Relatives and Rattlesnakes

Well, we returned last night from visiting my brother's family in Arizona. We had a blast, and the kids are completely exhausted, which means--NAPS! Yeah! We arrived in Chandler on Thursday afternoon and immediately went to the park so the kids could blow off some steam after being in the car for 8 hours. On Friday, we visited the Phoenix Zoo, along with at least 75% of the school age children in Phoenix. (It was their spring break, and apparently they all had the same idea as we did!) In spite of the crowds, the kids had a ball. Although, now that I think about it, the only animals I actually remember seeing were the giraffes and a couple of monkeys. Instead, the kids spent their time climbing trees, playing on the many animal statues, climbing the "spider web", digging for worms in the kids garden, and playing in the tree house. At the end, they took a carousel ride. Somehow I, being the most motion-sick of the adults, ended up being the one who rode it with them, but I am happy to report that there was no vomiting following the ride. In fact, a good time was had by all.
Saturday was even more exciting. We took the kids up to a mountain area near Jeff's house for a hike. Paige didn't want to ride in her hiking backpack; she was ready to do it on her own! We hiked up a hill and had snacks at the top, enjoying the views of Chandler and its surrounding mountains. After some snacks, the kids decided to climb some of the rocks. Jeff was helping Michaela and Garrett try to get on top of a big pile of rocks, and he lifted them over a bush to a higher rock. However, when he went to step over it himself, he nearly fell over backwards. He yelled "Michaela, don't move!!" and I knew we were in trouble. When he had gone to step over the bush, he had seen out of the corner of his eye a snake curled up in the crevice of the rock he was on. Naturally, the kids were fascinated and wanted to see, but Jeff and Dave weren't sure whether it was a rattlesnake or not. Jeff thought it probably wasn't because it hadn't rattled at him, but Dave thought it might be because of its triangular head. So, they carefully lifted the kids to safety, and then, in true "boy fashion" proceeded to throw pebbles at it and poke it with sticks to see if it would rattle. Eventually, Jeff lifted it a little with a long stick and nearly fell over again when he got to the end and saw the rattle at the end. Apparently, this snake was still a little "dozy" from the cold, or we probably would have ended this adventure in the ER! I have included in my photo album a picture of all the kids, Jeff, Tina, and Dave all looking in the crevice to see the snake. You might note that this picture appears to have been taken from far away. Well, I am not only the most motion-sick adult of the group...I am apparently also the only one who is AFRAID OF SNAKES! (Although, in my opinion, that makes me the only practical one, too...If you're not sure it's a rattlesnake, let's just leave it alone and say it was. Because finding out involves the possibility of finding out the wrong way, if you know what I mean!) Needless to say, it was a much more exciting hike than we had planned, but it was one the kids will never forget!!
So, overall our trip was a great success. The cousins all got along wonderfully, and we had a nice time visiting with Jeff and Tina. Thanks guys, for letting us crash your house for the weekend. We love you! Enjoy our pictures!

Arizona 2008