Flagstaff

Travis's family has vacationed in Flagstaff every summer since he was a kid. And yet, somehow, we've never gone! Well it was time to change that. His dad does that Wyndam time share thing, so that's where we stayed. It actually worked out really nicely. The units are cabin-ish slash condo-ish. Our little family had our own, one bedroom unit and across the street the other families split 4 more units. Each one has it's own little kitchen and living room with pull out bed. (Collin cracked me up because several times after getting there, he'd happily announce, "I just love this cozy, little house!" Haha. I think maybe he's tired of our big house in Gallup.)

At least 6 months ago, Travis's brother, Reddin, called us up to tell us about this "Terrain Run" in Flagstaff that happened to be the Saturday we'd be there. It was a 10k with obstacle courses. We thought that could be fun and we'd certainly have enough time to train, so we all signed up! Well, those 6 months flew by and all of a sudden I realized I was going to actually have to DO this dang thing! Bah! What was I thinking signing up for this?! I am NOT a runner and I have NO upper body strength. Travis and I exercise together every morning, but I still felt very unprepared. My sister in law, Karen, runs marathons regularly. And does strength training at a gym twice a week. With a sinking feeling, I knew I'd be the weakest link in this debacle.

Saturday

Wayne and Paula graciously watched our kids that morning. It was a short 15 min. drive to the race site. The weather was perfect and cool. I had been taking probiotics for a couple of weeks so I was extra encouraged I wouldn't have to trot out into the woods for a bathroom break. (Well, fingers crossed anyway.) We had a 10am start time. You were supposed to wait in these massive, tarp lined, metal dumpsters filled with freezing water. Karen and I just stood behind them. Starting with wet feet and getting blisters did not sound appealing! Turns, out, we should have just done it, because we were jumping in a giant mud pit after two minutes of running. I really wished we had taken the GoPro to capture some of the obstacles!

I'll try to sum up as many as I can remember...

- Carrying a tire over your head, shoulders, whatever body part was most comfortable! (So none!) for probably 1/4 of a mile.

- Filling up a bucket with water, carrying it up a hill, and dumping it down a tarp covered hill to create your own, special "water slide". More like a sharp, enema-ish death slide! I actually tore my shorts a bit on this one. (Helpful tip- close your mouth as to prevent bacteria filled mud from entering your facial orifices.)

- Doing monkey bars over a deep pool of freezing water, then ringing the bell at the end only to have to finally let yourself fall into the frigid water you were trying to avoid. (And by the way, I'm giving it up to elementary schoolers everywhere! They do monkey bars for FUN. Masochists.)

-Pulling yourself over a dozen wooden walls. And half of them required you to wiggle through square cut outs at the very top.

-Hurdling over a billion logs or shorter, wooden ramps/walls. Okay, fine, a million. (And I'll just pretend us girls hurdled them... that was the boys' job. Karen and I climbed over them and I'm pretty sure that's where most of our scrapes and bruises came from.

- Getting on your belly and crawling/wiggling through the coldest water with a metal fence over the top of you. This was a few yards long and probably the scariest for me. The water was "freeze your innards" cold and only half your head could physically fit above the water before the fence stopped you. I was mentally fighting away claustrophobia entrenched in a panic attack.

-Throwing a 50lb sand sack over your shoulders and trudging 1/4 mile or so.

- Grabbing onto a long rope that is strung between two trees, pulling your legs up so they are crossed over it. Then pulling yourself across it. This.was.hard. And majorly burned up your skin.

-Scaling a number of cargo nets.

-Squirming through the STINKIEST mud pit ever. Someone had to have taken a dump in it. And truly pulling your whole body through it because there were wires strung over the top.

-Clamoring up mud mounds that have deep mud/water pits in-between them. This was a part that we really owed the guys for. I don't think I could have made it up those slippery mud walls without a shove from behind by Trav.  

-Hefting a long metal stick over your shoulders that have tires hanging from either side. They were not only heavy, but really hard to keep balanced so you didn't go tumbling off to the side. We had to walk around a large circle with these on our backs.

Oh, and did I mention the running? Don't forget this was a 10k, so we ran over 6 miles in between all these obstacles.

