Fourth of Flagstaff

To change things up a bit, we decided to travel to Flagstaff for the Fourth of July this year.  We went with Scott's childhood friend, Vince, his wife and their two daughters. So we packed up our trusty Bus with two adults, three kids, a dog, three bikes and a whole lot of crap and we hit the road...

 

The next day we all decided to go hiking in Lockett Meadow...

 

After hiking a little over 2 miles, we went out for lunch at Lumberyard Brewing Co. where our non-service dog was banished to the outside of the patio.  He made friends with everyone. If we had stayed a little longer, he probably would've been offered a job as greeter.

That night we had fun with sparklers...

A thunderstorm kicked up right around bedtime and Gus volunteered to keep Natalie and Maddie safe in their room...

The next morning we got our red, white and blue on and headed off to watch the parade through downtown Flagstaff.

 Followed by lunch, which for Eloise meant her first dill pickle.

As a birthday present to Katie, Scott took her to the Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course for the afternoon.  (http://www.flagstaffextreme.com/Adult-Course.html)  Due to some thunder, they were put on a delay and then eventually pulled down out of the trees.

 

 

Meanwhile, after some big naps, the rest of us headed out to the Flagstaff Amphitheater to see a free concert put on by the Flagstaff Symphony.  It was perfect weather for some outdoor music.

Thankfully the weather held out and the next morning, Scott and Katie were able to go back bright and early and finish the Adventure course together.

 

Backyard bubbles

Pool ownership is sometimes a drag.  But then there are moments like this that make it all worth it...

After two weeks of swim lessons, Natalie shows off her "superman swim" skills by swimming underwater only with her arms out in front of her.

Here's a sneak peak at the bellyflopswimmingtornado move she invented.

Eloise prefers to relax and get her float and chew on.

Katie shows us that she got the Hayes-genes that allow her to lay flat on the bottom of the pool, a talent reserved for those few people lucky enough to have big empty lungs and very little fat.

Daddy takes Natalie for a submarine ride and she holds her breath from the shallow end of the pool all the way to the deep end.

 

Eloise continues to float around, as happy as a clam.

And finally, two sisters play together happily with laughter replacing the arguing.

Father's Day Brunch

We celebrated Father's Day this year by cooking up brunch at our house with Scott's family...