And We're Back!

So we got back from our Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam/Vegas road trip yesterday morning and we've been extremely busy since our return...We had to wash the car seats (apparently Zeek doesn't do too well on long road trips...let's hope this isn't the case on long flights!) along with five loads of laundry (laundry for a family of four is never easy), and I'm getting ready to go back to work on Thursday so I've been scrubbing my house top to bottom and reorganizing my kitchen while I still have free time.

We headed for the Grand Canyon on Friday after Catalina got out of school. Eight long hours and three Ezekiel barfs later, we arrived at our hotel. After breakfast Saturday morning, we biked approximately 7 miles through the Grand Canyon on Saturday. It was a truly amazing way to see the canyon!

The guys at Bright Angel Bicycle Rentals took great care of us! We rented two bikes and one trailer for Matty to pull the kiddos in.

The guys loaded the bikes and shuttled us up the canyon to Hopi Point and then we biked it to Hermit's Rest. It's mostly downhill but there were a few challenging uphill spots on the ride. We loved the adventure, but the brakes locked up on Matty's bike about a mile in so he had an extreme workout. We had a nice picnic along the way...

And after we made it to Hermit's Rest...

We enjoyed an ice cream treat...

We went back to our hotel, took a dip in the pool, and headed back into the Grand Canyon for our dinner reservations at El Tovar Dining Room and had one of seven of the nicest seats in the place with canyon views while we ate! Then we caught a breathtaking sunset and watched the canyon transform.

Followed by a lightening storm in the canyon!! I didn't get any pictures of that...just kicked back on a rocking chair and enjoyed. Sunday morning we checked out, snapped a few pics near the Grand Canyon Sign & with Smokey the Bear...

And then we hit the road and headed for the Hoover Dam, which I wasn't so impressed with. So We decided to head up to Vegas since my husband has never been there. And that lucky guy turned the $5 that I limited him to into $100!

The Grand Canyon was a sight to see and now I understand why it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. I hope that if we are able to return someday, we'll visit it again...but maybe do the helicopter tour or a week long rafting/camping adventure down the river...when the kids are older of course! Maybe while we're living in Guam we'll have a chance to see the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Has anyone else had a rad summer vacation, sporadic road trip, or some exciting adventure lately? We're hoping to do some traveling again around Thanksgiving... Oh where oh where shall we go?