I'll admit, I was pretty proud of myself. I didn't feel like I was holding us back at all. And it was actually really, really fun. It was a huge challenge for me, but so fun to be doing it alongside Travis and Karen and Reddin. But that last mile was not my favorite! It felt like it would never end. Every part of my body was hurting and my arms and legs were Jello. I wanted to kiss the finish line ground!

The "Before"

The "After"

We actually look pretty clean compared to how disgusting we were at parts throughout the race. Literally caked in mud from ears to toes. We found out later our results based on these micro chips we had tied to our shoes. We placed 114-117th in a group of 253 people. Sooo, pretty average, haha. And finished in one hour, 52 minutes. I just can't believe I ran for almost 2 hours. Who am I??


After the race we got our munchkins from Grandma and Grandpa at the pool and headed to Bunhuggers for lunch. Olive slept in my arms the whole time. Weirdest thing ever. I'll bet the patrons at Bunhuggers appreciated our smelliness. After showers and naps, Karen, Carrie and I hit up Sam's Club and Fry's to stock our fridges for the week.

Then, I mayyy have settled down for the night with a bowl of peanut butter chocolate ice cream with a side of mint chocolate chip.

Check out the battle wounds! And that's not included the road rash on the back of my knees from the ropes. 

Sunday

Sunday morning, we all caught the 9am sacrament meeting, and doubled the Flagstaff 1st ward. (I don't really know the name of the ward ;)

Then headed to Snowbowl Ski Resort for a little, scenic chairlift ride! (I cannot believe what they charge to ride this thing!! Good thing we had bought a Groupon. Oh wait, NOT a good thing, as we were handed free tickets for it after we finished the race yesterday! Doi!)

Only 4 to a chair allowed. Sianara, boys!

Olive thought this was all kinds of fun. Especially when she learned she could call out "Hiiii!" to the people passing by on the opposite side and get hearty reactions. Especially from the old folks. To which I felt the need to smile and wave, heh heh heh, ugghhh. I really don't like interacting with strangers for no good reason.

 All the families brought sack lunches and ate at the top together. There were some fires causing a lot of haze in the background.



The way down was much scarier to me for some reason. And I had the boys this time who had gotten over their fears on the way up and were more than happy to squirm around and try to change positions. "Just. Sit. STILLL!!" I'd hiss, while trying to soothe my own irrational fears of suddenly plummeting to my death. It took a good half an hour to make it to the bottom, but about 10 minutes before disembarking, I shifted ever so slightly, gently nudging my left flip flop one inch, and off my foot. It noiselessly clattered to the ground at about the same rate my jaw hung open. I could not believe that just happened!!!!! My favorite flip flop!!! Freaking bummer. You're welcome, squirrels. I hope you enjoy gold.

That night we had meatloaf and mashed potatoes courtesy of Sam's Club and joined with the rest of the family at Wayne and Paula's for visiting paired with brownies and cookies.

Monday 

Monday was our last day with Aubrey, Trevor and Gretchen before they had to go back to work. So we decided to be grand and visit that canyon. (I'm so clever.)

I've only been once before when I was 14 or 15 and it was a last minute add on to the end of a very long RV trip. I was so annoyed with my family that I specifically remember getting out, looking at it, and unenthusiastically declaring, "Yep, it looks like the pictures! Let's go!" (Teenagers are the besssst.)

I can definitely say I appreciated it more this time. Minus the paranoia at way too many little bodies running around. That, I could have done without. (OK, if we're going that route, I could also have done without the ridiculous amount of people, no parking, long line to pay and get in, most expensive, mediocre sandwich for lunch and general whining by the children at lack of freedom to run amok.) But that's all. :) 
I'm being negative. I really am glad we went. With cool places, you just expect all those things.

Love this picture.

I'll just copy what I posted on Instagram for this picture.

"Awww, so cute.

No.

Let me tell you what... This was taken just moments after this boy pretended to jerk us backwards. You know, off the edge of the Grand Canyon! I crazy-lady SCREAMED... of course. (Drawing the attention of tourists all around) then started laughing, primarily so I wouldn't cry. Reminds me of a certain Priest/Laurel rappelling activity of our younger years. Oi! He's lucky I'm so dang crazy about him!! #jokester #ifallforiteverytime "

After seeing the views, we loaded back in the car to go back to the little town that is right before the entrance gates of the canyon. There is an IMAX there that had a movie about the Grand Canyon. It was okayyyy. Some cool views that scared Olive, and a little history I'll never remember. Eh. Afterward, we tanked up on McDonald's ice cream and started the long drive back to Flagstaff.

