Havasu Adventure

I had spring break in March so we decided to leave the cold and go spend some time with my dad in warm Arizona. We got up at the crack of dawn one day and started driving. And we drove and we drove and we drove. It took us 12 hours to get there. My kids (other than some carsickness by Claire) travel like champions. I was so impressed.

Noah enjoying the trip

Claire being silly/loopy after a whole day in the car

When we got to grandpa's of course the first thing we had to do was give the rocks from his yard a bath in the sink.

The next day it was gorgeous so I took advantage of it. I didnt move from this position for most of the day.

I think Noah looks like he is modeling in this picture and I love it.

My dad bought the kids this little wading pool. It was cold and they didnt want to get in it. One of the things Ive always admired about my dad is his ability to find ways to solve problems. His fix to this one was to hook a hose up to his hot water tank and drain the entire tank into the cold pool to warm it up. Then the kids wouldnt get out!

Noah's second time in a pool. He was more apprehensive than Claire has ever been about water. I hope he grows out of it!

We went for a walk down by the London Bridge but we quickly learned it was Spring Break in Havasu which is terrifying and definitely not something I want my kids to ever see again. We took a couple of quick pictures and booked it out of there.

Me, my dad and the kids.

Claire hanging out by the water side. If we didnt watch her like a hawk, she would have jumped. The kid is fearless.

We got back in the car one day to go see my grandparents who live 3 hours away from my dad. I thought this face captured all of our attitudes about the car perfectly!

This one does a pretty good job of summing it up as well

Seeing my grandma was harder than I thought it would be. The last time I saw her was two years and her memory was going at that point, but now she cant even talk or walk at all. But it was tender because she LOVED the great grandkids. She wanted to hold Noah the whole time and he was content to sit in her lap so we let him. She had a smile on her face the whole time. It broke my heart. I miss my grama. But there were some things that she did that made me feel like a piece of her was still there. Shes always loved to just sit and hold hands and she would do that to whoever was sitting next to her. Also, she always used to play with hems on shirts or sleeves (random I know) and she would do that to my dad or Noah or whoever she could reach.

My cousin Crystal and her mom and daughter came to visit so I got to meet her little Jadyn and she got to meet Noah. It made me happy. We've always been close/crazy so I was so excited to see her

Grandpa and my dad looking pleasant!

Crystal will kill me for this, but I just love her so much and Im so happy I have this picture to remember her by!

Here is me and our babies with Grama. I wish I would have gotten my dad, grandpa and Aunt Marilyn in there. Not sure what I was thinking.

Same shot...with Crystal this time.

Picture with Grandpa before we left. Claire is hysterical because she wanted to stay which only made the good bye worse. I wish we lived closer

Here is what the sky looked like when we left Havasu. About 40 miles down the road, the entire freeway was shut down from Arizona to New Mexico due to a snowstorm...in Arizona....in March....REALLY?

We had to go around it. We went down to Phoenix and then back up.

Here is the sky getting progressively worse. 

We got to Payson, AZ and the roads were all shut down. We had no choice but to stop and get a hotel room. We were stuck! We spent the night and got back on the road in the morning. We left Lake Havasu at 7am Sunday morning and got home at 7pm Monday night. Thirty six hours to make a 12 hour drive! I love my dad, but next time I am checking the weather! All in all, it was a fun trip to make and I cant wait to see him again!