The Young and the Restless

Parents of 8

We decided to take Jake and Shay up to Flagstaff and Sedona for the weekend so they could try snowboarding and experience a little of Arizona's beauty. We invited Hannah and Marlee to tag along, just 'cause we love them. Sitting at Five Guys for lunch and looking around at our big crew, I was overwhelmed with one thought, "holy crap this is a lot of humans we are responsible for".  Jason went up early with half the kids to go snowboarding. Kylie and Marlee had AZ merit testing and soccer so we met them up there later that night. 

The next day we went to the Walnut Canyon Indian Ruins. The ones we so fondly refer to as "the ruins that Carson peed on" from when we were there last. It really is a pretty remarkable place and hard to imagine how so many people could not only live, but thrive, in these cliff side dwellings.

Ryder spent the majority of the time pretending he was an Indian, carefully hammering away with a stick and stone everywhere we went.

When he wasn't busy hammering, he was striking poses and requesting that I take his picture. This age is my favorite.

I mean, like how is it even possible to scale these cliffs to create and reach those dwellings, especially with babies and supplies strapped on their backs?  And I complain that I have to haul laundry up and down the stairs.

We took a detour to Sedona, one of the most beautiful pockets of Arizona with it's towering red rocks. Slide Rock is always a draw, even when the water is ice cold.

We died laughing when going through the pictures and came across this candid shot. Total Calvin Klein photo shoot material.

This was my favorite part of the day. As most unplanned moments are. We all eventually ended up here warming up in the sun, eating M&M's and people watching while we became the self appointed DJ's for this party. Shay brought his speaker and I think everyone would agree that the only thing that could make a day like this better is having Fifth Harmony and The Chainsmokers join the fun. Just a total chill and relaxed moment.

We ended the day with a hike to Devil's Bridge (and Taco Bell, but that's irrelevant). It ended up being longer than we had anticipated and we had a scary incident with Maddox getting lost on the way back. Only we didn't realize how scary it was because we didn't know he was lost. He was walking with the girls, then Jayden and I decided to run the rest of the way back and as we passed the girls we asked if he wanted to run with us. He only ran a short distance then said he was tired so I told him to stay with the girls and we went ahead. He said he didn't hear me say that and after walking for a minute tried to run and catch up, but ended up being alone and scared for most of the way back.  Thankfully he had the sense to turn at the right place and thankfully the stranger he met on the trail wasn't a danger and alerted the girls that there was a lost boy, and thankfully he was able to catch up to Jake and Shay who weren't too far ahead of him. Thankful for guardian angels when this situation could have ended a lot worse. Besides that, the hike was serene and beautiful and the bridge itself was incredible. Although it gave my mama heart a little anxiety seeing my babies up there so high, but Jason took good care of them. It was a quiet ride home as everyone was exhausted from a long day of exploring, those are the best kind of days.