Grand Haven, MI

Lake Michigan summers are the best! We spent a week at my parent’s condo in Grand Haven with most of our time spent at the beach. When we weren’t playing in the water, we were eating ice cream, walking the pier, or drinking local beer.

Taking an evening swim.

We did venture north one day to Lewis Farms. This was a perfect place for kids our age. They had animals, games, slides, a splashpad, and apple cannons; yes, we shot apples at targets out of a cannon and it…was…awesome! Although we didn’t get a chance to see my brother’s family, we did get to see my Aunt and cousins! It was so nice to catch up with them.

We are always grateful for the hospitality my parents provide. We show up with some clothes and they do the rest; a car, car seats, food, towels, step stools, etc; all of the little things that make traveling with kids so much easier. And we will be back again next summer!

Helper, UT

We spent our Lautzenheiser Family summer trip in the small, historic town of Helper, UT. Once know for its helper engines that would assist trains over a nearby summit, Helper, UT did not disappoint.

The family at Scofield Reservoir

To break up the six hour drive, we stopped in Marysvale, UT on the drive out. We stayed in a train car in Caboose Village (for our third time staying here) along the Sevier River. We biked, played in the grass and floated down the Sevier River. The kids met a young boy, William, staying in one of the other train cars. We played freeze tag and football with him. After two nights in Marysvale, we drove on to Helper to meet the family!

One of the highlights of the area is the scenic 9-mile canyon, although this canyon is much longer than nine miles. We spotted petroglyphs around nearly every turn and enjoyed driving through the picturesque canyon walls. Of course, the kids loved playing with cousin Tyler and Ella even lost her first tooth while playing with Grandma L. Our AirBnB was a great size for all of the family and dogs, but it was especially cool because we had train tracks directly across the street. The kids were able to have countless coins smashed by the trains as they rolled by fulfilling a kid-right of passage.

Unfortunately, Miles behavior on this trip (and the Seattle trip prior) was not good. Miles pushed every boundary and his defiance was at its peak. To be honest, I never cried so much as I did in June of 2024. Fortunately, as I write this, he is excelling in pre-K and although he is still defiant at home, he is nothing like he was this month. So although, these trips look amazing, which they were, they also carried intense moments full of heartache.

Seattle, WA and more!

Since our Spring Break trip two years ago to the Oregon Coast, we have haven’t to return to the Pacific Northwest. Duane had a friend who lived on Whidbey Island he wanted to see, so we booked an AirBnB on Bainbridge Island as the initial start of the trip. After that, I learned my girlfriends, Jamaica and Michelle, wanted to get their families together over Memorial Day weekend so we booked the Richland, WA segment of the trip. I then added the Olympic National Park leg of the trip to wrap up the 10 day trip away from Topo, which is as many days as we can take away from our girl.

The Bainbridge Island Crew

While Michelle lives in nearby Paso, Jamaica and the fam rented an AirBnB in Richland, WA. This tri-city area (with Kennewick) in rich in agriculture including nearby vineyards. We spent the days visiting nearby wineries, including the adorable town of Walla Walla and the evenings in Michelle and Justin’s backyard while the kids played and the adults caught up. It was such a heart fulfilling visit with lifelong friends.

From Richland, we traveled back West to Bainbridge Island to stay with Beth and Duane. We had the most unique AirBnB right on the sound where we watched the tide roll in and out and the sea life (crabs, sea birds, and even otters) that comes with it.

We spent our first full day there exploring Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium. Ella tried clam chowder for the first time and liked! We got to take the ferry there and back and while it was new and entertaining, we also learned that the population leaving Seattle to Bainbridge Island in the evening was a lot. It took us an hour waiting in the ferry line to catch the next one. We learned our lesson for the next time, however, and made sure we left our adventures to get in line sooner.

The next day, to give ourselves a break from the long ferry line and busy schedule, we stayed on Bainbridge Island, walking along the beaches and the downtown area.

