Grand Canyon, North Rim

Bryce was just a pitstop, and a slight detour, but one we had to take, as Scott had never been there.  Our real destination was the Grand Canyon.  Victor mentioned that he'd like to go there.  That's all it takes for me to jump on the chance to hit a national park.  Our family visited the South Rim in the spring on our Phoenix trip, but I'd only been to the North Rim once, back in the '90's, with Victor and Sofia's uncle.  Funny, huh?  Life is crazy...and here we are, at the North Rim.  We love this park.  I think it might be my favorite.  I'd choose it over the South Rim, for sure.  I'd choose it over a lot of places.  The elevation gives you cooler temps, and the crowds are much smaller than the South Rim.

Scott and his group.

Scott prepared lunch, and did a great job.  The view over the Grand Canyon was pretty amazing, too.  Good lunch, good company, incredible view.

This was the trip that Tziporah insisted on going with us.  I'm glad she did.  She built a fairy house in the dirt while the big kids were seeing stuff.

This lodge was incredible.  They had rows of couches overlooking the canyon, so you could viably spend hours dozing with the world's most incredible view right outside your window.  In fact, after our 3 am call time, that is exactly what I wanted to do!

The outdoor patio areas were just as relaxing as the indoor. 

Well, maybe not QUITE.  Those couches were pretty darn inviting.

Tziporah is afraid of the heights.  You can tell she's trying to be brave in this picture.

Pretending to be scared.

Sofia is gorgeous, isn't she?  And so fun, too.

Olympe is so sweet and beautiful.  She's up for adventure!

The best group.

It was hot.

And then began the cliff portion of the day.  The kids just had to sit on dangerous precipices.  My heart was palpitating like crazy.  Im just scared of heights, I guess.  I trust these guys, but I was still scared.

 

Victor had told us how when he was born, his mom thought his head was abnormally large.  We joked that we were glad his head didn't drag him down over the edge when he was leaning over to take this picture.  

The brave souls who scared the daylights out of me.

That's a real ledge, with a real thousand foot drop!!!!

Victor!

Ruby!

Another dangerous height. :)

Tizzy gloating that she scored a ride on Dad's back.

These guys...I'll never know if they enjoyed all these trips as thoroughly as Scott and I did, but they sure were good sports.  None of them EVER complained.  At least not in a language we could understand!

Chloe's beloved guinea pig, Maggie, died this past year, so she brought a stuffed animal guinea pig in Maggie's honor and took pictures of him at all the sites.

The two cutest cousins!

Did I tell you it was hot, and these little legs hiked all over the place?  She was pretty happy, though.

Down time at the lodge.

Victor is remarkable with kids.  They love him and gravitate to him, and he never turns them away.  He's sweet.  All the kids missed him when he left.  In fact, they missed him the first time he left two years ago, and kept talking about how fun he was, for two years, until he finally came back!

Dopp, party of 8.  I'm sad whenever we have to leave people home, but switching up the lineup keeps it interesting.

The infamous llama face.

Leaving the park, there was a heavy, if brief, thunderstorm.  It was a force of nature.

A rainbow followed our car for miles.  It's the craziest thing!

We stayed in Kanab that night, and Scott and I left the teens to their own devices.  We walked the town with Tizzy and swam in the hotel pool.  I'm prone to stay in cheap dives, but this time, Scott rescued us from that fate, and we enjoyed a new hotel with two queens and a sofa bed, almost enough sleeping space for everyone (ha), and a nice pool and hot tub.

We finished our night with snow cones in Kanab.  I'm anxious to go back, the sooner the better!