spring break tour 2010 - part five

- the second BIG destination of our spring break tour 2010 -

carlsbad caverns!!!!

here they are -

gearing up to find a "little bat" to take home - because no one will notice if it's a little one -

we decided to take the self-guided natural entrance tour
- which looks precarious @ best -

not to mention the rangers gave us a little talk about physical fitness & that you should not take this route if you have

bad knees, bad hips, bad back -

at this point daddy & i are hoping that we come back out & that the boys are strong enough to carry us...

but it is 1,000 times better than it could be...

of course it was well worth it -
here are some of the sites...

the witches finger...


cave formations called -
flow stone, popcorn & straws...

the boys taking a rest...

mama needs a little break too...

stalactites - on the ceiling

stalagmites - on the ground

the hall of giants...

twin domes...

i couldn't get over how clear the water in the pools are/is (?)...

the boys exploring the "big room"...

the dolls theater...

asian theater...

& one happy family...

naturally we had the boys fill out the workbooks to become junior rangers...

here they are ready to give their first tour...

carlsbad caverns ended up being the boys favorite part of the trip -

& daddy & i were again floored at the wonder of God's creation -

i suggest you go outside & marvel at it as often as possible!!!

a break in our regularly scheduled program

twin boys

in my somewhat limited experience - tend to be loving; supportive; joyful and happy to be with their sibling -

on a regular basis we are asked if our boys are twins

- this makes me happy -

there is nothing like hearing belly laughter floating down the stairs - or war strategies being planned against imaginary foe -

or support being lent for lego architecture -

i love them

& even with their nearly 2 and a half year age difference I am proud that

they love each other like twins

spring break tour 2010 - part four

i am positive that you do not want to see all the nearly 600 photographs that i took while on our adventure so here is my feeble attempt at paring down the sites at the grand canyon...

mather point...

mather point @ sunset...

yakapai point...

the widest part of the canyon -

here is a view of the colorado river and the suspension bridge...

yakapai @ sunset...

the historic el tovar hotel...

the boys relaxing @ the el tovar...

the historic lookout studio...

views of the canyon from the south rim...

hermit's rest

posing as "the hermit"...

GOD is uh - may - zing!!!!!

there are no words to describe his beauty & i am blessed to have been a part of it for just a little while!!!

spring break tour 2010 - part three

we finally made it to arizona!!
the grand canyon state!!!!

we made it to flagstaff & set up camp in the dark - when we woke up - we discovered that we were surrounded by snow - there were 4-5 foot snow drifts where the snow plows had made way for the campers - the boys had a blast building a snow fort and pelting each other with snow balls

flagstaff is about an hour from the canyon and the drive is a beautiful one - each mile more breath taking than the last - and everything especially beautiful covered in snow!

on the drive into the canyon we stopped at sunset crater - an extinct volcano - j.man was sure that we would see an eruption!!!

we also stopped to see the little colorado river gorge...

we did our best to control our children...

and then...
we were there!!!!!!

we drove in from the east side so our first glimpse of the canyon was at the desert view...

this is the spot where mary colter built the watchtower...

view of the inside of the tower

naturally - i had to stop at this point!!! :-)

aren't we sweet!!!

and what a view!!!

even though we drove into the park around 1230 in the afternoon - we didn't reach the camp site until almost 5 - we had so much to see!!!

for example....

the "trailer village" was a great camp site - and inspite of the huge mounds of snow the weather was perfect!!!

we even had our very own "climbing tree"

by the time we set up camp - it was time for dinner - we had covered all the points/views on the east end of the south rim - so tomorrow we would explore the canyon, visit the historic buildings, and get the boys signed up to be junior rangers!!!