I had purchased a City Pass from the Seattle Tourism site and while it was a huge savings, we needed to go back to Seattle to get our money’s worth. We loved the next day at the Space Needle! Although, not nearly has high as our local Las Vegas Stratosphere, the Space Needle has much better views and a rotating glass floor. We spent way more time a top than we thought we would, but it was worth it. We spent some time asking the lead glass technician, Paul, some questions about the newly added (since 2018) glass floor. I think he appreciated our interest in the new addition, so he offered to let the kids stop the rotating floor and then change its direction! Miles stopped the floor and Ella hit the switch to change the direction…it was a very unique experience that we are grateful for.

After that, we said our goodbyes to Duane and Beth while they were heading back to LV, we drove around the Olympic Peninsula to start our rainforest leg of the trip.

We spent two nights at Lake Quinault Lodge. The drive along the coast was wonderfully scenic with Ruby Beach being the highlight. Unfortunately, Miles was sleeping once we got to Ruby Beach so we didn’t spend as much time there as we would have wanted.

Once we settled in, we enjoyed the large grassy area the lodge provided. The next day hiked to nearby waterfalls and the largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world as the clouds stayed low and a constant mist was in the air. We were originally supposed to stay at the lodge nights, however our final day there was going to be very cold (50 degrees) and pouring rain, so we used that as a travel day back to Seattle. There is so much more to Olympic National Park that we didn’t get to see, however, I am grateful we were able to see what we did.

Although it was cold and rainy in Seattle, we were able to explore the Pacific Science Center and the Chihuly Glass Museum (both of which were essentially free as I had already paid for the Seattle City Pass and was set on getting our money’s worth, haha!) We could have spent so much more time at the Science Center; they had a incredible butterfly exhibit and so many fun exploratory areas for the kids. I know the kids appreciated the time for what they wanted to do. The Chihuly Glass Museum was absolutely amazing and we were so impressed that the kids too such interested in the informational videos on how the glass pieces were created.

Washington State has so many beautiful areas and we just scratched the surface. As disappointing as it is to leave areas unexplored and sites left unseen when we leave, it is also motivation to return to pick up where we left off.

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE near Austin, TX

We were fortunate enough to experience a once in a lifetime event on April 9th, 2024 at approximately 1:00pm CST. We saw TOTALITY! The Sun was completely covered by the moon, thereby turning daylight into night.

Totality!! Photo credit: Don

I booked our AirBnB, flights, and car rental almost 9 months in advance to ensure we had the greatest chance to see this event. (The next total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. will be in 20 years)! Although we had a few hiccups along the way, we were able to see what we came for…TOTALITY!

We arranged for Makenna, Ella’s morning sitter, and her husband Ayden, to watch the kids from Saturday morning to Tuesday evening. They had a great four days together and we are so grateful that everything went well at home.

Our flight took us to Austin, TX, which I had so many wonderful things about. Austin did not disappoint. We were able to spend Sunday exploring Texas’s capitol, where we found breweries, authentic Texas BBQ, and live music. It was a great day (without kids)!

I reserved our rental car from Easirent. They were supposed to pick us up in a shuttle when we landed and bring us to the rental agency. Unfortunately, about 20 of us were never picked up and eventually told that they gave our rentals away. You can imagine the anxiety I had then trying to reserve a car last minute, when it felt like the entire country was flying into Austin or Dallas for this solar show. Fortunately, AVIS came through and we were able to drive to our less than stellar AirBnB in Killeen, TX where we met Don and Chris who had come into Dallas from Apple Valley, CA. We chose to stay here because it was directly on the centerline of totality. While we had never experienced anything like this before, Don and Chris both saw totality in WY in 2017.

As we anxiously checked weather apps for cloud cover, we decided to drive west towards Goldthwaite, TX as this small town had a lower percentage of cloud coverage expected for that day. We got up bright and early to make the trek and settled near a city park with a couple hundred other eclipse chasers. By 9:00am cameras with filters were set, crowds were gathering and we simply had to wait for the show.

