Our First Getaway

B and I haven't been away on our own since Elina was born...that's 11 1/2 years that we haven't gone anywhere without the kids!  For Christmas 2015, all I asked my parents for was for them to watch the kids for one weekend so that B and I could go away.  We never claimed it, so we thought we'd claim it this year.

We had to really think about what kind of place we wanted to go to.  We considered going to L.A. to do Disneyland without the kids for funsies and to eat some good Asian food.  But then I thought about all the traffic...I really wanted to go some place where we didn't have to think about what time of day it was.  So I remembered J's recent trip to Sedona and to Antelope Canyon and I thought, "I'd love to go away and do some hiking and see some beautiful things."  I started doing some research and figured out that we should stay in a tiny town called Page in northern Arizona.  I think B would have preferred LA, but after I showed him some pictures of the Arizona area, he knew it would still be fun.

At the same time, Evie got her Flat Stanley project where she had to send her Stanley to someone for a visit.  We decided we'd just take Stanley along with us on our adventure!

My parents came to help us with the kids from Thursday through Monday.  Luckily, J was able to come down from Austin to help for most of the time, too.  I had a detailed schedule typed up for each day and we reviewed it all before I left.  The kids were sad, but not for long because they knew they'd have fun with everyone.  Elina actually said, "How come you're ditching us?" I told her we hadn't ditched them in 11 1/2 years.  Isn't that long enough??

We left early Thursday morning and flew into Flagstaff.  It was weird to freely sleep on the flight.  Actually, it wasn't weird...it was quite lovely.  Ha!  Then we drove 2 hours up to Page.  It was a beautiful drive up!  We stopped by Horseshoe Bend on the way up and hiked around.  It is an amazing place!  We just can't believe there is no railing at the edge though.  I mean, even B was a little weak in the knees near the edge.  He reminded me that if someone fell, then that person was just dead...there would be nothing to save him/her.  I guess if you put it that way...

We stayed at the Hampton Inn and had one of our best hotel stays....it might have something to do with traveling without kids...maybe?  The hot breakfast every morning was SO yummy....waffles, oatmeal, eggs, protein, yogurt, fruit.  We looked forward to breakfast every day during our stay--partly because of the delicious food and partly because we never get to eat full breakfasts at home.  This was such a treat!  Then, there was always fresh, bold coffee or hot water for hot cocoa or tea available at all hours!  What??  Every morning we grabbed a fresh cup of coffee on our way out..and every evening we treated ourselves to hot cocoa in our room.  Life is great!

Here is what else we did on our trip--

KAYAKING LAKE POWELL

We started our day at 8am in 30F weather with our guide Craig.  After a 45 minute boat ride out onto the lake, we stopped and launched our kayaks into the calm water and kayaked until we hit the mouth of Labyrinth Canyon.  After trudging through icy mud, we hiked through the beautiful canyon.  It was amazing...the canyon got narrower and narrower.  I loved how the sandstone curved from the wind and water weathering it away.  It's just amazing how powerful these two things are!

Then we hiked and kayaked back to the boat and had a wonderful lunch.  It was just sandwiches, but they were so delicious because we had worked up an appetite.  Then we took a 45 minute boat ride back to the marina.

It was a perfect, chilly day...we enjoyed hiking in the canyon and all over the rocks.  Kayaking was so peaceful...the surroundings were unreal.  Totally loved this day...especially because we ended the day by going back to the hotel and taking a nap!  Dreams are coming true, folks.

MONUMENT VALLEY
On our way out to Monument Valley, we stopped at Navajo National Monument.  It was an interesting and beautiful place...and there was still snow on the ground!  We learned a lot about the Navajos in the visitor center.  Then we hiked down to see the cliff dwellings in the canyon.  I couldn't believe they could build these little houses in the canyon wall.

Then we continued on our way to Monument Valley for a sunset tour.  We had a great time with our guide, Larry (who is actually a Navajo medicine man).  He drove us through Monument Valley and shared many legends and stories with us.  It was so neat to see all the landmarks we've seen in movies.  It felt surreal.

HIKING
We did an awesome hike out of Lee's Ferry called Spencer's Trail.  This was 2.2 miles straight up 1600'.  It was a tough, but amazing hike...walking along sheer edges with the Colorado River right next to you.  The view up top was unbelievable...totally worth it.  On the way up, B always had the extra energy to find a big boulder out yonder to climb onto.  I always told him to go on ahead because I'm really good at taking pictures.  Really, 3/4 of the way up my legs felt like Jell-o.  Luckily, the hike down was pretty quick.

We also did Water Holes Canyon near Page.  This was another slot canyon hike and it was just beautiful.  Even though we had already hiked through Labyrinth Canyon, I still couldn't stop gawking at the way the sandstone erodes here.  It is breathtaking....and so quiet.  I love it.

This was truly a getaway for us...sleeping in, watching whatever we wanted on TV, eating in our beds, exploring new places, having uninterrupted conversations with each other.  It also brought us back to our pre-kid days when we used to hike all the time.  On this trip we hiked every single day!  We also saw a gazillion stars at night!  The skies there are so clear.  I really loved everything about this trip.

