Last weekend Josh, Ava, and I went to the Grand Canyon for the first time! It was really beautiful and seemed almost surreal. We left Friday morning and because we were meeting family in Flagstaff and they weren't going to get there until late afternoon, we decided to take our time traveling and go along a piece of "Historic Route 66." We were inspired by the Disney movie, "Cars." So Thursday night, I printed out some information from the internet and on our way, we stopped in the little towns and tried to find the landmarks from Route 66's hayday. It was really fun; Ava even seemed to enjoy it. We stopped in one town, Seligman, Arizona, that is in the extras on "Cars." We bought a malt from a place that advertised that they sold "TACOS, BURITTOS, AND DEAD CHICKEN," visited a barber shop that thrived before the freeway bypassed the town, and found a car that may have been the inspiration for Stanley in the movie.
That night, we went to the Lowell Observatory and got to see Saturn through a telescope that weighs six tons and its mount is thirteen tons. We also looked at the moon and Mars. The Lowell Observatory is where Pluto was discovered.
Then, then next morning, we went to the National Geographic Grand Canyon visitor center and watched an IMAX movie on the Grand Canyon. That was cool because we only had a day, and the movie showed things that we would never have been able to see ourselves and also told about the history of it. Finally, we went to the south rim of the canyon and hiked a couple of miles along it. (I say hiked, but it was really a paved pathway.) It was beautiful and the perfect time of year to go, as it gets up to 120 degrees in the summer. It looks like a picture and you can walk right up to the edge, at your own risk. We saw deer and elk and some huge birds, too. So I recommend going, but it would have been better if we could have spent a few more days there and hiked down into the canyon.
Ava's favorite things to do at the canyon were climb on the boulders next to the pathway and eat dirt.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Our Trip
Sunday, March 16, 2008
There was snow in the mountains next to Las Vegas when we woke up this morning! It was so pretty, but made me miss having real seasons.
As for us, Ava is turning into a crazy toddler and she is hilarious. She says a few words now: Daddy, Mommy, banana, please, Jesus, cheese, but still points, grunts, and uses baby signs for the most part. She walks around and babbles to herself a lot, too. The signs have been really fun. She learned please, thank you, more, finished, dog, cat, book, baby, ball, telephone, flower, bird, and a few others. We are trying to teach her that she has to ask nicely for things, but before she says, "ees" (please), she lets out a blood curdling shreak to get our attention. Of course we turn, expecting to find some horrific scene, and instead we see this little girl with big eyes who quietly says, "ees?" She does really crazy things all of the time, but I can't seem to remember them at the moment.
The only one I can think of is one day when she was helping fold the laundry, she put a dish towel over her head. She couldn't see, but I laughed. So being the clown she is, I guess she thought she would do something to add to the humor and started walking around. We live in a small apartment, so after three accelerating steps, she crashed full speed into the desk. I think she was hurt and quickly bounced back up to come to me, forgetting that the towel was still blocking her vision and misjudging where I was sitting. Before I could save the day, she ran straight into the table! It was really funny, but I had to muster my laughing because she was obviously confused and in pain. Having a kid is the funniest thing that has ever happened to me.
I would tell you about Josh and I, but we are mostly the same and I have to leave to choir now, so love you guys! Bye.
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