And what a show it was! All of the emotions leading up to this point (leaving the kids, endlessly scanning weather apps, not knowing if we’d get to see what we had come for) were incredibly overwhelming as soon as we were able to take off our eclipse glasses and just stare at the Sun.

I later learned from Don that the high level of prominences (solar flares) that we were able to see was because the Sun was in solar maximum. Basically, the Sun was tightly wound; and like rubber bands unleashing themselves after being tightly wound, the flares were plenty; so much that we could see them with the naked eye!

I’m not sure if we will ever see something like this again; it’s hard to put into words the experience as the pictures posted here don’t capture it all. I can’t speak for others, but for me, I felt incredibly small and insignificant, yet wonderfully alive.

Kirkcreek Campground, CA

We are grateful that our schedules allow us to have so many vacation days together, including Spring Break. With the school district scheduling Spring Break to fall in mid March every year, we have lots of options of where we want to spend it. I wanted to go to Big Sur and see the beautiful central CA coast so I scoped out Kirkcreek campground, one of the few campgrounds in central CA that is right on the ocean. And this campground has one of the best views of any campground we have ever stayed at!

Our amazing campsite complete with the sounds of the crashing waves below.

Although we didn’t get a spot directly on the cliff, we had a beautiful view and we able to fall asleep and wake up to the waves crashing on the shore. Unfortunately, because of heavy rains, the 1 HWY just north of our site was closed for over a year as they repaired the washed out highway. We were hoping that this would open up before our trip, but as more roads were washed out, they actually extended the road closure even more. Despite not seeing a good chunk of the area we were hoping to see, we were still able to see some incredible areas.

We all know that getting to these beautiful places takes time; for this specific trip the drive time was eight hours. We stayed in Tehachapi on the drive out and in Paso Robles on the drive back. The AirBnB we stayed at in Tehachapi was literally in the clouds. It had a beautiful grassy area for the kids to swing in and for Topo run around in. This stop allowed us to break up the eight hours into something more manageable for everyone.

We love that the kids love camping and we were fortunate that we had great weather for the entire trip except for the first day; the clouds rolled in and the day was full of a misty rain. Despite the cool, wet weather, we made the most of it and visited Sand Dollar beach just south of us; everything we did was south of where we stay because of the road closure north of us. We stopped for lunch in the small town of Ragged Point. Fortunately, after we ate the skies started to clear up a little bit and we were able to check out some tidepools where we saw a crab. We also saw whale spouts in the distance! It was incredible!

The next few days were amazing…wonderfully warm temps with the sun’s rays making us hot at times. We went to a couple nearby beaches (Mill Creek and Willow Creek) where we searched for seashells and the kids got clobbered by the waves. We enjoyed the lack of cell service, camp fires (with s’mores of course), and all sleeping together on one side of the trailer.

Because we were getting a bit tired of driving the same winding roads south with no option to go north, we packed up a day early. We stopped for a second time in San Simeon to see the huge elephant seals basking in the sun, and then we had our own beach fun in San Simeon where Ella (and Topo) played in the waves and Miles built creations in the sand. Our last stop along the coast before heading inland to Paso Robles, was the small coastal town of Cambria where we enjoyed the quaint shops and some delicious pizza.

Although we didn’t get to see all of Big Sur, I do think that because of the road closure, there were very few visitors in the area. For each beach we went to, we basically had the entire area to ourselves! It made it easy for Topo to run free and for us to simply enjoy the beauty. I look forward to traveling to the Monterey area in the coming years and getting a chance to see what we missed. The beauty of the Western coast of the U.S. will never get old to us.

Brian Head, UT

Each morning on the way to daycare, Miles would see the peak of Mt. Charleston and ask to go play in the snow. With the snow at Mt. Charleston not quite heavy enough and lots of daily crowds in the mountain, we decided to go play in the snow at a bigger mountain, Brian Head.

