Spring Break

Troy and I actually had a whole day off together during spring break, so we loaded up the car and the kids and headed to spend the day at Pipe Springs in Fredonia, AZ.  The last time I went there was for an Easter trip with my family when I was 7, I remember bit and pieces about the place and the last few times I've driven by I have wanted to take the kids there.  We went on a tour through the fort and learned all about how the pioneers would protect and provide for themselves while at the fort.  The 1st telegraph in the area also began at Pipe Springs.  We went on a short hike that was very steep and rocky, Tanner kept saying "Mom, I just love this trail!" The kids had fun finding all the pictures on their Junior Ranger paper, and Kason could have stayed all day and watched the ducks in the pond dive upside down looking for food.  We had to keep a tight hold on him, or he would've ended up in the pond with them!  We ate our lunch out on the picnic tables and then headed over to Kanab and to the sand dunes.
At first, we were the only ones out on the dunes, and the kids loved it! Except for when they wind would blow hard and blast us with sand.  We climbed up onto one of the tallest dunes and Tanner ran all the way up....Braxton decided it would be fun to run all the way down....I wish I had been recording him....he ran all the way and then biffed it so hard at the bottom and probably slid a good ten feet, face down in the sand! That right there was worth the drive over, and my very first bee sting I got as we were leaving! His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose and every other crevase was full of sand, we laughed so hard and Tanner asked him if he would do it again!
It took Kason a bit to decide just what he thought about the sand, but he loved it and probably consumed a small handful everytime he'd pick up a little snack he had dropped. 
We were tired, full of sand and little sunburned when we got home, but we had such a fun day and can't wait to go back and play again!

Had to have a picture of the sand packed booger on his face!

Practicing our walking skills...won't be long before he takes right off!

I have to document my very first bee sting.  I don't know if it was an African sand bee or just what, but it got about twice this size and when the redness, itching, and hard bump left  a week later, it left behind a nice little bruise!