FFF 2011 - Family time

Here are a few more pictures from our vacation.

Chefs Lita and Michael

Feeding the ducks

Another one of Mama and her boys

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Canon and Malcolm

Wa-wa-wa

Cousins!

Checking out the clear night sky

FFF 2011 - Doe Mountain

On Wednesday, which was supposed to be our day to head to the Grand Canyon, half the family was struck with a 24-hour bug which had them all hanging out in their rooms alternately eating Saltines and sleeping.  Our boys were on antibiotics (ear infection and throat infection - we'd already made our afterhours runs to urgent care facilities earlier in the week!) and Mike and I fortunately escaped the bug, so we gratefully accepted Mom and Dad's offer to watch the boys so we could still go out in Sedona.  Our first excursion was to climb a 500-foot mountain/mesa.  It was rated "moderate" by the guidebooks, but for inexperienced hikers like us, it was pretty challenging.  It was also the hottest day of the year in Sedona thus far, in the middle of the day with no clouds.  Still, we did it!  I was pretty proud of us.  It was a great feeling.  Later in the day we went to happy hour at a local microbrewery and enjoyed a nice little "date night" in the afternoon.  Thank you to my parents!

You can see how far we had to go



Getting close to the top



Cactus flower close-up

Gorgeous views from the top

We did it!

Now ... how do we get down?

Zoom in and you can see our car way down in the distance

FFF 2011 - Meteor Crater

This past week we had a wonderful time with the fam at FFF 2011: Arizona edition.  I will not be able to write about it all at once, but I wanted to get at least one post up before heading back to work tomorrow.  On our first day in northern Arizona, the Lawler clan headed out to Meteor Crater.  It might seem that a giant hole in the ground wouldn't have much to recommend itself, but it is unique in being one of the best preserved meteorite craters in the world -- it looks like a moon crater.  Created by a huge meteorite 50,000 years ago, it's almost a mile in diameter and over 500 feet deep.  There is a neat little visitor's center with space-themed exhibits and an Apollo capsule.  Those without little kids would probably enjoy hiking around the rim of the crater, but we settled for walking down only to the fenced-off observation deck.  Mike and I thought it was pretty cool and we really enjoyed the visit.