We rented an AirBnB with a view of the ski lifts and enjoyed a weekend FULL of snow. We would sled/play for 45 min. and then come inside to warm up. The kids loved it, but you know who loved it more? Topo! She would run after us through the deep snow each time we sled down the hill; she was basically submerged in the snow and it was hilarious to watch her happy self run around. I even surprised myself with how warm I stayed and was the last person who wanted to go inside to warm up; must be my Michigan roots.

Scott even had the chance to go snowmobiling for the first time and loved it.

Bisbee, AZ

We spent our family Christmas in the old mining, now artsy, town of Bisbee, AZ!

Did you know that in the early 1900s Bisbee was one of the largest, must bustling towns between St. Louis and San Francisco? Yes, because of the beautiful hills and mining industry that they provided, Bisbee was THE place to be.

The whole crew!

With an eight hour drive and a Dec. 26 check-in date, we decided to leave on Christmas afternoon to make a dent in the drive by reserving a dog friendly hotel outside of Phoenix. Although fast food and hotel rooms don’t speak “Christmas” to most people, that is how we spent our Christmas night. Fortunately, the rest of the trip made up for it.

With family hailing from AZ, NM, NV, and UT, we had three full days to soak in the town and each other. We spent our first day there celebrating Christmas, opening presents, exploring Bisbee on the electric bikes, and eating really delicious food.

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting nearby Tombstone the next day. I had never been to this historic town. With 11 people and two dogs there was a lot to figure out, but we did it. We were able to watch the famous OK Corral shootout reenactment between the law abiding Earp family and the rebellious Cowboys. Fun fact: one of Scott’s acquaintances, Todd St. Marie, played Wyatt Earp in the reenactment so we felt super cool that we knew THE ‘good guy.’ In addition to walking about the town, we were able to take a stagecoach ride around to learn about all of the historic sites.

After a full day at Tombstone, we had a slow morning of exploring Bisbee some more and topped off the day with a tour the Copper Queen Mine. Unfortunately, Ella and Miles were too young to go, so my parents, who had on a couple of mine tours in other places, stayed at the house with them. The tour brought us 1,500 feet into the mountain on a track and at one point, we had 800 feet of rock above our heads! What made the tour even cooler was that our guide, Neil, had worked in these exact tunnels himself in the 70s before the mines were closed in 1975.

In addition to all the exploring we did, we also had some good laughs over family games like Slapzi, Cups, and Uno. Ella, Miles and Tyler played countless games of hide and seek throughout the incredibly unique house we stayed in with hiding places around every corner. They laughed, drove RC cars, and were able to have another trip of shared experiences that we hope they remember. And after an eight hour drive, basically through the entire state of Arizona, we made it back to Las Vegas (thanks to Scott) in record time!

AirBnBs really do provide the perfect getaway for our family; a place we can all gather, make our own food, and explore a new area year after year. Who know where next year Family Christmas will take us?

Las Cruces, NM

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents in Las Cruces, NM again. We had a wonderful time exploring some areas the kids had seen before (White Sands National Monument) and other areas that were new to them (downtown Mesilla). We flew out on Tuesday evening and the airport was eerily empty; we walked right up to security. Similarly, on our return flight, Harry Reid Airport was the emptiest I have ever seen it.

White Sands National Monument

On Wednesday, we explored White Sands National Monument. This place is always impressive and the endless mounds of gypsum sand provide the perfect sledding hills. We then drove about an hour West to Cloudcroft. This town sits at 9,000 feet so there was snow! While there, we visited a few of their local shops and enjoyed some local pizza and beer at Cloudcroft Brewing Co.

We spent Thanksgiving Day watching the Lions lose a close one and helping Grandma prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Terry and Linda Schukei, who we hadn’t seen in a few years, joined us for the family dinner.

Friday was spent hiking to Le Cueva in Dripping Springs National Monument and playing tag in Old Mesilla. Le Cueva is a cave that was inhibited by a man known as The Hermit in the 1860s. We took a small half mile hike to reach it at the base of the Organ Mountains. Mesilla, established at the conclusion of the Mexican War in 1848, is now a bustling tourist attraction with galleries and gift shops. We enjoyed the local Christmas décor surrounded by fall berries and leaves, while we played in the grassy town square.

