Arizona Part 1

Way back over 18 months ago, Malachi won a family March Madness Challenge and got to pick our family vacation destination for 2020.  He decided he wanted to head down into the New Mexico and Arizona area and check out some cool places and most importantly eat yummy mexican food.  Well, 2020 happened and our plans changed several times, we no longer included New Mexico in the itinerary which turned out to be good because they shut down again about the time we traveled but we decided we could make a pretty fun trip out of just visiting Arizona.

My biggest concern for this trip was Miss A, she isn't known for being a good traveler, even on short car rides so we knew the plane and hours in the car might stretch her a bit.  But I am here to say how wowed I am about how well she did. She was awesome on the flights and in every car ride and has turned herself into quite the easy traveler!   She has also never been the best sleeper away from home but she just took everything perfect on this trip and made it really easy on us! 

My parents also came along to enjoy some new places and help out with our rowdy bunch of kids. My Dad taught them all how to play solitaire which helped keep them entertained in the down time.

I love love love Arizona, but I will also be the first to admit that I have only been there in the winter months :)  But I just love the desert landscape!  We of course had to rent a pool while in Phoenix which is always a highlight for the kids!

Honestly the highlight of this trip for me was a last minute trip we decided to take to Saguaro National Park. We didn't really know what to expect but the cacti really wowed us!  The park staff were so kind and helpful and the history on how old these things really are was quite amazing! 

And we even had some time for night swimming

And as much Mexican food this boy wanted

Working on their Jr Ranger books, highly recommend getting these at any National Parks you visit!

Soaking in as much swimming as they could before we moved on!