Australian Invasion: Phoebe & Liam's Visit Part 2...

The day after our Australia Party, we took Phoebe and Liam to church and they were met with more introductions and people coming up to us requesting a new dance video (which is still in editing and will be done soon I hope!)... Phoebe had so much fun meeting people and feeling like a celebrity! She finally got to experience the church and community I have raved about for ages to her.

After church we went shopping at Scottsdale Fashion Square and then had family dinner with Aaron's family.

Then the next morning Phoebe and Liam left us for a few days to have adventures just the two of them in Las Vegas. I wish I could have gone, but I didn't have the PTO nor the money for a big Vegas trip. They came back that Thursday night and had family dinner with my family. We had actual dinner with my parents and Tyler. Phoebe and Liam got to try traditional American Chili and cornbread, which they loved! Then we went over to Shawn and Nicole's house to see the kiddos and spent the whole night playing Apples to Apples!

I will say I felt like a huge loser the first week because of the rain and them being gone in Las Vegas, we had so very little planned other than movies, sitting around the house and catching up, shopping and of course the Australia party. When they got back from Vegas however, we were going going going all the way up until they left!

Friday morning saw us waking up and heading out of town for the GRAND CANYON! Aaron sadly had to work, so it was just the three of us on this adventure. It was very reminiscent of our trip to Cape Tribulation in Australia... complete with Liam driving! He was keen to try his hand at driving on the other side of the road and other side of the car... so the open roads of the I-17 up to Flagstaff was the perfect time. I drove us out of town to Sunset Point, we took some pictures and then switched spots and I gave Liam a couple hours of driving on the open road!

Sunset Point

Teaching Liam to drive on the RIGHT ride of the road!

We got to Flagstaff and were ready for lunch! Their one request was to eat at a real all-American diner... so of course we picked Galaxy Diner right on historic Route 66!

Burgers, milkshakes, Americana paraphernalia all over the walls... perfection!

After lunch we set off for the Grand Canyon!

We got there just in time to a hike a couple miles down into the Canyon and then back to the rim to watch the sun set from several different look out points!

Majestic!

There was snow everywhere at the top of the Canyon! What a treat that Phoebe and Liam saw so many different Climates in our state.

Along the Bright Angel trail we met a Mule and his rider! We of course took a bunch of pictures and the ride (who worked for the National Park) told us all about the history of the Mule rides down the canyon and what exactly a mule was... education!

Liam was so bummed he hadn't planned enough time to hike all the way down to the bottom of the Canyon! He is determined to come back and conquer the Grand Canyon! Yay an excuse for another trip!

Phoebe wanted to be a real park ranger!

We literally took a million pictures of the run setting over the canyon. We drove to about 3 different look out points and waited until the sun was all the way down before we left the park. Such a beautiful sight! And now Phoebe and Liam can say they have seen a wonder of the world!

We drove back to Flagstaff for the night staying at the Little America Hotel! Love that place :) We sadly got there after the hot tub had closed, which was what we had been looking forward to! We were late because of course we grabbed dinner and had to also stop for a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

Love that they serve them to you upside down!

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and left to drive out to the Meteor Crater a few miles outside of Flagstaff! This was Liam's request and I was excited to see it again cause I hadn't been there in over 15 years!

One of the best preserved Meteor Craters in the world! Believe me, I know. The video we watched in their museum repeated it probably 15 times.

We had a lot of fun wandering around the museum and gift shop on site

American Astronaut Wall of Fame is blank... odd... "To Infinity and Beyond!"

Actual moon rock that weight several ton!

nope... can't lift it.

Quick! Call everyone!! A Meteor is headed toward earth!!!

 As you can see we had a little too much fun.

Where's Miranda? Can you see her?

Jumping shot...

Liam and the crater

This view was looking away from the Meteor Crater... so pretty!

We got our fill of the Crater and so we left and headed home through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona... literally one of the most beautiful drives in the US in my opinion. Phoebe and Liam couldn't stop "oo"-ing and "ah"-ing.

Oak Creek Canyon drive

Red Rocks in Sedona

We stopped in Sedona for a walk around the shops and Phoebe and Liam got a traditional Old Time Photo! I think this was literally the highlight of Phoebe's whole trip!

Are they not PERFECT!

It was so hard to leave Sedona! We had so much fun! But back to Phoenix we went for more Arizona/American Adventures!