The Grand Canyon

July 18, 2012

About a week after returning home from Hawaii (and Kevin's few FINAL days of work), we set off on a family vacation.  We took a slight detour on our way up to Utah and stopped at the Grand Canyon.  It was Tyler's birthday, so we brought his cupcakes to eat while we were there.

I expected the Grand Canyon to be beautiful, but it was far more awesome, breathtaking, and wondrous than I ever imagined!  It was pretty warm out, and there's only so much to do with three small kids when you only plan on spending a couple hours with them at the Grand Canyon.  As my sister, Alyssa, put it: "It was very grand.  And it was very canyon-y."  But that is definitely an understatement.  The point of her comment was that all we did there was look at the Grand Canyon.  Over and over again.

We drove into the National Park through the South Entrance.  Fought for a parking space.  Then joined hundreds of tourists at the main South Entrance look out point.  It was so crowded and uncomfortable, the Grand Canyon was a bit lackluster at that look out point. 

We quickly (and illegally, I think) lighted 8 candles, sang "Happy Birthday" to Tyler, and gobbled up a few melting cupcakes.

Then we got back in the car and continued driving towards the East Entrance.  We stopped at most of the look out points as we headed East.  We shared our views from those look out points with only a few other people.  And parking was easy to come by.

It was from these look out points that I fell in love with the Grand Canyon.  The views were just as amazing as from the main South Entrance look out point.  But, the environment was so much more serene and peaceful.  I could really feel the presence of our Heavenly Father at those points.  He created a magnificent earth for us to live on!

Tyler the Birthday Boy!  8 years old!

I wanted to stop at every look out point as we got closer and closer to the East Entrance.  I wanted to really capture the image of the Grand Canyon into my memory.  Who knows if I'll ever go again!?!

I'm so glad we took the detour to the Grand Canyon.  It was fun to share the beauty of our earth with our kids.  When we finished up, we drove a scenic route up to Kanab, Utah (we drove on the Navajo Bridge over Marble Canyon and saw the North Rim as we drove along the highway).  We stayed the night in Kanab.  Then we drove the second half our our trip to Utah the next morning.

We had a great time!  And there was no better way to celebrate Tyler's 8th birthday!