Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we decided to take a quick trip up to the Grand Canyon. We knew we wouldn't be there long considering the boys attention span with something like that.  Lincoln only knew the Grand Canyon from the Little Einstein's and Logan is really to young to comprehend or even care.  We were literally there for about 30-45 minutes in total.  Lincoln seemed to understand to some degree how "cool" it was but with trying to contain Logan, so he wouldn't go over the edge, it was a bit stressful.

We drove back down to Flagstaff where we had a hotel for the evening. I'm pretty sure the hotel room was the best part of the trip for the boys.  They were so excited and played with the lights, doors, pillows and anything else they could find in the hotel room to play with.  This kept them entertained for a good two hours before we headed out for dinner and shopping.  When we got back to the hotel Ricky took Lincoln swimming for all of 20 minutes before he barfed all over the pool deck.  Not good.  They returned to the room for showers and some TV and play time. Trying to sleep the boys in the same hotel room is not easy. They definitely keep each other up, even when they're sleeping in separate beds.

The next morning we continued our drive home but we stopped in Camp Verde for a visit to the Out Of Africa Wildlife Zoo.  It was a bit pricey but since we had never been we wanted to check it out.  It looked a little dumpy at first but once we got in and got on the safari ride it turned out to be pretty amazing.  It happened to be right at lunch time and nap time for the boys so I was worried they wouldn't last.  Logan hardly made a peep.  He was so captivated by the animals that were within feet of our safari bus.  Both boys got to feed carrots to a giraffe and Lincoln fed a camel.  We also saw an ostrich, water buffalo, zebras, and several horned animals like Texas longhorn (breed started in Africa) kudu, addax, Oryx, and  antelope on the safari.  We took the tram to the rest of the park which is where we saw all of the other animals like the lions, tigers, grizzly bears,  black bears, jaguar, wolves, hyenas and several others.  Lincoln said his favorite part was watching the tiger splash show.  We were fairly close to the animals but with the boys not eating lunch (despite us buying exactly what they said they would eat) and not having a nap we only lasted about 3 1/2 hours. That ended up being about 2 hours longer than I originally thought we would last so it was a success.  We were filthy and tired and ready to go.  Within minutes of leaving the zoo Logan was sound asleep in his car seat.

 This was taken within minutes of arriving at the zoo.  Logan was super excited to run around.

 Logan feeding the giraffe.

 Lincoln feeding the giraffe.

 The giraffe decided to come into our safari bus to help himself to some cookies.

 Logan petting the giraffe.

 Lincoln was SO tired but so happy to be at the zoo.

 Lincoln feeding the camel with daddy.

We've decided it's not as easy as it should be to travel with a two and a four year old.  For some reason when we travel the boys don't eat well (they just want snacks) and they don't nap - which means by late afternoon they are a mess. Totally grumpy and not fun to be with. Luckily in the days since our trip Lincoln recalls different things that he saw or experienced on our trip which means he got more from it than we actually thought he did.  That is making it worth it but at the time it was sure a lot of work but we'll always have memories from it.