see Grandpa and Tutu, and when we told her we would be staying in the same hotel as them... well. She about died with excitement. We checked into our rooms and the kids scurried back and forth across the hall to check out our suite (really, really LOVE staying in a suite--better sleep for everyone!) and Grandpa and Tutu's room.

Thursday morning we packed up the minivan (we rented the best minivan... I can't even tell you. But I will probably tell you in a minute.) and headed out for the Grand Canyon! Steve and I have both been before, but never together, so it was fun to be there as a family. Though Gracie struck some awesome poses...

...she was mostly at a loss for as to why all the grown-ups wanted to look at a giant hole. And then again, from another angle. And then through binoculars. But she was happy to be placated with sips of water from our water bottles and snacks of Teddy Grahams, which grandma had so cleverly brought along.

Don't we look cute at the Grand Canyon? I think it makes me look taller.

After several more looks at the canyon we ate at a little restaurant in the park, where a gaggle of tourist Asian girls gathered around our table to take pictures of blond blue-eyed Charlie with his mouth full of banana and to pinch Gracie's cheeks. Then one of the girls came back with some more friends. And then she came back with some different friends. And they took more pictures, and said "So cute, so cute!" but not much else in English. And then they cornered my dad and Gracie in the gift shop and said it some more. I'm pretty sure my kids are famous in China now.

When we loaded back in to our super sweet Chrysler Town and Country Touring minivan, with its doors (and trunk!) that opened AND closed at the click of a button, its included rear view backup camera, its DVD player (which saved our LIVES--we played a Redboxed DVD of the Muppet movie at LEAST three times), its unprecedented number of cup holders, its seats that folded down into the floor so we could put suitcases in there, and its driver seat where you could actually adjust not only the seat and steering wheel but also the pedals (so I could actually DRIVE it), and its separate front and rear AC units (can you tell Steve and I were totally geeking-out-in-love with this car?), we were all exhausted. Charlie even fell asleep...

And so did my mom. Caught you, Mom!

As you can see, my forehead also had a good time. And Gracie LOVED watching a DVD WITH Grandpa. Can you see the smile on her face?! So cute.

The next day we did a little mini-trip to Walnut Creek Canyon, where we hiked around and actually got to go inside some Indian dwellings built right into the cliffside. It was a beautiful day, and Gracie had a blast playing house inside the dwellings--she invited us over for "playdates" inside to "watch movies" and wanted to  guess which room was for the Daddy and which was for the baby.

For our last night in town we wandered around adorable downtown Flagstaff, including a stop at this candy store where Steve's baby sister Jessica worked for about a month when she lived here. (We may have also gotten me a caramel apple while we were there...)

And then we had my favorite meal of the trip my life: Diablo Burger. It was a locally raised, free-range beef burger with the most delicious cheeses and toppings and it was blissful. My mouth is watering just typing about it. I really didn't want to talk during the meal, I was enjoying it so much. And they served it with these gorgeous and addictively yummy rosemary fries... Oh my word. Just look at it!

I wanted to eat it forever.

We picked up some Benadryl for the flight home and made our way back across the country the next day. The kiddos miss their grandparents and all the pool time they got (and Dad, when Charlie saw me typing this and adding your picture he said "BAHPAH!!!")--definitely a favorite family memory. :)