We love living closer to family here in Arizona and one of the biggest perks is family vacations. This year Spring Break for our kids lined up with Spring Break for Abe's brother's Chad's kids so we planned a joint camping trip to Payson, AZ. Abe's parents came too and we had such a great time. Payson is lovely because its at a higher elevation so its cooler and greener (I probably would not have considered it green 4 years ago but compared to Yuma and San Antonio its pretty green).
The weather during the day was perfect for hiking. We did several different hikes in the area but the kids favorite was one with tons of rocks to explore and a grandpa always willing to go off the beaten path for a good challenge.
I love my little rock climbers. I'm so glad they all love the outdoors as much as Abe and I do. The nights were really cold but the kids were such troopers. The first night we all stayed in the tent and pretty much wore every layer of clothing that we had. When it got down into the 40's we thought we might freeze to death and we had some nighttime wanderers looking to get warm. Poor Brooklyn had on 3 layers of pajamas and we covered her crib with a blanket to keep as much heat in as we could. Once she was all dressed she looked like the kid in A Christmas Story who can't put his arms down. But since she only took naps on her dad's back during the hikes she was tired enough to fall asleep anywhere by bedtime. On the second night Ethan and Taylor decided to take Grandma and Grandpa up on their offer to stay in their pop-up.
The second day of hiking was more trails through the mountains rather than rocks so my kiddos weren't as thrilled.
Good thing Abe is such an amazing pack mule. All that Army rucksack training really pays off on these trips.
One day we decided to rent some side by sides to go drive through the mountains along with the ATVs that Dad and Chad had. At first we were all just going to take turns going for rides but in the end we decided to rent enough equipment for everyone to ride so we packed our lunches and headed off into the mountains. The kids were so excited.....
for a while until the wind blowing and the cool, mountain air put them to sleep. Brooklyn had been acting really whiny that morning and after about 30 minutes of driving we realized she had a stomach bug. The poor little girl threw up everywhere in her carseat and all over herself. We did the best we could of cleaning her up on the trail and Taylor donated her long sleeve shirt to wear as a dress.
After about an hour of driving Abe said our vehicle started responding really weird as we tried to make it up a very rocky trail. He took a look at the front wheels and something was obviously wrong with the front axle. We were the last vehicle in line but luckily everyone eventually noticed that we didn't make it up the hill and came back to find us. We had the phone number for the rental place and luckily there was cellphone signal to call them for help. We weren't too far up the trail so we could tell them the trail number we were on and they told us to wait for them to send help.
Thanks to our planning we just stopped and ate our lunch on the side of the road while we waited for help to come. I love our laid back, go with the flow family. They are so awesome.
Instead of complaining, Dad pulls out a gun and sets up some targets for shooting practice.
While we stopped for lunch Brooklyn begged for water so we gave her some, which she quickly proceeded to throw up right around where we were preparing lunch. Taylor looked very concerned and asked if she was going to have to give up her only shirt. Nope, we just wore the vomit shirt for the rest of the ride.
Finally the rental shop showed up, without a spare vehicle, and we prayed that they would be able to fix it so we could continue our fun. Luckily it was some common issue that they have and the guys were able to get it fixed. The amazing shop told us that they wouldn't charge us for either vehicle because of the inconvenience the breakdown had caused! We were super excited for such an awesome, free trip.
Sometimes the roads got a little steep and Ethan, my usual daredevil, got a little nervous. It was funny to see that some things do rattle him. What a beautiful day to spend with our family.
The rest of the time we hung out at the campsite where the kids explored the woods around the site and practiced shooting Grandpa's little bow and rode their bikes for hours. They loved having great cousins to spend time with. We soon realized that Brooklyn is a desert baby who really didn't know what to do with herself in the woods. She was afraid of all trees because every living thing around our house has some sort of spikes. And she was deathly afraid of pinecones. She would point and cry at all of them lying around the ground in the pine forest. We had to clear them out of her path all the time.
We can't wait for the next camping trip with our awesome family!
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