A Canyon, so Grand.

To escape the awful winter weather plaguing Minnesota we
traveled to Las Vegas to visit Susie and Chris during the University spring break. We were greeted with warm weather 70 degrees or so, and sun, making for the perfect remedy to our wintertime funk. Our first trip with Collin was quite the learning experience, schooling us in infant traveling long before we arrived in Las Vegas. As it turns out, for those of you who haven't traveled with 10 month olds, they have a whole lotta stuff. Serious amounts of stuff. Just to get Collin out the door we had the pack'n'play, the traveling high chair, a car seat, a very large piece of luggage packed with all things baby, a stroller, the breast pump, a diaper bag, the external frame hiking pack and the list continues...and then there we were, crammed into one smaller suitcase bringing along the bare minimum. Just to get to the ticket counter to check our bags we needed help,we couldn't even carry all of his stuff. Nothing looks more pathetic than the stroller, bogged down with four bags with parents praying out loud that the little guy in the stroller is enough of a counter balance to keep it all from toppling over. Meanwhile, Drew is dragging two suitcases, with the pack'n'play precariously stacked on top of both of them, while wearing the external pack without the baby in it, strapped down with the camera bag, computer bag and baby toys squeaking as he traipsed toward the check counter. Meanwhile, Aaron, Drew's friend who took us to the airport had pity on us and dragged the remaining suitcase and carried the car seat to the ticket counter. After what seemed like a day of dragging our goods, we made it to the counter and quickly deposited four of our monstrous totes with the baggage folks. We were so relieved to be rid of them, if only temporarily, I nearly did a little dance. The rest of our journey in the airport became a collection of drop offs. First we were able to lose the large ones, and at the gate we were able to gate check the stroller and external pack, allowing us to actually get on the plane with only three bags! The diaper bag, breast pump and camera bag. By the time we actually sat down we felt like we had struck gold!



On our flight Collin did well, and when we arrived in Las Vegas we were happy to put down all of our heavy and cumbersome luggage and relax. We soaked up some sun and Collin took his first swim in Aunt Susie and Uncle Chris's pool. After spending a few days filling up on sunshine, naps and eating ice cream, we headed out to the Grand Canyon. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday exploring the rim and local trails above the canyon.
The grand canyon is strange because, well, its SO RIDICULOUSLY GRAND. As we approached the rim we were overtaken with a surreal sense of phantom green screen. I wanted to reach out and rip down the screen. It was rather odd. I realize the grand canyon is real, but it is so enormous that the surreal nature of viewing the canyon seems fake. On the second day we had the same experience. My little brain just couldn't get around how big it was.
Our first day at the Grand Canyon also happened to be Susie's birthday. We were happy to spend it with her and to help her celebrate we took her to the historic El Tovar restaurant in the Grand Canyon Village, where we enjoyed a great dinner and reveled over a beautiful day on the rim.






Collin loved his pack as we trekked along the canyon. He fell asleep for his first nap soon after we started out on our hike and woke up to some spectacular views of the canyon. The skies were bright, the sun was out and we were enjoying every minute of the un-Minnesota like weather and amazing views. While we were on the Rim trails we ran into a handful of Elk peru-sing the grass after the fresh snow. During the evening as we made our way to El Tovar for dinner we encountered a handful of mule deer up close and personal. We enjoyed the wildlife and the scenery and almost forgot for 5 minutes that we were committed to jobs and Minnesota cold almost 2000 miles from where we stood. The canyon was in transition from winter to spring, with a fresh blanket of snow covering the rim and spring showers melting down the side of the canyon walls making for a collection of small waterfalls that serenaded us as we walked along the paths.
Collin did especially well during the few days we were at the canyon, we were amazed at how well he adjusted to the time schedule, lack of naps and feeding schedule. The poor kid was thrown for a loop, but nevertheless, he kept his little smile and carried on with us like a little trooper. A handful of people commented on how good of a baby he was, and we were again reminded how lucky we are to have such a pleasant little guy.
Our few days at the Grand Canyon went by quickly- we wished we could have spent more time hiking and looking at the pristine environment. In general though, we were happy to have spent the time we could there. Drew and I are particularly thankful to have jobs that allow us to take such memorable trips and create wonderful family memories for Collin. It made for a grand experience, at the grand canyon.