Going Shopping

Ella has taken to getting out this purse, putting her phone in it and saying "bye bye". Huh. Wonder where she got that.....

Bye, bye, Sarah!

We said good-bye to Sarah this morning as she headed back to snowy, chilly PA. We'll see her again in one month for Christmas in Michigan! We usually have a big night out on Sarah's last night, but after our long weekend, we opted for a quiet night in. We had Raising Cane's chicken fingers for dinner, a tandem bath, and movie night. It was a very peaceful end to a very fun, very busy week!

Road Trip!

After sending off Babcia and Dzia dzia on the Friday night after Thanksgiving, we piled into the van early Saturday and headed off to the Grand Canyon! We anticipated about a 4 hour drive, and it took us around 5 hours (plus pit stops). It took an hour less to get back home.

The shortest distance between Vegas and the Grand Canyon entails a trip across the Hoover Dam. Sarah jumped out to get a few pictures taken!


After way too many hours in the car, we finally made it! Aunt Jen met us in Tusayan and came with us for a short visit to the canyon.




We spent the night in Flagstaff and on our drive from the canyon to Flag, we passed a herd of elk along the road! It was so cool! Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos. Daddy, Sarah, and Aunt Jen went up to the Lowell Observatory for a little star gazing (Pluto was discovered here).

After breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Sunday morning (we don't have any in Vegas), a little reminscining around Flagstaff, and we headed back to Vegas. Along the way we stopped for lunch at Mr. D'z in Kingman, AZ. Mr. D'z harkens to Route 66's golden days and was most recently made "famous" on the Oprah show. We had the infamous Mr. D'z root beer and some delicious hamburgers. It was a fun stop along the way!





On the drive between Kingman and Vegas, we were lucky to spot a mountain goat/ram in the rocks near the Hoover Dam! I've driven over the dam many, many times always looking for a ram and I FINALLY SAW ONE! My Hoover Dam crossing life is complete.

It was a long, but fun weekend. Ella got a chance to spend more than 30 minutes in her car seat -- practicing for the 5 hour plane trip out east over Christmas. All I can say is PLEASE PRAY FOR US AND EVERYONE ON THAT PLANE! :-)

We're now busy planning our next expedition -- Lake Havasu, Zion National Park, Oatman, AZ and the San Diego Zoo are all on our "to see" lists! Now we just have to decide where to go next...

The Magical Forest

After the movie, we gathered the troops and headed to the Magical Forest. It is a beautiful winter wonderland of lights, decorations, and rides.



Sarah rode the really big slide and Ella took her first turn on a carousel.





We all rode the Magical Express train and got a picture with Frosty the Snowman (who apparently is not nearly as scary as Santa!).



And then we walked through the Magical Forest itself.

Happy Thanksgving!

Our Thanksgiving day was packed with activities and was fairly non-traditional. We spent the morning making the gingerbread house and hanging out watching the Macy's parade.



Around 11 AM (much earlier than planned) we took advantage of Ella's non-napping schedule and headed to our Thanksgiving meal at the Rampart Casino Buffet. It was delicous!



They had a chocolate fountain and Sarah took advantage of it! Ella practiced using a fork on the strawberries and Sarah shared her chocolate covered ones with her little sister.




We played by the fountain in the hotel...



After our feast, the girls headed to the movies to see "Enchanted" and we were definitely enchanted! It is a fantastic movie -- we all loved it!

I was a bit disappointed not to be making my own turkey, but I had no dishes, no stress, no sore feet -- just lots and lots of fun!