A vacation of firsts

On Thursday the kids and I joined my parents on a drive through northern Arizona to see some forests and mountain scenery. Thursday we drove to Prescott (Bree loved picking out a snack from a vending machine at one of the rest stops). We checked into our hotel, and Bree was so intrigued by the idea of sleeping there and sharing a big bed with Mommy. She has stayed at a hotel before, but she was just a baby. We swam in the indoor pool, which the kids loved. Bree is still too wary of the deep end even to let Papa hold her while he swam around, but Mason was fearless. Then we went to Golden Corral for dinner. Despite the wide range of buffet options, Bree ended up with a corn muffin, a slice of pizza, and a chocolate cupcake. Mason out-ate her, as usual, despite his stick-like physique. After dinner we took the kids to the movie theater for their first time to see Up. They were both enthralled when the movie started on that huge screen. Mason got bored after a while, so I spent some time in the arcade with him, since I'd seen the movie before. We had a comfortable night's sleep (that was the nicest Holiday Inn Express I've ever been to!), with the exception of Bree hogging the bed a little.

We hit the road in the morning, and drove to an area near Seligman for some hiking. The weather was nice--not too warm, and it was quite an adventure for the kids climbing on those big rocks. Bree is actually a decent hiker, but Mason got a little frustrated trying to walk on that rocky ground. Both of them really enjoyed being outside, and the views were gorgeous. I'm not sure where Bree got the supermodel side hip thrust pose...I just told her to smile.

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On the way back home we stopped in Williams, Strawberry, Payson, and Apache Junction (we missed our turn-off and ended up going the long way). The kids were a lot more antsy during the second day on the road, but still did admirably well for so much time in the car. Grandma entertained them with some fairy tales during the last stretch. Thanks Mom and Dad, for a fun little vacation!