Into the Canyon

For the 4th of July weekend my parents went and got us a camping site in the Oak Creek Canyon. The drive there is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! Here are some snap shots as we drove down there on Thursday the 3rd. Not even five minutes after we got there, I was seated comfortably in my camping chair and Gracie puked all over me. AND I only brought 2 outfits since I was only going to be there 2 days. Thank goodness Connie brought extra clothes.
My mom took us down to the creek so I could wash out my clothes and so William could explore. Here William is leading the way, even though he does not know it.
and here is Gracie with a saltine cracker we gave her hoping to settle her stomach, "look mom, no hands!"Grandma and William after they crossed the creek. Gracie actually liked putting her feet in the water even though it was FREEZING.
And William, of coarse, loved throwing rocks in the water.

We went exploring down the creek looking for some good spots.
We found one. Russ actually hiked up and around and came down through that natural door you can see behind him. This is where he was later jumping into the water, and I did too if you can believe that.

When we came back Gracie was asleep in my mom's arms, but woke up promptly when I started to take the picture.
When we came back I convinced Connie to go down to the creek with me to read. I sat in the water and she sat on the edge. That was such a beautiful and relaxing place to read. When we got back Gracie wanted to play with Connie.
and so did William
Connie let my Dad listen to some of the Golden Oldies that she has on her ipod. I noticed him getting teary eyed and told Connie. When she asked him about it he said he was listening to -Save the Last Dance for Me- and was thinking of when he and my mom were dating and she was still in High School and he had graduated and had to work out of town. He said that when she was going to go to a dance with someone else in school he said, "you can dance with Wade, but don't forget to save the last dance for me." He got all choked up saying it again, it was very sweet.
Not too much later my brother Mark showed up with his lovely wife Ashley and the kids were pretty happy. Look how much Gracie likes him.
YOU!

Then when the sun went down we roasted marshmallows. This is something that Russ loves doing and has perfected it and made it an art. After William watched Russ put a marshmallow on a stick and start roasting it he came over to show me the stick he found.

Good thing he was not interested in roasting it, just eating it.

Here is Russ admiring his work. His marshmallows really are the best.
In fact, here is Mark enjoying a smore made with two of Russ' marshmallows and Mark doesn't even really like smores.

As I leaned in to take a picture with William he leaned away and I said, "don't lean away, you can touch my head." Then he put his hand on my chin. Oh funny William.
It was a great first day. Gracie and William both slept okay but William just moves A LOT! I don't sleep that well away from my bed so I was happy when the sun was starting to come up.

More on the trip tomorrow!