Whirlwind Tour of the Desert Southwest

Our road trip begins

Athena wanted to go first so she could Avi how it's done

Sometimes all it takes is an escalator to get a smile from Avi

It was pretty hard to keep with all the energy of these kids

Athena is all smiles during the tour

Quick shot of the ladies while we wait for the elevator

The boys keep it super silly underground in the dam

Avi gets in on Fred and Georgina's picture

Fred, Claudia, and Georgina enjoyed the dam tour

Avi loved the diorama of the dam being built

Inside, Avi makes electricity with magnet power

A pretty great view of just how large the dam is

The new bridge over Hoover Dam

Athena takes a rock while waiting for everyone in the loo

I thought this picture really captured the colors

Avi continues his streak of silly pictures

Avi was super glad there were railings to play on

I was super glad there were railings for another reason

Avi wanted it to look like he was escaping from the rocks

Grandeur!

The Ankrahs looking good

Almost the whole gang

This is only a fraction of the view

Georgina gives us her next top model look

Emmanuel keeps us laughing all the time

Athena is on top of the world

Avi and Georgina had a blast together

We look pretty good after so many hours in the car

Avi was actually speechless.

Athena is a super poser

She can really pull off the crazy eyes

Breathtaking

Words can't really capture the beauty

When Fred's nieces mentioned they wanted to visit for Fall break, I was all for it. I secretly love doing "touristy" things. I love acting as a tour guide. I actually think the desert is beautiful. Don't get me wrong, the Rocky Mountains will always hold a special place in my heart. But, I have grown to love the colors of the Southwest. I even find Joshua trees interesting. When I started planning activities to do over the holiday weekend, I knew we needed to see all the best Arizona and Nevada have to offer. Hoover Dam often brings up bad memories of hours spent stuck in traffic waiting for all those annoying tourists to slow down and take pictures. This trip I decided, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So, we took the dam tour. It was pretty fun going underground and seeing how much work went into getting the dam built in a short five years. After we had our fill of dam pictures, we drove up to Las Vegas. Since we only had a day, we crammed as much as we could into twenty-four hours. Of course, I forgot my camera when we hit the strip. Take my word for it, it was pretty fun. The Bellagio was gorgeous in its Fall colors. The girls (Claudia and Georgina) really enjoyed the water show. We even found time for a late night swim. First thing the next morning we drove back over the dam on our way to the Grand Canyon. A mere five hours later, we were at the South Rim. I am a bit ashamed to say that even though I have lived nearby my whole life, I had never been to the Grand Canyon before. What an amazing place. We were lucky enough to arrive at sunset. It really was a revelation. How could I have never been before? It was worth the drive and then some. More than seeing the sights, we earned a new respect for the beauty that we are surrounded by on a daily basis. I am so glad the girls came to visit us. They gave us an opportunity to see things around us with a fresh perspective. It also gave a chance to spend some much needed time together, and isn't that really what family vacations are all about?

Avi loved noodle time.

Jonah was a natural in the water.

Athena learned to swim with her face in the water.

Grace loved her snorkel goggles. Her teacher, not so much...

Grace lived up to her name, moving like a dancer in the water.

Avi got a lot of one on one time.

Athena and Jonah were in the same class for two weeks.

Avi had a great time with Miss Katy.

Athena loved diving in.

There was a lot of action.

This summer I determined we would not go another summer stuck in the house. This is hard to do when you live in Arizona without a pool. Lucky for me, the city of Peoria has an affordable aquatics program. I wanted my kids to become better swimmers. Luckily, Tia wanted the same for her kids. So, I didn't have to suffer through the heat alone. Did I forget to mention that the swim lessons were outside in June and July? The earliest we could schedule all of the kids at the same time was 11:30 a.m. It wasn't easy sitting in the heat, even if I was in the shade. But, it was definitely worth it. By the end of two weeks, both Athena and Avi showed marked improvement. Athena learned how to dive. She even showed Avi a thing or two. It only took four weeks of lessons for Avi to venture into Ty's pool without his life vest. He is now swimming everywhere without it. Turns out, the heat was a small price to pay for safety. I even got the bonus of getting my kids out of the house in the middle of an Arizona summer and expended all of their pent up energy. All hail swim lessons!

A New Fruity Experience

Emmanuel is not really a fan of grapefruits.

He is a fan of funny faces.

It was pretty sour.

I must say they are adventurous kids.

Athena is always aware of the camera, even mid-bite.

All it needs is a bit of sugar.

Even Avi gave it a shot.

Even with all the sugar, it is still too sour for him.

Still willing to try it.

Sugar seems to fix everything for Avi.

I grew up in Utah, where citrus trees are nowhere to be found. I have always had issues with various citrus fruits and their texture. So, it comes as little surprise that I never liked grapefruits. I was willing to try them as a young child, with mixed results. I was put off of grapefruits in my later childhood. My parents often bought grapefruit juice in large metal tins. I will never forget the time when Tia took a long swallow of grapefruit juice straight from the can, only to realize the juice was rusty. I can still see the nasty, dark brown tinge in my mind. Hence, my aversion to all things grapefruit. We are a fruit-loving family. My kids often eat frozen grapes in the summer and cry with delight whenever fresh strawberries are on sale. So, it seems odd that they have never tried a grapefruit. It is simply because I refuse to eat them, and therefore refuse to buy them. Last week Emmanuel's friend, Gabby, gave our family a bag of my childhood nemesis. Since I knew I would never try them, I talked the kids into giving it a shot. Our time in Ghana had prepared the kids for adventurous eating. They were actually excited to try something new. The excitement only lasted until the sour juice exploded in their mouths. It was fun to see them experience something new. That is one of the greatest joys of being a parent. Seeing something I have long despised as exhilarating and fun was quite an event. I was inspired to try a bite myself. In the end, it was decided that with a lot of sugar and an open mind, grapefruits were something everyone could enjoy.