Legoland

Zach and I brought back a terrible souvenir from our trip to Arizona: the H1N1 flu virus.  Even though we'd both had the shot in the fall, the flu still managed to hit us hard.  Thank God for Lauren because I don't know how the kids would have been fed or bathed or cared for if she hadn't given up her weekend to stay with us.  By the time my parents arrived on the 29th, Zach and I were feeling slightly better, but it was still great to have even more sets of hands around.

By the 2nd, we were almost back to normal so we headed to Legoland!  Legoland is only about 30 minutes from our house, but we hadn't been before.  The tickets were a Christmas gift from my parents and we had a great time.  Dan was tall enough to ride pretty much everything, but Ben needs a few more inches for the big rides.  He'll probably get there by summer!

Dan LOVED the roller coasters.  He laughed hysterically the whole time and then was upset when the ride was over.  Ben really loved the miniature cities built out of Legos, especially the Star Wars scenes.  (Never mind that neither of them have even seen the movies!)  

Gotta love Southern California--the rest of the country is frozen solid and we were splashing in water and enjoying the sunshine on a beautiful January day.  Our guest room is always open if you're tired of snow and ice and wind.

Christmas Day

We spent most of Christmas Day driving home, across the barren wasteland that is the desert of California.  Thank goodness for McDonald's or we probably wouldn't have eaten much on the way home.  While we were driving, Lauren and Jesse were at our house, preparing a delicious meal and making sure that Santa had remembered to put all of our presents under the tree.  It was so great to come home after a long drive to a house that smelled delicious.  And Dan and Ben were thrilled to see that Santa had not forgotten about them!

The Polar Express!

Finally it was Christmas Eve and the event we'd all be waiting for--riding the Polar Express!  The boys have loved the book and the movie for a long time, so I just knew that they would enjoy dressing up in new pajamas, drinking hot chocolate, eating cookies, singing songs, and riding the train. Ben wasn't feeling his best (probably something to do with Zach taking him swimming for two hours in a heavily chlorinated hotel pool), but he rallied and had a good time.

One of my favorite parts was singing Christmas carols with our whole train car.  One of the songs was "Up on the Housetop," a song that Ben and Dan knew from their school program.  During that song, Dan jumped into the aisle and sang the whole thing, complete with hand motions.  After the song was over, he declared, "I am the King of Song!"  Indeed.

Bearizona

On the morning of Christmas Eve, we made the 10-minute drive from Williams to Bearizona.  It's a drive-through wildlife park where we saw wolves, big-horned sheep, bison, and bears, of course.  After we drove through, we got out of the car and walked through the part with the baby animals and petting zoo.  Dan and Ben really loved watching the baby bears play and wrestle with each other.  Kind of reminded me of two little boys I know.....

I came out of the bathroom in the hotel room to find Hannah like this:

Noooooo!  She's supposed to stay a little baby forever.....

Grand Canyon Railroad

A few days before Christmas, we road-tripped our way back to Williams, AZ.  (We stayed there one night on our cross-country move over the summer, but didn't really get a chance to explore.)  Williams is about 45 minutes south of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and historic Route 66 passes through the downtown.  Trains and train-themed activities are a big part of the tourism industry there, so we knew it would be a perfect fit for us.

We arrived on Sunday the 22nd and settled in for the night after the boys played in the snow for a few minutes.  They were quickly reminded that snow is, in fact, cold, especially when they pick it up without gloves.  I was quickly reminded how much I love living somewhere warm because getting in and out of the car or hotel or restaurant is a much bigger production when hats and coats and gloves are involved.

On Monday morning, we drove over to the train station to catch our ride to the Grand Canyon.  We rode in style (first class!) and had a nice time on the 2 1/2 hour trip to the Rim.  The boys made friends with the other kids in our cabin and we all had fun listening to the musicians, looking out the window, and just relaxing.

Once we got to the Grand Canyon, we had about three hours to walk around, eat lunch, look in the shops, and just marvel at the amazing sights.  I think I spent 90% of my time saying, "No! Get back!  Not so close to the edge!"  Going to the Grand Canyon with energetic and fearless boys is not for the faint of heart.  In all honesty, they were more impressed with the snow and rocks than with the Grand Canyon itself.  And that's okay!

The train ride back to Williams was even more relaxing because the kids were very worn out and subdued.  Hannah slept most of the way and Dan even closed his eyes for a minute.  If you're ever in the Williams area, I highly recommend traveling by train to the Grand Canyon!