Sedona Camping Trip

This past weekend we headed up to Sedona in our "new to us" Land Cruiser. We love to go camping, but it's actually something we never do. For whatever reason, it usually just doesn't work out. We headed out Friday after work, but when we got to Sedona, all of the sights that we knew of were full. We ended up having to come all the way home (it's about an hour and a half away). It was a long and miserable night. We felt pretty defeated, but we decided that we couldn't let it stop us. So Saturday morning, when Harper was ready for a little cat nap, we set out again. This time, we had a blast!! We found a very secluded camp site in another part of Sedona. It's up an extremely rocky 5 mile road that took us about 40 minutes to get through. But the bumpiness was perfect for Harper, it put her straight to sleep. Then we had to do a short bit of rock crawling to get up to the cliff where our campsite was. It was super fun, the Land Cruiser handled wonderfully, and our campsite was beautiful. Here are a couple of pictures, but there are plenty more on my facebook page.

Oink Oink!

Like mother like daughter, what can I say? My child loves to eat. I've mentioned before what a great eater she is, but really...unless you see her in action, you can't fully understand. Not only does she eat a TON, she has a pretty good palate, too! A couple of weeks ago I gave her a bagel with cream cheese and lox, which she loved. Later that day I gave her a hot dog for the first time, a child staple, and she wasn't too impressed. On our way back from Vegas we got lunch at Whole Foods, and what did she eat? A Greek pasta salad which was made of orzo, red and yellow bell peppers, onions, black olives, fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, feta, and oil and vinegar. She ate it up!

That morning her Papa was feeding her breakfast at the hotel in Vegas, she ate the entire yogurt parfait (from Starbucks...an adult portion for sure), more than half a bagel with cream cheese, a fruit cup of peaches, and probably 4 servings of veggie sticks (basically a potato kind of snack). Here she is on a different occasion demolishing another yogurt parfait...

Las Vegas!

Last week our family from Illinois came to Vegas for a visit/vacation! Chris' dad, stepmom, and the three siblings plus spouses. It was SO good to see them. We got to Vegas Wednesday night and went out to dinner for Chris' birthday (which was Sunday by the way). We hardly ever get to spend time with family, so it was really nice for us, and a real treat for Harper. I love it when she gets a chance to spend time with people in her family and get to know them. And it's nice for her to get a little spoiling, too! Her grandparents came with a loaded Easter basket, which Harper loved.

Harper and Nana (and Eeyore of course!)

Papa found the way to Harper's heart

Harper and Papa

It was a short visit, but much needed. They left on Friday to make the long drive back home. Then Friday afternoon the McDougall's met up with us to spend the rest of the weekend together. On Saturday we took the girls to the Bellagio (my favorite hotel). Every hotel on the strip has a theme, and theirs is flowers. They have an amazing conservatory that they change all the time. It's never been the same each time I've gone. I figured they would love looking at the flowers and the butterfly house, which they did. (And notice in some of these pictures Harper's new smile. She now poses for the camera.)

Balloons made of glass. Harper LOVES balloons. This was possibly her favorite part!

Beautiful Harper

Harper's Smile

Me and Harps looking at swans made out of tiny flowers

The Fam

There's that smiley face again

Playing in a fountain outside the Bellagio

Baby Brennan McDougall

Harper and Braelyn: BFF's

We had such a great time with friends and family! It was nice to get away and have a good time. And a special thanks to our great friend Nicolette who babysat twice for us so that Chris and I could enjoy the city!