::Lava, we're gonna do it all day::

I'll explain the title of this post a little later.
While we were in St. George we decided to take a drive out to Flagstaff Arizona to see what it was like. We'd heard that it has four seasons, which we like and was high up in the mountains, and we like mountains. And since we're only a short two years away from actually deciding where we want to be, we are trying to check out some of the places in the west we might be interested in.

So anyway, we headed out for an overnight visit to Flagstaff. It was a very interesting drive. First we went through Zion's, which of course is incredible looking.

I love how even the road is red.

Then we drove out through the Navajo reservation and saw some more really amazing landscape. The desert red rocks and mesas and stuff are so striking. Its hard to take pictures of some of that stuff--it's almost too much for a camera to take in.

We got to our hotel in Flagstaff and then decided we'd like to go on a hike. There's a famous old volcano crater just outside the city, so we went over there.
I wore the wrong shoes.

But I was tough, so I survived. Don't look too close at my dorky toes please.
It wasn't a tough hike, but it was very cool looking out there.
There were piles of the old lava rock everywhere.

The crater itself was a very cool color--which is probably why they call it "sunset crater"

Max wore himself out running way ahead of us, and finally just had to be carried most of the way.

Little did we know that he had the stomach flu and would wake up the next morning and throw up all day. Good thing we didn't know.



We couldn't really figure out what his deal was. Oh well.

He made up a song while he was riding on Kris's shoulders that went "LaVA, we're gonna DO it ALL DAY" and sang it over and over and over, very loudly the whole way. It was funny.

After the hike. All that shoulder riding must've been very dehydrating.

After our hike we went and had dinner (good yummy mexican food) and went to bed, planning to take a good look at the city in the morning. Then as you already know, Max decided to throw up. All morning. When he finally stopped throwing up for more than about 15 minutes we quickly threw him in the car and hurried away. We drove through the city a little bit, but after he threw up in the car we decided it was time to head back. So I don't even have any good pictures of Flagstaff. We liked it though. It was small and kind of interesting with lots of pretty trees. I do have a tree picture.

Just imagine a city where most of the buildings are hidden behind trees like this. That's the jist of Flagstaff. Or at least that's our impression after spending about 12 hours there.

We had to skip the grand canyon on the way back, but we made it to St. George without any more big problems, luckily.

Doesn't it seem like little kids always get sick on trips? And always at such inconvenient times? Remember what happened to me at Disney World?!?......Blah

::Fun in St. George Pt. 2::

Wow! This post has been a long time coming, hasn't it? Well hopefully it lives up to the suspense that I've created.
We had a great time in St. George as I said before, even though by now it was forever ago.
One morning Kris and Max went on a pretend bike ride and then read some stories. Here they are dressed in their biking finery. This picture is so cute!!

"Put me in the Zoo" is Max's current favorite book. We've all read it to him about a zillion times on this trip and he knows it absolutely by heart.
Later that morning they went and played some baseball. Max has a ways to go with both pitching and hitting.

He thinks he knows how to do it because of the Wii.



Maxes pitches are what you could call a "little" low.

Except for this one!

It's cute to see them play together. Kris is very patient.
The baseball game got interrupted when Max spotted a snail. He'd never seen a snail before so it was really exciting. They caught it and put it into a jar.

It made him a little nervous at first.

He was very interested in the snail's "backpack" and what it was for. It was fun to talk about snails a little bit. He's so interested in everything right now.



They found a few more and added them to the jar. Later that night the snails slimed out and went back to their snaily business.

Last but certainly not least Max got to go on a "slow" ride around the block with grandpa Ken on his motorcycle. This is a rare and exciting treat.
Here he is looking very concerned because the bike wouldn't start.

It needed a push. Lucky Kris got to push it.

They somehow avoided running over the little old lady that was walking down the street. It was a close one though.

It started up so Max got placed back into his seat.

He held on tight.

Grandpa did keep his eyes open for most of the ride.
This is my favorite picture. He looks worried, but I don't really think he was. He's a pretty trusting little guy. And he loves things that drive. I love the motion here.

Well, we will definitely be back to St. George, and nobody will have to twist our arms.

::Fun in St. George Pt.1::

We just got back from a week long visit to St. George. Kris's mom and dad have a condo down there where they like to spend a lot of time, especially in the winter. Actually, they're going to be moving down there more permanently after we leave UT, but that's a story for another day.
The week was great because as those of you that live in utah county know, the weather there during memorial day was cold and rainy. Which translated in St. George to cool and pleasant. Just the way I like it out there.
Today's post will concentrate on the funnest feature of the condo, which is the communal pool. Everyone loves it, especially Max. Max did a lot of swimming last summer because we belonged to a fitness club that had a couple of outdoor pools. It was just a short walk from our house so we went there all the time. As a result Max feels very confident in the pool, and is able to have tons of fun.
He was tall enough this time to actually walk in the shallow end which made him really proud of himself.

We had to force him to put on his waterwings--and he would only agree to do it in the deep end.


He made up all these great "dives"--you know, all the same jumps that we all made up at the swimming pool when we were little--jumping in all straight, backwards, spinning, etc. etc. He was so brave with jumping in. Nothing slowed him down. He actually made me nervous several times because he jumped in with such complete abandon.

Swimming is such a fun activity to do with Max because everybody has a good time. This is unlike a lot of small kid activities that sometimes have to be endured. We all like swimming. Grandparents included.
Here are some more fun shots for you.



I love this one, he just looks like such a cute little fish or a puppy or something!

Max and his Grandpa--Grandpa Ken was very helpful in making up crazy jumps with crazy names.

We're going to have to find a pool somewhere in Rhode Island!