The Grand Canyon Day 1 (7/28/11)

After driving through Sedona we continued on to our final destination. It was definitely a long journey but we had plenty of activities to keep the kiddos entertained. It was late afternoon when we finally got to our campsite and after reading the maps and papers they gave us when we checked in, we decided go see the sunset at the canyon. We set our stuff up quickly and rushed over to catch our first glimpse. On our way there we saw three giant elks hanging out near the road. That was really cool to see! When we arrived at the canyon, it was amazing! While we were waiting for the sun to set it started to rain- we weren’t ready for that! So I ran back to the car to get jackets and umbrellas. By the time I got back the rain was over. Sounds like what would happen where we live! The kids were pretty impressed with how big the canyon was. Grandma was not impressed with how close the children were getting to the railing though! It was a good sneak preview to the hiking and sightseeing that would occur the next day.

 

Sedona

After leaving Beaver Creek we drove through Sedona. Oh.My.Goodness. It is so beautiful there. I took a million pictures through the car window. We contemplated stopping for more than a potty break but just couldn’t make it work with having to check in at the Grand Canyon. I am always so disappointed looking at the pictures because it does not do it justice! I think I need a better camera! (Hint, hint honey.)

Redecorating

I have not been blogging because I have been redecorating. We took a trip to Ikea which started it all! The cover of their catalog reads “A home doesn’t have to be big, just smart” and it got me thinking. Why do I have so many large pieces of furniture? Are they really doing that much for our lives to take up that much space. Then I took my friend Kelly to Ikea and it was over! The day after we got back she looked through the catalog and declared that we should sell our stuff at a garage sale at my house…tomorrow. Well, sounds good. We sold some big furniture pieces which then created a decorating fund to be used to purchase the things we wanted. Our husbands are happy because we aren’t spending their hard earned money. On our 3rd trip to Ikea in 11 days (It’s 1hour and 30 mins away) I was able to get a few things that I felt we needed first. Like a toy bin for the kids toys. We got the “Trofast” system and I love it! We also bought a lamp for the living room (because I sold ours at the garage sale) and a dining room lamp (because ours broke) oh and dishes (because I sold all those at the garage sale too!)

When Brad was putting up the dining room light it wasn’t staying up and it is because the piece that holds it up was broken. That meant another trip to Ikea so 4th trip in 14 days. Brad was not so happy to be spending every day off driving to Ikea. But all is well now, they took back the light no problem and we won’t be gong out there for a while.

The next thing I did was paint the entry. It has been deep red for a few years and I have been really sick of it but just haven’t gotten around to changing it. Well I went for it. I have a few decorating blogs I have been following and I decided to go much lighter in there.

Before

After

It is called seashore fog and it is a pale, pale blue. I am still looking for a shelf with hooks for the one wall and that shelf will make it look a lot more decorated and functional. Another thing I did in here was scrub the grout with oxyclean. It looks so much better. I found the little table at a garage sale for $2. It is rickety but it looks cute. It was a horrible brown and I painted it white. It is good for now.

I will still be posting the pictures of the Grand Canyon and more decorating pics. (including the table saga, yes a saga. We currently have our 4th table in less than a year)

Links to some of the blogs that inspire me:

Our Vintage Home Love (She built her dining room table and other stuff. Beautiful home)

Home and Harmony (I am copying her dining chair slipcover style)

Vintage simple home (I love these shelves and hooks)

Miss Mustard Seed (How to make slipcovers and lots more)

The lettered cottage (Great idea on how to change stock kitchen cabinets to make them look custom)

Crisp Interiors (I love her “family rules” and her home is beautiful and she is a believer in Jesus)

Shopping Candy for my first home (Her house is amazing and I have been following her for a while. It is so calm and peaceful)

