Remember that time when I actually blogged?

Oops. I'm actually a terrible blogger. I'll admit it. It's been.....three months. I'm the worst. But late is better than never, right?

The last time I updated this thing was in May when we were in Colorado. Sheesh. That feels like a lifetime ago. We spent a week in Durango, Colorado after our Disneyland week. It was great. It snowed (like really snowed), which was very welcome after our deadly hot week previous. We swam in the indoor pool and then went to the Pagosa hot springs. They were really neat. There were about 20 or so different pools all at different temperatures.

Snow and hot tubs. Reminds me of my childhood. We used to have snowball fights in bathing suits and then jump in the hot tub. Remember, siblings?

This was cool. I already want to go back. 

Crazy face. 

And then, because they're awesome, Jonathan, Lisa and kids drove all the way to Colorado to meet us for a few days. We were SO happy that they did. They got to celebrate Matt's birthday with us and they kids loved seeing each other again. 

I just want to eat her up.

Lisa bought all these moustaches for us and forced us to wear them. It reminded me of when we were kids and my mum made us all wear Groucho Marx glasses whenever we picked up someone from the airport or ferry. I actually loved it. 

Love these Marshalls.

Matt looks creepy. 

Taylor actually loved wearing his. I don't think he took it off for the rest of the day. 

After they left, we continued on our way to southern New Mexico. The home of the Carlsbad Caverns. There are really incredible caves that are football field sized and there are several different hikes or walks you can choose from. We did the most level/easy walk for the sake of Hayden and Sawyer. I think we'll go back in 5 years or so and do some proper spelunking. Either way, these were not to be missed. They were definitely a highlight of the trip. 

The cool walk into the caves. 

They had it very dimly lit, so it looked amazing but conditions were not very photo friendly. 

We hiked a total of 3 miles in the caves. Even Sawyer kept pointing out all the stalagmites and stalactites. He could even tell you the difference.

There were so many more pictures I wanted to get but we couldn't use the flash, and it was really hard to get a non-blurry picture. This is the best I got. Next time we go I'll bring a tripod. 

After New Mexico, we drove down to Fort Worth, Texas. On the way, we found what can only be described as Radiator Springs.

I swear the Disney artists took a field trip to this exact spot. We walked all the way into the cavern and yelled random things like "Oliver stinks" to hear the echo. He pretended he was mad but actually thought it was funny. 

So, I swear the minute we got into Texas, the humidity changed. It was a very nice, enjoyable dry heat until Texas. It was so muggy there. Blech. We were there at the end of May and it was....gross. The locals didn't seem to notice, obviously, but we felt an immediate change. Turns out humidity is not my favourite.

Rodeo! It was even more fun than I thought it would be. 

He's just a cute little cowboy. 

Oh yeah. And there was a market that sold EVERYTHING. Even puppies. I really wanted this one but Matt said no :(

But I did buy a cowboy hat. I just felt like I had to. So now, in the past 3 months I've worn it a total of....twice. I think I'm going to be a cowgirl for every Halloween from now on. 

Because we apparently just didn't have enough humidity in Texas, we figured, "Hey, let's go to New Orleans in June." It was gross. but the city itself was pretty rad so I guess it evened itself out. 

Because that's traditional alligator garb. 

Oliver really didn't like it. It was real, after all, just dead. He thought it was going to go all zombie on him. I blame 2013 for the irrational fear that anyone and anything might be a zombie in disguise. 

How pretty is this place? It was so charming. 

We did a gator tour. It was actually more fun than I was expecting. I thought it would be boring but our guide was awesome and we learned that alligators like marshmallows. More than like, it's actually just easy for gators to see them floating on the water. 

They also do tricks for raw chicken. 

This gator was 5 years old. They grow very slowly in the wild because they often go several months without food. 

How cool is that? The guide said that he never used to tape the mouths because a gator this size would never attack a human, but he is now legally obligated too. He also said that if the gator wanted to bite, the tape would do nothing. 

Pretty pretty pretty in the French Quarter. 

And a whole lotta handsome, too. 

For breakfast we bought like 10 beignets. Kinda like French deep fried donuts covered in icing sugar. They were amazing. Worth a trip just for these things. (They have them at Disneyland too, so you could just go there.)

After we were finished in Louisiana, we headed along the water. We pulled over in Mississippi to stick our feet in the Atlantic ocean. It was like bath water. Warmer, maybe. The Gulf of Mexico was incredibly warm and pretty. 

Even in the stormy weather it was awesome. 

Then we just kept on driving. Somewhere in Alabama, we suddenly heard a LOUD noise coming from the motorhome. It was so loud we though something was really wrong, so we pulled over on the side on the freeway to check it out. It was dark by this point. The shoulder we pulled over onto was very grassy, so we hopped out onto the grass to open the hood. Within seconds, our feet felt like we had jumped into fire. There were these evil little (tiny) bugs all over our feet and were attacking us with everything they had. I'm not sure if they were fire ants or not, but they were really awful. We washed out feet off as quickly as we could, but for the next 2 weeks (no exaggeration) our feet were just covered in these huge white pustules. They were painful and itchy and...well, just gross. Alabama has some horrible bugs. 

Luckily, though, our engine trouble turned out to just be a loose spark plug and Matt was able to quickly fix it and we were on our way. 

