Glen Canyon Dam

Our hotel in Page was actually within walking distance of the marvel of engineering that is the Glen Canyon Dam!  Similar in many ways to the Hoover Dam, we felt seeing this could cross the Hoover Dam off our list later in the week.  We could even see the dam from our hotel window.  When we pulled into town the first night, we found a fantastic BBQ joint serving us ribs, nachos and burgers with fun live music, then we ran around exploring this scenic overlook as the sun set.  Memorable here was the dozen bats, emerging energic and hungry at dusk and zooming all around us!  (Bats were the first of many exciting wildlife encounters on this trip!)

We learned a lot exploring the dam during the daylight.  There were paths to hike, overlooks, and a huge and thorough visitor center where we even took in the movie about this Lake Powell/Glen Canyon Dam area.  

We walked a little way across the bridge, but it was actually kinda nerve-wracking!

Getting to know the Glen Canyon Dam took a few hours of our Arizona day and it was a surprising highlight!  Fascinating to learn about the formation of Lake Powell from the Colorado River and how hydropower works!  I just love Ella busting out this conversation starter: "So, what's everyone's favorite source of energy?"

Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell

It started with a cancelled service trip.  Our family was slated to serve at a camp in Oregon for students with special needs and their families.  We cleared the week, and made the arrangements to be away.  Then the trip fell through.  Not wanting to waste precious time off, or an opportunity for quality time with Ella before she flies from the nest, but also wanting to stay on budget and not fly, I came up with, what ended up being, a pretty spectacular Plan B!  We spent a week touring the Southwest on a grand road trip.  We drove 30 hours, hiked 23.5 miles on 10 hikes, crossed into 3 states, explored 2 national parks, slept in 4 different beds, took 350 pictures, and made countless new family memories.  This week I'll start the record of all this on the blog.  Brace yourself, this was a visual trip!  We saw so many breathtaking sights, my picture sharing will be generous! ;)

Our first stop on this road trip was Page, Arizona.  And one of the first things we did here was tour the iconic Antelope Canyon.  The rock walls in this area are made of impressionable sand.  When the flash floods that are so common to this desert area during monsoon season roar through these cracks in the earth, the water carves the most magnificent twists and turns in the walls.  To walk through is to be in awe of the rock formations, the light beams streaming in, the cooler temperatures, and the vibrant warm color pallet.  It was one of the things we were most looking forward to and it did not disappoint!  Our guide knew the 10 of us in our group were there to take pictures, so he patiently waited as we got all the aesthetic shots we wanted (the girls were super into posing in here! ;) and even showed us some cool tricks!

Can you see?  It's a spotlight!  And of course Delia is in it!

Though every stop on our trip gave us Extreme Heat Advisories, our day in Arizona was one of our hottest.  Nothing was better than the after-canyon-hike smoothies and 2 hour swim we took in the perfectly refreshing and gorgeous Lake Powell!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things Party

She's had a lot of favorite things over the years.  When Delia loves something, she loves it hard-- like orca whales, pandas, dancing, and donuts.  And we've often designed a party around them.  For her important 16th birthday this year, Delia thought a "Favorite Things" party would be a fun nod to her past and present!

So, she designed this cute invitation and had her 8 best friends (one couldn't come) over for a night of favorites!

The table was set with all her favorite foods: cheeseburgers, berries, mac salad, BBQ chips, smoothies and rocky road brownies.

After some time to laugh and visit and some Jackbox games to get everyone warmed up...

the highlight of the night occurred!  An epic team Lip Sync Battle!  Delia couldn't have planned a more perfect activity for this fun, creative bunch of fellow performers!  Teams were picked with leis or bandanas then each was given a prop bucket and 30 minutes in different parts of our house to come up with choreography and a silly show.  SO fun to watch!

The videos are too big to post. so here are a few pictures.  Team Lei danced to "Shiny" from Moana, "The Final Countdown" and "We're All in This Together" from High School Musical. 

Team Bandana danced to "Cotton Eyed Joe", "Did I Mention?" from the Descendants and "Good Time".  Both teams really brought it and had their strengths!  The Leis had super unique choreography and the Bandanas had a real dramatic flair to their performance!