So did the kids miss us?  They missed us, but they also had tons of fun with their grandparents and their aunt.  Were the grandparents and aunt tired afterwards?  Yes!  J said the things they discovered were (1) that I drive around way too much and (2) that I have exactly enough time to accomplish nothing during the day.  She's right on both accounts!  But that's just the season we're in right now.  It's a crazy season and we all need a break though.  I'm so thankful we have family willing to help so that we could do this.  Hopefully, we'll be able to do this at least once a year.  Maybe?  Pretty please?  Any takers?  =)

Why I Love You

For Valentine's Day this year,  the little ones both decided to make the same card...a unicorn card with a twisty lollipop attached to it.  Usually we don't hand out candy Valentine's but this one was just too cute to pass up.  I mean, really...SO cute!

Eli made origami hearts for his Friendship Day at school.  (Instead of Valentine's Day, Eli 's school celebrated the holiday with friendship cards.)  It took him a long time, but he did it!

Elina decided to throw her family Valentine's Day party the Sunday before the real holiday.  I thought it was a great idea since weekdays can get so busy.  Since Elina was in charge of the treats for our weekly Family Meeting, she decided to just incorporate them into the party.  She also came up with really fun games to play too.  I especially liked trying to open a piece of gum with huge gloves on my hands!  Elina is truly an excellent party planner!

Elina created her own scratch-off Valentine's Day cards this year.  Each of us scratched off our cards to reveal a special prize from Elina.  She promised Evie a frappaccino, Eulee a milkshake, and Eli some deviled eggs.  Such a great idea!

Then as a family, we each had to write things we loved about each other.  Then we sat down and each of us read another person's list out loud for them to hear while we had a nice candlelit dinner.  I caught all the kids beaming with delight as they heard all the reasons why they're so loved.  There were some funny ones and some heartwarming ones.  This is definitely one of my fave traditions!
Why we love Mommy..."she bakes lovely cakes that warm me up" (Eli), "she drives us to fun places" (Evie).
Why we love Daddy..."he gets us fast food" (Evie), "he does the robot arm and it's funny" (Eulee).
Why we love Elina..."I love her drawings, they're so beautiful" (Evie), "she has magic powers" (B).
Why we love Eli..."I love tackling with him" (Evie), "he's a Pokemon master" (B).
Why we love Evie..."she really likes to play baby and sister with me" (Eulee), "she is so fancy" (Elina).
Why we love Eulee..."she sings songs to herself" (Evie), "she plays kitty" (Eli).

My friend and I were in charge of Evie's class party and I decided to make red and pink layered Jello.  It only took 6 hours (yikes), but it looked awesome!  And they tasted pretty yummy.  Then I also threw in some Valentine-themed Minute to Win It games.  You know how much we love Minute to Win It games here...so it was perfect!  We did the Love Stack and had the kids stack conversation hearts to see who could make the tallest stack at the end of a minute.  The thing was that lots of the kids actually had tall stacks, but at the end they would fall over!  So sad.

Then they did Suck It Up by transferring conversation hearts from the desk to a paper plate using a straw.

Then I had the kids do a relay race transferring conversation hearts from one cup to another using only a spoon.  So fun!
We had a super fun time throwing this party!

Our traditional Valentine's Day scavenger hunt was still lots of fun, too!  I wasn't even going to do it, but the kids kept asking me about it, so I HAD to do it!  Sometimes it's difficult to think of good clues for every kid.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

100th Day, Western Week, and a Talent Show

As usual, Evie had a full schedule just within the first 2 weeks of February!

100th Day of School
I showed Evie a bunch of Pinterest ideas and the shirt she wanted to make for 100th Day of School was the one with 100 buttons in the shape of a letter E.  This was actually more difficult than it appeared because it took a lot of work to lay out the buttons just right so that nothing stuck out oddly and so that everything looked even.  Evie and I took turns putting fabric glue on and sticking the buttons onto the shirt.  It was a lot of work, but it turned out pretty cute!  She even donned an extra accessory--a necklace made with 100 Froot Loops.  Yum!  At the end of school that day, the kids all put on a "fashion show" with a runway.  So darn cute!

Western Week
The 1st graders performed some fancy Western dances for the school.  Evie looked so cute in her Western wear!  And Eulee was so proud to watch big sis up there!

The girls also got to ride a pony...

and we spent a whole day at the rodeo to see all the beautiful horses and animals! The kids also love the carnival rides!

I think Eulee's favorite part was getting her face painted.  When the lady offered to do it, she just walked right into her tent and picked a design and sat down.  This girl just knows what she wants....she doesn't even ask...she just does it.  You KNOW she's going to be real trouble when she gets older.  Ha!  But I have to admit the face painting came out wonderfully!  We were so impressed!  Evie just opted for a little tattoo on her arm, but it was still pretty.

Talent Show
Evie did a great job playing "Monday Mornin' Blues" on the keyboard for her class.

  The rest of the class had lots of talents--hula hooping, magic, singing, dancing...it was awesome!  Then the parents and siblings were asked to participate too.  B solved the Rubik's Cube for the kids.  Elina did some magic tricks...which were a real hit!  She really wants to do magic shows for younger kids!  She says she doesn't want to perform for kids who are old enough to heckle.  Ha!

 And I played a little piece on the violin.  I was really nervous this time...it was strange.  I think it was because I was coming off of a bad virus earlier in the week and I wasn't feeling too hot.  But still, I was surprised how nervous I felt.  Wow.  But I survived, so that's what mattered!  I have 2 years to calm my nerves for doing it again when Eulee gets into 1st grade.  Hahah!

It's been a busy month so far, but still lots of fun!  I think that's always the case with Discovery School...busy, busy, fun, fun!