We wanted to do a few days in Pensacola, Florida. But as we were driving there, we got caught in a really nasty hurricane and didn't feel like it was safe to continue driving towards to shore. So we sadly went north instead of south. We might just go in February when we're sick of all the snow. 

So we went right into Georgia for some southern charm and peaches. Savannah is just a breathtaking, quaint city with so much old charm and beauty. We picnicked in Forsyth park which didn't disappoint. 

From Georgia, we drove up to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. This whole little tourist town was great. Friendly, lots to do and see, and perfect temperatures.  

Look! See, I said I would wear the cowboy hat one more time. 

The beach here was almost tropical. It was just so so warm and perfectly wavy. 

Kids just get more and more fun the older they get. I've said it before, but they really do turn into your best friends. 

This is already an annoyingly long post because I'm trying to catch up on months of patheticness when it comes to writing this blog. There's obviously still much more to write about, which I WILL do. Soon. Promise!

Get your kicks...

We followed route 66 from Calico to the Grand Canyon. We listened to Natalie Cole's version of "Route 66" more times than necessary, for obvious reasons. I actually bought the whole album, remembered every lyric to every song, and thought of my mom the whole way.

Remember how I mentioned that it was 40+ degrees at Disneyland? Well, less than a week later, we found ourselves at the Grand Canyon and it was freezing. It was snowing on and off all day. Mother nature sure threw us for a loop. The older kids thought it was great, but Sawyer was less than impressed. With the weather, that is. They all loved the Canyon.

No matter how many pictures you see, videos you watch, or people you talk to, nothing can actually prepare you for looking down into the Canyon. It literally took my breath away. It's dizzying. I honestly felt a little nauseous, but in a good way.

Like I said, no picture will ever do it justice, but we have to try.  Matt gets the credit for this. 

This crazy was in the goofiest mood. 

I almost want to frame this one. 

For some reason, Sawyer was afraid of the man who was taking our picture for us. It was weird. 

His favourite ever bear hat has been put away since we left Victoria. He was so excited to wear it.

Matt couldn't help but hike down lower. It's a good thing I was there, because if he was alone, he wouldn't have been able to resist the urge to explore and would have found himself deep in the Canyon in the dark with no food or water. Taking the boys for a week long hike down there one day is the newest item on his bucket list. 

There is this gorgeous old lookout that we went too. We got there a bit too late in the day, and it was closed, but it was still worth seeing.

Monument Valley. John Wayne filmed several movies here. Doesn't it just make the perfect background for a spaghetti western? It was a crystal clear, blue sky day. We had lunch in a restaurant that had giant windows and Navajo fry bread. It was picture perfect. 

 

See the necklace I'm wearing? On the way to Monument Valley, there was a jewellery stand on the side of the road. There were tables and tables of handmade, genuine turquoise necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Matt loves turquoise, partly because of his time on the reservation, and partly because he just loves the colour. He's been telling me for years that one day he'd bring me to New Mexico and buy me some turquoise jewellery. He was very insistent on picking it out, which I love. 

After we left Monument Valley, we drove down to Shiprock, New Mexico. It's part of the Navajo Nation. Matt spent about 6 months living in Shiprock more than 10 years ago as a missionary for our church. He really fell in love with the people and the culture, and was really excited to show it to us. I loved hearing stories about the families there and seeing places he remembers so fondly.

The rock! This is why the town is called Shiprock. 

Then on to Colorado. Matt was singing Rocky Mountain High and I was embarrassed because the only John Denver song I know is Country Roads. Apparently everyone knows Rocky Mountain High. I blame my parents. In Colorado is this incredible place called Mesa Verde (green table in Spanish). The Anasazi, or Pueblo peoples lived here hundreds of years ago. Their homes were built into the side of the mountain. It was really incredible to see this different way of life. There are several hikes you can take, all of them including large scales up mountain sides using tall ladders. We really wanted to do one, but the kid were too young (well, Sawyer and Hayden were- Oliver would have loved it) so we did a small and family friendly walk instead. 

Because Mesa Verde is a national park, they have a Junior Park Ranger program, where the kids need to fill out facts they've learned at the park, spot wildlife, and do a nature scavenger hunt. They enjoyed doing it, and they got their badges, which are now proudly pinned to their jackets. 

Here you can climb a ladder down into one of the underground homes that the Pueblo people built for shelter. 

Learning how to grind grains and corn. It reminded me of an oversized mortar and pestle. 

It was one of those places that makes you incredibly grateful for our modern conveniences, yet amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of these ancient people. We are really looking forward to going back once our kids are older so that we can do a full day hike. 

We are currently in Durango, Colorado. We have been really struggling to find a place with a solid internet connection, and Matt was feeling pretty behind on some work. With it being the off season for skiing, but not quite summer, we found a pretty affordable ski condo rental. We are staying here for a week so Matt can work and the boys can get a lot of school done as well. We are almost finished our curriculum! Home schooling for the win! Let me just say I have a new appreciation for both school teacher and home school parents. 

Jonathan and Lisa and kids (my bro and his fam jam) are coming tonight to stay for the weekend and celebrate Matt's birthday with us tomorrow. We will play Super Smash Bros and Scattergories and eat cereal, greek salad and pie all weekend. 

On Monday we leave for the Pagosa Hot Springs (there are 23 different springs here!) and then after that it's due East! I'm missing the ocean already.