I SO loved the community pool that was just up the street from our house. We all convened there for the rest of the afternoon. After the kids were in bed, we ordered pizza and I watched the Bachelorette finale.

Tuesday

Karen and I went for a run around this lake that is 1/2 mile from where we were staying. When I got back the kids were begging to go too, so we loaded up the jogging stroller and went back to run two more miles.  



We were nice and sweaty by then and ready for hours of fun at the pool!

This kiddie wading pool was 93 degrees- meaning Stephanie friendly. And right beyond it were two pool tables and a ping pong table. And beyond that was a great, little miniature golf course that the kids could run up and do as much as they wanted. Plus a regular swimming pool and hot tub. I was in love.



I did a little shopping at the super fabulous, Flagstaff mall (catch the sarcasm) (Well, obviously it's better than Gallup's, so I'll take my sarcasm back.) Found some cute earrings for me, shoes for Collin and Olive. Oh, and a replacement pair of flip flops for me too.

Long story, but Travis needed a CPR class for his Arizona license and this was the only time he could find one. So he left around 3pm to drive to Phoenix to catch a 6-9pm course.

Then, I cleaned up the house and the kids and got them set with dinner so Wayne could watch them. Us Evans ladies were going out to dinner as Paula's Mother's Day gift to us. Oreganos was chosen and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I never pick Italian, but this place was way better than I remembered it! We did some quick shopping at Ross then headed back. It was really fun getting to hang out with my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law, sans kids. I think this should become Mother's Day tradition! Can't BELIEVE I didn't take a picture!

Travis's course got out an hour early so he got back around 10pm. I don't even know if I had finished my bowl of ice cream yet! I was really grateful though, because I was worried about him. Random fact: he had been crazy sick since we got here. Could barely talk, coughing, sore throat, congestion, etc. I felt so bad for the poor guy. He said he almost choked to death, coughing, on the drive home and had to pull into a Wal-greens for the good stuff.  

Wednesday

Our family went running around the lake again that morning. Then we piled in the car around 9:30am and drove to Walnut Canyon with Reddin and Karen. It's 10 min. away and part of a National Park. You have to pay to go in and do the hikes, but at least as a bonus they had those Kelty kid backpacks that you could rent for free.

So I guess this canyon used to be inhabited hundreds of years ago by Native Americans and some of the villages still stand. They essentially lived under the cliffs and created dugouts in the sides of the mountains. We followed a trail around one mountain. Hiking would be soooo much more enjoyable without steep cliffs. Just saying.

You can see some of the dwellings in the side of the mountain here.

Snack break!

The second "hike" was really just a walk along the edge of the canyon. Pretty views though

Sort of obsessed with these chubber legs and this picture.

Whatcha find there, Olive?!

Back home it was time for Olive's nap and Travis said he didn't mind accompanying her. ;) I was grateful because I was itchin' for the pool! So I blogged poolside while the boys swam that afternoon. That night we did dinner at Chick-fil-a with the Evans. Trav and I may have snuck in Chipotle. We made a fast trip to Target and found Collin some back to school shirts. I think his whole wardrobe is Shaun White.

Us adults finally played some games that night after kids were in bed! Game of choice was Mexican Train dominos. Trav was a champ and joined the table of girls. It can get a little quiet, so to mix it up I announced that whenever you played a double, you had to tell us a random fact about yourself. I learned  (among many other things) that Carrie has perpetual ingrown toenails, Megan wishes she could sell her house and travel the country in an RV, Karen has become a pickier eater with age and Travis loathes personality tests. (Well, I already knew that. He says they don't work on him.) Anyway, and they learned that I hate the hashtag nomnom. Ugh. Even writing that was painful. 

Thursday

I need to mention, yesterday Olive started crying randomly and grabbing at her diaper. We thought maybe she had chaffing from her swimsuit and just bought some cream. Well, this morning it was worse. We suspected a UTI, but weren't sure. I text Shelley about it since her daughter has had several. She gave us some homeopathic tips, but I wasn't sure what to do. We had already planned on going to Bearizona that morning and Wayne was coming with us. We decided to just wait a few more hours and see how she did.

Bearizona is in Winslow and took us about an hour to drive there. It's basically a drive through zoo.

