West we did go. When we were planning this trip we referred to it as our trip “Out West”. Emily might not understand that west is a direction, but she does know that it is a place to go and see. If you asked her where we were going she would tell you “west”. The other thing we discussed about driving west is that going west is like chasing the sun. She commented on that a lot and every evening of driving we would see the sun going down and ending that day’s chase.

Enough about the direction, where did we go? We drove from our home to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon for several days. To get there and back we stopped, visited, and enjoyed sights along the way.

Highlights:

• Family time (never overrated)
• Traveling with a friend for a while. Watching the girls relate with Mr. Pat was amazing.
• Having a daily view of the Grand Canyon for a week.
• Having all of our hikers return no-worse-for-wear out of the canyon.
• Seeing quite a variety of wild animals.
• Fun dinner at the Big Texan.
• Sitting in four states at the same time.
• Walking where ancient peoples once lived.
• Watching little people explore nature.
• Eating Mexican food and lovely sopapillas
• Playing among huge sand dunes
• Walking down the memory lane of childhood vacations for both Robby and Rachelle

We met our friends on a cool August morning for a little hike and picnic. We took two different paths for a while and then turned back before we were too tired of it. After some fun exploring we had a picnic lunch in the back of our car. The girls fit in well and loved sharing their lunch together there.

Amazing! All four girls looked the same direction at the same time. This is quite unheard of. There are two decent photos, but this one is the less serious one.

The big girls exploring the bridge over a stream.

Hand in hand they go

Our little ones walk with such personality. Julia prances and Maeve has a march-tude to her step. This mama loves how personal they walk

is.

Our picnic bounty

Maeve’s sweet expression was so worth saving! What a sweet girl.

The girls and Mama joined our friends for a trip to Dollywood. We did some of our usual rides, but we also rode the train together. Julia rode the train on my lap and put her hands over her ears every time they blew the whistle. We all took turns riding the flying elephant because all the girls wanted to ride, but they can’t ride by themselves yet.

Elena wanted to ride the Veggie Tale kids roller coaster. We asked Emily if she wanted to ride too and she said no. Julia piped up and wanted to go. It was her first roller coaster ride. Julia and Elena rode together. So cute!

We made a full day of the park while Ashley and the girls left just before naptime. Julia fit her nap in between activities. She woke up just as we were getting a snack. We enjoyed our day together.

The big girls enjoying their duck ride

Emily on her favorite ride. She plans on doing this ride in the car every time we get to Dollywood.

Emily driving the yellow beauty.

Julia driving the blue car with Mama.

Julia on her unusual horse. Do you see Maeve in the background on the bench? She wasn’t interested in riding a horse this particular day.

The little girls enjoying their duck ride. I love their faces.

Julia sacked out mid-Dollywood trip