Havasupi Hike

Alisha says: Bucket list item ✅. I have always wanted to hike to the Havasupi waterfalls in a remote area of the Grand Canyon on the Havasupi Indian Reservation. The trail head is off the old route 66 in northeast Arizona but from there you have to hike 10 miles before you get to the first waterfall. Advanced permits are required and there are only two options for lodging, campground or a small lodge in the village of Supai. When lodge reservations opened up on June 1st, 2018 for 2019 reservations I started calling. I called and called close to 1,000 times over several days and just as I was about to give up my call was answered. I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say. I was able to book 2 rooms for 2 nights for mid May 2019. Yippee!!

May 13th: After waiting a whole year it was finally time to go! My childhood friend and adventure buddy Shannon and her husband were able to join us along with Parker, Rachel, Kaylee, and Kaylee's friend Ella. My mom was so kind to come stay at our house and watch the girls for a few days. This was my first time leaving Jade overnight so I was a little nervous about that. We drove four hours and spend the night in a little old hotel on route 66.

May 14th: We woke up early, ate some breakfast and drove the last hour to the trail head where we met up with everybody. Since we were staying at the lodge we didn't have to pack tents or camping stuff so we just had day packs that were filled with a few clothing/personal items, food, snacks and water. We enjoyed the 8 mile hike to the small village of Supai where the lodge is. We got there a little early for check in so we ended up getting some fry bread with beans from a local vendor and then chilling under a tree until we could check in. There is usually a small cafe in the village that Dave and I were planning on eating our dinners at but it was closed and under renovation the whole time we were there. Luckily there is a general store that we were able to supplement our dinner and we were able to sign up for a dinner one night at the lodge. After checking in and resting we continued our hike another mile to Lower Navajo Falls where we swam and cooled off in the pools above the water fall. It was cool and a little unnerving that you could swim up to and look right over the edge of this waterfall. We then hiked a little further to Havasu Falls. It is truly a very impressive waterfall. We swam around in the pools at the bottom and just admired the beautiful scenery for a while before hiking back to the lodge.

May 15th: We got up fairly early and started our hike. After passing lower Navajo Falls and Havasu Falls again the trail continues through the length of the campground so we god to see lots of different camping setups from tents to hammocks. It could be fun and a whole different experience to camp sometime. Right after the campground we got to Mooney Falls. Mooney falls has a huge "wow" factor, it is so beautiful. The view from the top is incredible and then you get to descend down to the bottom through a series of little caves and ladders that is a cool adventure of it's own. We continued downstream following the river for a bit before leaving it to go through a jungle-ly type area that was very interesting. Finally we made it to Beaver Falls. Beaver Falls is a cool area of a bunch of cascading pools. I was hungry so we found some shade, ate a snack and then did some exploring/swimming. After watching a guy jump off a medium size fall a few times we all worked up our courage and took the plunge also. It was fun and we all had big smiles on our faces after the first time so we did it a second time. The hike back to the lodge actually felt shorter to me than the hike down. We stopped for some fry bread just above Havasu Falls, then did some more swimming in Lower Navajo falls to make it a full day before finishing back at the lodge.

Mooney Falls

Beaver Falls

May 16th: Everyone started waking up around 5am so we just got up, packed up the last of our stuff and started the hike out. It was a pleasant hike out as we had shade for much of the first half and then a few high wispy clouds blocked some of the sun on the final 1+ mile climb up to the top. We had a truly amazing few days surrounded by beauty that you have to experience in person.

April

Alisha says: April fun.

Jade loved playing at the splash pad. She would walk right over all the jets while giggling and waving her hands around.

We made a trip out to the arboretum.

Our Argentine Giant cactus had a ton of beautiful blooms this year. The flowers only last one day so you have to catch them when they open.

For earth day we went to a ladybug party where they released a zillion lady bugs. Some of the kids were covered in them.

15 Months

Alisha says: 

Still getting into everything.

Jade kitchen destruction. 

She likes to stand right in front of the tv and rest her arms and chin on the bin and watch tv.

She was trying suck on her toes while riding in her car seat. I found one of Skye doing the same thing at about the same age.

Easter Weekend

Alisha says: We had a really great Easter weekend. Well actually I guess it was the whole week cause the festivities started on Thursday at preschool and lasted through Sunday. Skye is at such a cute age where she gets really excited for things. She had an Easter party at preschool and when I picked her up she was sooo excited to show me this one sparkly egg that she said was "super beautiful".

Then on Saturday we took the girls to the Val Vista beach pool where they had fun playing in the sand and swimming. After some initial nervousness on Skye's part she quickly remembered her swimming/floating skills and was doing some great swimming. Jade loved the water. She just started swim lessons and is learning to roll onto her back and float. So far she has cried through every lesson though.

On Sunday morning her and Jade had a fun time hunting for eggs in the backyard. Jade quickly figured out how to open them and was eating the M&M's faster that I would have liked her to. We followed it up with a nice day at church and some yummy lunch.

14 Months

Alisha says: Jade has really perfected walking this past month and with her newfound movement she is getting more and more mischievous as she tries to climb and get into everything. Even though she is into everything I still call her sweet pea and Dave calls her buhbuh because she is constantly babbling now and says that quite a bit. She will also say ma ma ma and will wave to people and sometimes say bye.

There was a slight scheduling error at the pediatrician and we went in at 14 months for her 15 month checkup. Not really a big deal but they didn't want to do her immunizations early so we have to wait on those.

Weight: 20 pound 1 ounce (50%)
Height: 29 3/4 inches (40%)
Head Circumference: 18 inches (55%)

I failed at taking getting a cute 14 month picture

 I just love when she sits like this, her little feet look so cute!

 We had mini ice cream cones for dessert and she reached right over and took control of the cone and wouldn't give it back. I tried to take it away from her and she kept pushing my hand away and would start crying so we just let her have at it. I should have taken an after picture of the messy face.

Climbing antics:

Pediatrician Appoitment

Yay! No shots!!

March

Alisha says: March came and went in a hurry although it was just mostly regular life as usual. Dave and I have been trying to get in a bit of fitness to get ready for a big mountain bike event that we are doing at the end of April so I did the Cactus Cup mountain bike race at McDowell for some race miles. It was a 43 mile event on some really fun trails. I raced in the open women category and came out on the top step.

While I was racing Dave was away at a conference in California receiving an Ascending Scholar award. He got a nice plaque that he took into his office before I was able to snap a picture of him with it.

Skye has really improved her skills on both her bike and scooter and likes to ride around the neighborhood which is great because March weather is perfect for daily morning and evening walks around the neighborhood. The kids are always saying funny things as they figure out the world, currently Skye calls the grocery store "Sprouts" "Brussel Sprouts". I must be telling her to "pay attention" a lot because lately she has been telling me to pay attention but for some reason she always adds "don't" to the beginning of the phrase so she is always saying "don't pay attention mom" which is really funny. She still loves to dance and lately has been watching irish dancing on youtube videos.