One of the sweetest parts of the night was the gift opening.  Not needing a single thing, Delia had the idea to tell her friends that if they insisted on bringing a gift, it had to be handmade (or candy ;).  One friend baked Delia's favorite cookies ("MY cookies!") Delia exclaimed when she opened it!  Another friend crafted a charm necklace representing Delia's favorite things.  A jar full of quotes, Bible verses and encouragement was made for Delia to open each Monday morning of this school year.  An origami camera was unfolded to reveal a train of photos of Delia and another buddy.  Long-time friend Kate made a keychain that has a Spotify code "baked" into it.  When Delia scans it, she's brought to a specific Kate 'n Delia Playlist of hits from their past.  So much love and work went into these thoughtful and perfect-for-Delia gifts.  The night of favorites, laughter, singing and dancing was super fun for our birthday girl (and us!), but seeing how well she is loved by her people was my favorite thing!

Girls' Camping Trip!

June was kind of a funny month.  It felt busy with entire weeks of the calendar blocked off with VBS, Hi-Camp, and Dave's work travels.  But, for me, most of it was spent at home waiting for my people to come back.  When we flipped to July and saw a lot more blank spaces, I was itching to enjoy my family and some summer scenery!  Even with the holiday, Dave couldn't swing any time off, so we tried something new-- an all girls camping trip!  I snagged a last minute cancellation at our favorite mountain lake and we enjoyed a few days of fresh pine air, our favorite views, and the satisfaction of surviving on our own! 

Delia and I joked that we'd never attempt this without Ella!  She's our scientist/survivalist.  This year we watched her start a fire (intentionally) with just an old battery and a gum wrapper!   She didn't have to do anything like that, but Delia and I may have slept in a half assembled tent, or just wandered the forest lost from our campsite if Ella were not around to guide us!  I was struck by the contrast of it!  I can remember my first time fears of camping with kids and how hard it would be to take care of them, and now here my oldest is taking care of us.

After setting up camp, we always like to wander over to the book exchange and general store.  Here we had some fun re-enacting a years' long family Pinecrest debate.  On that one hiking trip around the lake many years ago, was I protecting Delia from the snake, or pushing her into it??? ;)

For grabbing a last minute spot, we had a pretty sweet campsite!  Quiet, nice families all around us and one site next to us stayed empty-- unheard of in the summer at Pinecrest!  We were right by the amphitheater and the good bathrooms and steps away from the lake.  These spots go as soon as they open in February, but I've found over the years that if you can handle a last minute camping trip, cancellations always open up!

We packed up our blankets and movie snacks and caught the show in the amphitheater-- the new Indiana Jones!  It was a fun movie to watch in this setting. The best part of a movie experience here is watching it outside under the stars with the outlines of trees and swooping, mosquito-eating bats framing the screen.

While Delia held down the fort at camp, Ella and I quick knocked out the 4 mile hike around the lake in an hour and a half.  Ella was the hike leader, she sets a brisk pace. ;)

Few hikes have as varied of terrain as this lake loop which is one reason it sits in a Top Five spot on our favorite hikes list!  (We discussed while hiking and another friend did ask me to share.  If you're interested, other Top Five hikes are: Pipiwai Trail, The Crevice, Mist Trail, and the Creek Hike at Mount Hermon.  Big hiking trip planned this summer, stay tuned for a possible shake up!)

On this hike, we cross creeks and squelch through mud, we walk through pine and bamboo forests and past rustic mountain cabins, we climb rocks and traverse bridges and get misted by a roaring river, and we hike along the dam with turquoise lake water pooled on one side and turbulent cliff-tumbling water on the other side.  It is all magnificent!

The cooler temps in the mountains are always a delight until it's time to sleep! As cozy we we try to make our tent and as much as we all cuddle together, no one ever sleeps great.  Good thing we return home to lazy summer days where make-up-sleep naps are easy to grab!

And, of course, no Pinecrest trip is complete with a day just enjoying the lake!  We got a great spot on the beach this year and could even hang up the hammock to enjoy some lake views with our books and camping snacks.

The lake water is snow-melt cold, but the parts of you dangling off the raft into it always get used it after a bit of floating.  This was my first big outing this summer and I'm so thankful we made it happen. Girls' Camping Trip was a success!