Catching up: 4 Kids, 1 Mom, and the Grand Canyon

 We had this week off between camps and VBS.  It was supposed to be a slow one spent here in town and at home but when some good friends from Kwajalein messaged to say they would be passing through the Grand Canyon on their honeymoon road trip and asked if we could meet them there, I looked at that empty calendar and thought, "Why not?!"

Best.Decision.Ever.

   It's about 6 hours from our house to Grand Canyon National Park.  With stopping for lunch and some park playtime in Flagstaff, we got in around 3pm

My little helpers and I got the tent set up

And then we headed out to see the Grand Canyon.  The camp ranger told us about a great look out just a short walk from where we were camping

The walk was easy and the view was gorgeous.  It's even prettier because you can't hear Earth screaming.  He was a very mad baby at this point so we didn't stay too long.

  My stupendous friends showed up shortly after we got back to the campsite and J worked his baby magic on Earth and had him calmed down in time to eat some dinner.  Where would I be in my life without my friends?

And where would Earth be without dogs?  This baby loves dogs!

He LOVES them!

The rest of the kids loved J and S's van

J and S very sweetly let Sky and Water sleep in the van with them (Earth slept in in his own tent and Fire slept with me)

After dinner, we headed back to the lookout near the camp site and the kids threw every rock they could find into it

while I tried to keep Earth from throwing himself into it!

Earth, with J the baby whisperer

The next morning we had breakfast, packed up camp, and headed to the official South Rim viewing point

  Earth and J and S's dog Watson (who had a pulled muscle) shared the wagon

While the views were beautiful, we probably won't bother with the "official" ones next time we come up.  They were full of people and it just wasn't possible to enjoy the scenery someplace that crowded.

We stopped for some ice cream before saying goodbye to S and J and then we got back on the road to head home

  My philosophy: always get the T-shirt
(and then make your kids wear them and take pictures!)

We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and this was my view:

Are you a spontaneous person or do you prefer to plan things out?  Have you ever taken an unexpected trip?  How did it go?  Would you do it again?

See where I'm linking up here