Gotta Get Away!

The weather in Phoenix lately has been, shall we say, toasty. In addition to that, life has been a bit mundane. We have been really feeling the itch to get away from it all, break out of our box and do something new and different. We got our chance this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa B were camping up in Payson, and invited us to come up for the day. What? Spend a day away from 110 degrees and spend time outdoors, and all it will cost us is a half a tank of gas? We felt like we won the Health and Wealth! Okay, that might be going a little far, but we were pretty excited about it anyway.

We started our day by going out to breakfast with the boys before heading out on the road. I think we could have ordered Ben his own adult sized meal and he would have taken it down. The kid was bottomless! But I digress. After breakfast, we got out on the road, and were delighted to see the thermostat on our car tick down one degree at a time. By the time we got to the camp site, about 15 miles outside of Payson, the temp had gone down to 78 degrees. Whoo hoo! We met up with Grandma and Grandpa, after having an entertaining conversation with the old lady who was running the booth at the entrance to the camp ground. She was a character to say the least. Joshua was highly impressed with Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. Actually, so was I. This is not your roughing it camping. This is my kind of camping. Camping with a bed, a microwave, a DVD player and a fully functioning bathroom. We spent a little time exploring the woods behind the campsite, collecting sticks and pine cones. Ben loved crawling around in the dirt, too.

After exploring the camp, we packed a picnic lunch and headed up to Woods Canyon Lake, which is at the top of the Mogollon Rim. We got a nice little shower on the way up there, which kept the temperature nice a cool. Ben had a great time smearing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over his face and stroller. He may have even gotten some in his mouth!

Josh was fascinated by the lake, and even got to stick his feet in. It is so beautiful up there! We even got to see a crawdad and a water snake!

After bumming around the lake for a while, we went back to camp and hung out. I even let Andrew beat me at cribbage... ha ha, just kidding. He ALWAYS beats me. But I guess that's why he suggested we play cribbage instead of dominoes! But at least I held my own this time...he only beat me by one point!

Grandpa made us an awesome dinner and Josh and Grandma made a yummy dessert. Nothing says vacation like good eating! But alas, it was time to head home. We were all sufficiently pooped! Josh was sacked out before we hit Payson city limits, with a book still open in his lap.

I'm pretty sure Ben was too. After an hour and a half car ride, we were back to our 100 degree home and our normal routine. But it was so great to be able to get away, if only for a day. Thanks for the invite, Grandma and Grandpa B. Can't wait to do it again!