Over the weekend, I was able to visit with my family in my hometown, Ganado, AZ. It was such a nice visit even though it was so short. We decided to take the kids for a hike down Canyon de Chelly (pronounced 'shay') in Chinle, AZ. By the time we got there, it was already getting hot (even though the kids were up bright and early as usual, minus mine, we still somehow got a late start). So here is the beautiful view from up top:
It was a two and a half mile hike down. It's pretty much a "no sweat" hike
IF you don't have children with you and the weather is nice
(well, yes you'll sweat and it is a workout but you know what I mean). Anyway, let me just say that I don't know what we were thinking! It was hot and the only guy/father who was able to come with us was my bother-in-law, Matt. So Granite and my other brother-in-law, Kyle, were both unable to help with all the crazy boys who don't really understand the concept of height and slippery dirt. This made extra work for all of us adults (myself, my two sisters, my bro-in-law, and my mom).So, we "hauled" down seven boys ranging from 4 years of age to 2 and a half months old. We ended up only going I'd say less than half the way because we knew there was no way the boys were going to make it back up. We were looking forward to them playing in the water at the bottom of the canyon, but there wasn't even water down there this time of year.
Here they are (minus one who was already playing in the dirt, and Kaipo who was in the front carrier) at the beginning of the hike in a little tunnel. The shade felt so nice.
And here I am with Kaipo. My mom brought extra hats (it's a good thing!) and I didn't even have a back pack. Trust me, holding a 14 pound baby and a heavy (and I thought I packed semi-light) over-the-shoulder diaper bag just does not go well together. If it were a backpack it would have been more manageable.
Kaipo isn't really sure what's going on but he seemed to enjoy it. He's in a thin long sleeve hoodie to protect him from the sun.
This is where we called it quits and hung out before we headed back up. We were so happy to have found a big space of shade. The boys played and had snacks and plenty of water. And the picture below is the view from where we were at:
The boys kept themselves entertained by throwing rocks and chunks of dirt onto the rock walls and of course playing in the dirt, putting it all over themselves. Isn't it funny how long boys can stay entertained outside even without any toys?
Kaipo looks extra chubby in these pictures. It's funny, some days he can look really chubby and other days he won't look quite as chubby.
And here are the six trekkers- covered in dirt, sunblock, oreo crumbs, you name it! It was a fun little hike despite the heat, exhaustion, and dehydration (only I got dehydrated which caused further problems).
Here is my Mom standing with 6 out of the 8 grandsons she has. My sisters and I all have boys. My oldest sister Kasandra, has two and another one on the way. My other sister Michele, has three ( and another baby on the way but not the gender is not yet known, we are hoping for a girl since there are only two granddaughters in the family so far). So here they all are, minus Kaipo who was sleeping and Rian who was not with us that day. Aren't they so handsome? It's amazing to think that they'll all be on missions around the same time and also leaving for and returning from a mission one right after another. We are surely blessed to have these cute little "stripling warriors" in our family.
