Amazing Race Part 8

As we left the Petrified Forest National park we were once again excited to see the landscape change. We went through Holbrook Arizona and got back on Historic Route 66. The kids spotted the "cone motel" , "Mater" and "Doc" from Cars rather quickly and were sooo excited to learn that we would be staying in the historic WigWam Motel....well everyone but Little Man...he didn't realize that we would have AC and a TV for the night..he thought we would once again be camping and his first words were "Can't we stay in a HOTEL???".

Our WigWam for the night.

The found Doc from the Cars movie!

My beautiful view during my morning run

They eventually ran around looking at everything they had seen in the movie and noticing how neat old cars are! The WigWams are not the nicest thing...hehe, we knew that but we also knew that this would be a once in a lifetime deal. We slept comfortably, we loved having AC :). We were now on a 2 hour time difference from home so we let the kids stay up super late that night watching Despicable Me 2 in hopes of getting them used to the new time schedule.

Before we headed to bed we went into town and found a Cultural Dance going on between the Hopi and Navajo tribes. We watched for a good hour and the kids were fascinated by the group dances, single dances and their outfits. I loved immersing my kids in the culture and when I told them that Adam and I have Indian in us they immediately said "we have Indian in us too then!!!".

Awesome outfits.

We found this cute sign along Route 66...see all those arrows with famous city names on them behind us?

The next day was our Goober's 13th birthday...yes, we have a teenager. A sweet, stinky, respectful, shoe-loving, "cool", stinky, funny teenager. We let him open presents right when he woke up ....he got a life straw so he could drink from streams (something he really wanted), a cougar under armor outfit and a Star Wars devotional book.

Happy birthday Goober!

We all quickly got dressed after we noticed that there was  clue on our car windshield....It had a Happy Birthday Goober message and then told us to get to Slide Rock State Park and HAVE FUN!!! We had about a 2 hour drive...plus traffic was really backed up so we looked for more license plates and it really made the time fly..plus we were able to check off a bunch of states!

At Slide Rock we got one of only 10 parking spots left before they were full for the day...WHEW!!. We found a spot in the shade and immediately wanted to go join the people who were laughing and screaming as they slid down the rocks in the ICY COLD STREAM!

More beautiful formations on the way!

A little chilly but we loved our day at Slide Rock.

Me and my monkey sliding down!

Goober going down 1 of the 100 times :)

Goober went first and he immediately wanted to go again. The slide itself went over several rocks and also had some pools that let you slow down a bit. Ribbit rode down on my back for her first time and it was BREATHTAKING in every sense of the word. I have never been sooo cold and I have done cryotherapy, which freezes you ,several times! Ribbit loved it but it was hard on our hips and booty. The boys had on shorts and we should have worn some too...but we were already in it. We all took turns going down it...each time the little ones would ride on our backs or in our laps. My favorite time was going down with Little Man on my back like a monkey---he clung to me for dear life, even after dipping under the water in some of the pools. It was sooo refreshing because after each slide you would stand up and be immediately dry but never sweat bc of how stinking cold that water was.

Look at the beautiful country all around us!

We ate lunch on the rocks in the shade people watching and unfortunately saw several people fall on those slippery rocks...it scared us each time and we felt bad for those who slid down losing their coolers, shoes or really injuring themselves. I prayed that we would stay safe for our whole time there and only Little Ribbit slipped one time and immediately got right back up!

Not sure he needed goggles...but eh.

Goober spotted some older kids jumping into a deep pool from the cliffs and asked to join. We said Yes and watched him jump off and come up uneventfully. He asked if  he could go again and we agreed. This time though we watched him because the whole time  he was in line to jump he was shaking, and talking to himself, rubbing his head and Adam said "he is psyching himself up"....we wondered why but then it became clear......he ran and did a front flip off the cliff.....coming within inches of smashing his face in the rocks. I felt all the life drain from me and all the anger rise in 1 second. I thought for a split second that he may not live to see his 14th birthday. We gave him a nice talk and encouraged him to always ask for permission, not forgiveness and to THINK BEFORE HE ACTS!!! It really did suck all the breath out of me....oh that teenager!!!!

BEST DAY EVER

We headed down to the smaller slides and the kids loved those as well. I stood at the very bottom pool though because I worried that the current would take the kiddos right over the small waterfall. They loved sliding down and having me catch them...every time they stood up they were shivering but they wanted to do it again!!! Ribbit said repeatedly " This is the best day ever"---with blue lips :).

Trying to capture the loonnng slide in the background as we headed down to the little slides.

Drinking water with his life straw

We then went back to the Ranger station and completed our Jr. Ranger badges by reading some history, walking through an old farmhouse and apple orchard and taking our pledge.....As we walked back to our van we noticed a clue on a van that was identical to ours in the parking lot....silly Race..they got confused!!! :)

Earning our Jr. Ranger badges in the middle of God's creation!

We loved those mountains!