-- Back story: Last year Lia wanted to ask Santa for snow. Becky had to explain that while Santa is magical, he can't control the weather. So, Becky and I used that wish to talk to my parents. Surprisingly, they were on board for a snowy mountain Christmas! We jumped on things and booked the house over a year in advance. Fast forward a few weeks. It snowed. In Texas. Maybe Santa really does have magical weather powers? .... we'll never know --
It took a lot of planning and strategic packing but we were so ready. Packing winter gear is hard. A car seat bag stuffed with winter jackets, 3 huge suitcases, a stroller, two carry on bags and I THINK we have everything. We booked the same flight as the Gates and met them at the airport. We're off!!
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| Miles LOVED watching all the planes |
All the kids were so amazing on the plane. The girls were pumped to play with their ipads and Miles quickly fell asleep as we took off. Aces.
My parents created a road trip for this adventure and were able to visit my Aunt in El Paso on the way to Flagstaff. They arrived at the house first and were pumped to let us know THERE WAS SNOW! We couldn't wait to get there.
The house was warm, comfy and cozy. Perfect for a get-away holiday.
We all settled in and had a relaxing first evening. Let the vacation ensue!
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| Miles and I were still upstairs but when we come down, the girls coming running. "Mimi!!! WE SAW REINDEER!" (Turns out they were caribou? Elk? Not sure, but still. So cool!) |
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| Adorable pjs worthy of documentation :) |
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| First gift of Christmas! |
We didn't want to put together a minute by minute schedule, but we made for sure plans to do snow play the first day we were there and then the Grand Canyon. We figured the back to back days of longer travel would be hard on the kids. A
After we called a bunch of places to find out they either didn't offer snow play areas or they weren't open yet, we had to adjust our plans. Grand Canyon it is! Turns out, the back to back travel WAS hard on the kids - really just the girls. "How far is the Damn Canyonnnnn?!" Check out this funny video from Becky's blog:
Meanwhile, in our car...
Sorry Becky. Not trading :P
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| Uncle Todd and Miles walking to the look-out |
We took the scenic route back and ran into some really pretty views of Snow Bowl.
The kids were super cooped up and needed a chance to run free so Becky and I went out for a walk. It was freezing so we had to get everyone all bundled up.
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| Miles was so bundled he reminded me of Randy from A Christmas Story - haha! |
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| Can you see the resemblance? lol |
One of the favorite activities while at the house was hitting up Gramma for some story time. All bundled, close to the fire, I don't think my mom minded.
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| Grandpa joined in on the reading time as well! |
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| Miles was super interested in the train |
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| There was a little train that ran through this town store - the girls created a train of their own with Miles as the engine. They followed the toy train around the store. So funny. |
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| FISH! |
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| While walking over to the park, we ran across these guys juggling. A cool find! |
When we got back to the house, the girls opened a few early gifts for some evening entertainment. Stephen and I got them some new board games - Twister, Bop-it and Perfection. Turns out they were a hit with the adults as well! Ah-hem - Current high score holder on Bop-it. *Brushes shoulders* :P
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| I love this picture |
Hooray! It's Christmas Eve! Becky and I did some research on possible fun holiday things to do with the entire fam, but the options were either super expensive, or far away. So after a chill morning, we all decided to go off on our own. The gates went ice skating, my mom and dad visited this volcanic scenic area and Stephen and I had a lay-low kind of day. We took Miles out to the park and relaxed at the house.
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| One of my favorite pictures of the whole trip |
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| Erin reading to Miles - adorable! |
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| Miles was eating the snow. Cute until we realized there was a ton of caribou/elk poo under the snow....gross. Sorry bud |
When everyone got back, the girls dove in to some cookie baking. Santa's got to have his sweets!
Meanwhile, the guys were "grocery shopping". Right.
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| Before.... |
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| ...After. Ha! |
Needless to say, Miles REALLY enjoyed this activity. Everyone was able to decorate a cookie and the girls selected the best 3 cookies to leave out for Santa. They completed the plate with carrots for the reindeer and cheese for......not sure. lol *EDIT: The cheese was for Santa Mouse. Duh Mimi*
