McCutchen Family: Family Vacation 09

to kick start our family vacation we went to the regional chilli cook off

yummy mama made pretzel salad

daddy and tyler lookin cool

i got into some charcoal when the grown ups were talking! oops

The next day we went to a couples washers tournament but we were having so much fun we forgot to take pictures. But we remembered the camera when we went down to Sedona to go swimming in the creek!

Tyler hung out with mama but daddy and i got in and it was like ice!

brrr that's cold

trying to warm up

daddy posing

exploring

there were all kinds of hummingbirds, dragonflies, and butterflies. mama and i recognized some butterfiles from the book Grandpa David got me for my birthday. I also learned that the outside of the tree was called bark.

daddy entertaining tyler during my science lessons

daddy said how often do you get to get in the ice cold creek? he said it made him feel alive. mama didn't buy it. she just took pictures and enjoyed the sun

me practicing wearing my lifejacket, mama made me rehearse over and over what to do in case i fell out of the boat

then it was off for camping in the white mountains.

dinner at the campground

chow time

potty break

the view from our tent.

the first night tyler finally slept the whole night through. but poor mama was up trying not to pee in her sleeping bag. she woke up around one a.m. when she heard a noise that sounded like the boat trailer squeaking. after some effort she finally got daddy awake and sure enough it was our boat trailer! mama started shaking head to toe and trying not to pee herself while daddy got his little 3 inch knife and worked up the nerve to go check things out. You see the white mountains are bear country and before they left mama and daddy read this article where a bear had slit open the tent and drug a kid out cause he had food on him. on the way to the mountains we had the food cooler in the boat. so naturally they were certain there was a bear. well after daddy got out to investigate they realized that the noise was doyle in the back of the car getting up and turning around to get comfortable. boy were they relieved, but then they were up till 4 am with adrenaline. tyler and i slept through the whole thing! silly parents.

before my big ride mama again coaching me on what to do in case i fell out and then telling me over and over but don't fall out

daddy waiving goodbye and telling mama to stop worrying

Tyler checking out life from Kayla's chair

Doyle and i making sure we don't get forgotten

another potty break on our way to phx for daddy's unofficial ten year reunion with his high school buddies

and another

is she kidding ? another potty break?

nope this time it was for the strap that tore apart on the boat trailer, then proceeded to pull out our trailer light which short circuited the lights on our car