You follow a road through the park which is divided up into different sections of animals. You can keep your windows down except for the bear and wolf sections. The way it's structured, the animals are mostly on the left side of the car, so, being in the front passenger seat, I didn't feel like I got many great pictures.

The kids all got to take turns driving. Probably their favorite part.

Is it just me or is he grumpy?

I would guess it took us about an hour to drive through it all. Then you get to a parking lot and can get out and walk through a more regular zoo part.

This twiggy fox was crackin' me up. Don't even ask me why.

"What does the fox say?!"

The biggest bummer was that you can hop on a bus that takes you through the park with windows down the whole time. It also feeds the animals so they come right up to the bus. Well, we missed it by 10 minutes and it didn't come again for 2 hours. So, that was a wrap!

On the drive home, Olive was pretty hysterical when she needed to pee. It also started to smell awful, which is something Shelley had warned me about. I felt so bad for her. There were only two Urgent Cares and one didn't see kids under 2. The other one told me they couldn't diagnose a UTI if she wasn't potty trained. So, that meant a trip to the ER. Arrrgghhh. I dropped everyone off back at the Wyndam and headed to the Flagstaff hospital. Thankfully, they said they had a sort of Urgent Care within the ER that was willing to see her and would take less time. In all we spent 3 hours there. She was perfectly happy unless she needed to go potty, then it was all out hysterics. I felt so bad for her. I was really impressed with the facility and staff though. Everyone was super nice and accommodating. When it was time for her catheter, she was a banshee. I had to hold her upper body down, while a male nurse held her legs. The nurse who was trying to place it, kept messing up and having to try again. I've never seen any of my children scream that hard- ever. I felt the tears start to spring up in my own eyes. My heart just hurt for her. Finally, the nurse gave up and was satisfied with a sample she got when Olive just ended up peeing through the trauma. It seemed to take forever for the lab to deliver the results, but sure enough the doctor walked in and announced she for sure had a UTI. Handed us a prescription and we were on our way.

She did so good, but the last half hour wasn't so much fun. We were running out of things to do!

Selfies to the rescue!

(Don't worry, I had to leave with her in that purple gown. She LOVED it and when I tried to take her out of it, she had quite the conniption fit. The doctor quickly told me just to keep it. Thankks.)

I got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way back and then got lost trying to find some good Mexican food. We hadn't eaten all day and were starving! She finally fell asleep and I found it.  Filibertos style. Everyone was at the pool when we got back. Travis left to get the prescription and I tried to eat my food while Olive laid in my lap. The burrito was so yummy. Those tortillas are my favorite. And the carnitas fries hit. the. spot. Just wish I could have eaten some of it without Olive crying. I finally gave up and retreated to our house. The first pharmacy Travis went to didn't have the prescription so it ended up taking him forever. I was so tired of the screaming, I could have torn my hair out. I had already fed the kids and bathed Olive, so when he got back I numbly walked into our bedroom and shut the door. I didn't plan on falling asleep, but that I did. For the night. I felt bad, but couldn't begrudge 11 hours of sleep too much.

Friday

We did a family run around the lake again that morning. 4 miles! I was proud of us! Travis headed up a cousin kick ball game while I went to get the car washed and some probiotics for Olive. Then we all headed to the pool. After about an hour, dark clouds loomed and lightening struck. The employees said we had to vacate. Gosh dang lightening! I guess it ended up being OK, because we all showered and ate lunch then headed to the movie theaters to see the new Minions movie. It was the first movie we ever took Olive to and she did alright! Well, between hopping laps and stuffing herself with lethal amounts of sugar, who wouldn't be content?

(That is Weston saying, "BA-NA-NAAAAAS!!!" You'll have to see the movie if that made no sense at all. ;)

That night we stayed up late again playing dominos... Chicken Foot this time. I truly was so sad to go to bed and know it was over. We would be heading to Oceanside in the morning, but even the prospect of the beach didn't assuage me much. It had been SUCH a fun week. Races. Grand Canyon. Chair lifts. Yummy food. Bears. Dominos. Pool. Golf. Girls Night. Hiking. Movies. Family time, both extended and immediate. I just loved it. We are so lucky! Thank you, Wayne and Paula for providing such a wonderful vacation for all of us!!! It is great to be an Evans!