Fun in Flagstaff!

This week Grant and I took a two day trip to Flagstaff. We had a ton of fun!!!! Our adventure began at the Snowbowl ski lift. The lift takes you from where you park (8000 ft above sea level) all the way to the top of the mountain (11,700 ft above sea level). It was quite a ride. Grant and Andrew are brave and ready to ride the chairlift. It was a little unsettling trying to get on without the lift stopping but we made it.

This is the view at the beginning of our ascent up the mountain. Grant hated it when the lift would stop. He felt like the cable would start to sag. I think he may have a slight fear of heights too.

It took a good 15 minutes or more to make it to the top and then jump off the lift without getting run over by the chair we just jumped off of! The temperature kept dropping as we got closer and closer to the top. At the top there was plenty of snow to make snowballs.

Grant helped Andrew climb the rest of the way to the top of the mountain.

The view from the top was amazing! You could see Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.

This is the view from the chairlift from the very top of the mountain when we started our ride down.

Andrew did a good job staying seated the entire time on the lift! He loved pointing out the snow patches near the lift and telling me when to take pictures. He also had lots of good joke for the ride down; although, Grant didn't appreciate them as much as I did :)

Grant wished he had his PSP for the ride. He thought the lift was a little boring. I thought it had amazing views and am glad we took the time to do it!

Later that evening, we went indoor rock climbing with Stephen. Grant loves to climb anything and always looks for the most challenging wall to climb.

Grant found a ledge he could sit on to take a rest from his vertical climb.

Stephen and I took turns belaying. This forced me to actually climb. Out of all the times I've taken the boys indoor rock climbing, I have never climbed, I've always been the belayer. So it was a treat that I was able to climb a few times here. I was surprised at how easily I was able to get to the top. I thought for sure I was too wimpy to do it. Thanks Stephen!!!!

On Tuesday Grant, Bearett and I went to the Arboretum. This is a nature preserve and garden that showcases natural plants found in the Flagstaff area.

Bearett and Grant started their tour inside the tree ring maze. You really couldn't get lost in it but it was very cool to go through.

We went on an official tour of the facility. I was surprised how short it was. So we lengthened our tour and checked out more of the place. We heard that there was a mama duck with her ducklings around the pond. Unfortunately, we couldn't find her.

The highlight of our visit was the Birds of Prey show. This is a picture of Grant volunteering to be a mouse. He is pretending it is night and he can't see, he has ears to mimic a mouse and he is holding a squeaker. As soon as he hears an owl coming, he is supposed to squeak to warn the other mice to hide.

The owl that flew out was HUGE and very SCARY!!! This was the only part of the show that Bearett didn't like and hid in my lap. This is a falcon. If you look closely where the handler's hand is closed at, you will notice the feet of the bird the falcon is eating. It was so gross to watch him rip parts of it off and eat it during the show.

This is a hawk that has been raised in captivity. The 11 year old girl that his holding her says that this bird is so tame that it likes to be pet and handled. I still think it looks a little intimidating.

Some of the birds that came out weren't chained to a handler's hand. These birds would fly right over the audience. The problem is that they fly very low when they go across and one time the wings of one of the birds brushed my face!!!

This is another type of falcon that lives in northern Canada and Alaska. This is a big bird! This bird has beautiful coloring!

When the show was over there was a crow and two ravens in three cages. Bearett loved going up to the cages to talk to the birds. These three birds had been trained to take your dollar bill that you put through the fence and then put it in a jar. Each time they did this they received a treat. These birds were also trained to do other tricks on command. This was a great show and we would definitely go and watch it again with you!