First Stop on Grand Canyon Trip…

…Beaver Creek. We drove over to Avondale, AZ which is right outside of Phoenix. Then went straight up Near Lake Montezuma. It was a beautiful campground at Beaver Creek. It was kind of warm when we got there so we quickly set up the tent and then went swimming in the creek. I was quite nervous about my feet touching the bottom of the creek and then another mom of four kids suggested wearing my flip flops. Thank you to her! I was able to really enjoy myself. Our sweet dog Sadie even came swimming. It was soooo cute. We have only had her since March and we have never seen her swim-she loved the water! The Munchkin preferred to sit on a rock with his feet in the water tossing rocks in. The other two boys enjoyed building up the dam with more rocks and the Princess was just enjoying the water and made a new friend as usual. We had a wonderful time.

When it was time to exit the water we started making dinner and that is when Grandma Ginger and Grandpa Johnny came. We were informed by the camp host that a mountain lion and her cub and skunks had been seen around the campsites recently and to look out for them. Well after dinner we made s’mores and were just finished brushing our teeth when Grandma walked around the car and saw a skunk. Everyone was excited and wanted to see it. Then Brad looked out a little further and saw something crouching down behind a bush like it was ready to pounce. He quickly ordered us into the tent and we watched through the windows with flashlights as skunks (3 I think) and then the mountain lion cub came nonchalantly looking for food at our campsite.

I didn’t feel afraid until I went out of the tent to grab some things we left out. Three of us went out. Grandpa, Brad and I . Brad told me to keep the light shining to the left and he would keep and light shining to the right. As I am looking to the left I turn back to look at Brad and he left me! He was across the way shining the light for Grandpa. I got so scared I quickly grabbed whatever I could and rushed back into the tent. Ummmm, thanks babe for leaving me. All night we could here animals creeping around the tent and everyone now and then one of us would sit up and shine a light out the window.  It was sure exciting and the kids thought it was awesome!! You wouldn’t believe how many pictures I tried to take of our little visitors but not even one turned out!

Our Gigantic 10 person tent we purchased at Wal-Mart for $115. Best purchase ever! Especially since Brad forgot to bring the extra tent for Grandma and Grandpa. We all wouldn’t have fit in the old tent!

The Prince jumping off the awesome rock area

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Brad and I were headed to a wedding in Mission Viejo and decided to make it a weekend trip, thanks to Grandma who watched the kids! Sunday we went to Mission San Juan Capistrano which was amazing! It would have been a bit pricey to take the whole family to but they did have an audio tour that was free. It gave us so much more  information than if we would have been just wandering around that amazing property. We looked into taking the kids to another mission; however, the one we checked out online was cheaper but didn’t have the audio tour. After we went to the Mission we ate Mexican food (all the Spanish architecture caused a craving for tacos) The we drove to Victoria Beach to see this really cool tower on the Beach. We had a great time and really want to take the kids there for a day trip.

The swallows nests. Did you know the Swallows come back to San Juan Capistrano every year on the same day? Yep, on March 19th. I had never heard that before.

 

Where the Padre slept.

Large pots for making tallow

Victoria Beach

Sea anemone in the tide pool.

Camping In Idyllwild

I know I promised to Blog about the Grand Canyon but when uploading all my pictures I realized I have a few things more to post about first. Actually more than just a few. But I am going to start with these few things and then get to the Grand Canyon pictures.

We went for a quick trip in June up to Idyllwild without a plan on where we would stay. We decided so late that we couldn’t book anything online and just had to pay when we got there. I really don’t like doing things without a plan so my husband was in charge of where we would be staying. I was in charge of food because that is something I can plan for!! Our first choice for camping was full so they sent us up a little ways to Thousand trails. It was really cool. The only drawback was there are no fires allowed. They did have a big bonfire going for a couple hours that you could roast marshmallows and make S’mores from and they had live music which was neat.  The other cool part was the trout pond. We fished and caught two fish (for $9) and cooked them when we got home that night. Another cool part was there was soap in the bathrooms. Ahhh the little things make such a difference when you are camping!! Here are some pictures from our adventure.