We spent our last day visiting the Avalos Family and making a pre airport stop at the El Paso Zoo. Initially, the Zoo left much to be desired, however, as we spent more time there, we were able to see more impressive animals including: tigers, giraffes, zebras, lions, orangutans, and Miles’s favorite: spider monkeys. Thankfully, we had a very uneventful flight home and even landed about 30 minutes early!

While we don’t live close to my parents, we are grateful that we are able to see them every month or two. I continue to be grateful for their good health and mobility. I’m even more grateful for the memories they are making with Ella and Miles. Ella was able to show off her newly acquired reading skills to Grandma and Grandpa by reading her Elephant and Piggie books.

Valley of Fire State Park, NV

We spent a beautiful Veterans Day weekend with the Greene Family exploring Valley of Fire State Park! Thanks to Lili, who reserved two campsites well in advanced, we were able to spend the long weekend climbing on nature’s playground!

This bighorn sheep came to visit our campsite just before we left.

Although the nights were cold, the days were warm; no jackets needed under the sun. We hiked to Mouse’s Tank and then Fire Wave at sunset. The kids did great and Miles, believe it or not, didn’t complain once about his legs being tired! Although, he still had plenty of other items to voice his dissatisfaction for. Ella and Nolan played so well together and when we weren’t out on a trail, the kids climbed all over the red rocks near our campground.

While Miles napped, we were able to take the electric bikes out for a ride and even caught a bighorn sheep hanging out at our campground as we were packing up. We enjoyed nightly campfires and while the kids (and adults) enjoyed s’mores, the adults enjoyed samples from Brian’s stellar whisky collection.

Prior to this year, Nevada did not have a state park camping reservation system; it was always ‘first come-first served.’ For the planners of the world, the new reservation system is so much better!

Annular Eclipse in Marysvale, UT

The next time we’re going to see one of these in the United States is 20 years from now! About a year prior, we reserved the refurbished train cars north of Marysvale, UT to be at the centerline for the annular eclipse on Oct. 14th, 2023. We met the Ekberg Family and Don for this spectacular weekend!

The crowd cheered as this is what we saw through our solar glasses! It was more impressive than I had imagined.

There were nearly clear skies for this once in a lifetime event. With the moon beginning its coverage of the sun at about 9:30am and peaking about an hour later, we drove a few miles north of our train car to be at the exact centerline. It was quite the experience. The temperature dropped considerably (we went from wearing sweatshirts, to putting on our winter jackets and hats), but it didn’t get as dark as I was expecting. With just 10% of the sunlight reaching the Earth, it still looked like it was just reaching dusk outside.

With the eclipse over before noon, we had an entire day to enjoy with everyone! The weather and Fall colors were just what my Michigan heart needed. The kids played in the huge grass area, the adults rode bikes, drank beer, and caught up on life. I even went zip lining for the first time with Jamaica’s Mom and Aunt Carol! Although Jamaica couldn’t join us, the kids had a fantastic time hanging out together and we look forward to our next adventure somewhere off of I-15!

Grand Haven, Boyne Falls, & Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI

Michigan summers are the best! For the third year in a row, we took a trip to Michigan to enjoy our time with family and to visit more beautiful places. We started off at my parents in Grand Haven where we played in the waves the day we landed. The next 10 days were spectacular, except for one teeny tiny hiccup: Miles started throwing up the night we arrived and didn’t stop for three days! Fortunately, all the vomiting occurred at my parent’s condo or while we were outside. It took him a solid seven days to get back to his normal, energetic self.

After a couple of days in Grand Haven, we headed north to Boyne Falls to meet my brother’s family. We stayed in an adorable AirBnB while exploring the surrounding areas. Our first day there, while Zaina was wrapping up her cheer camp, we took Vivi with us to the nearby town of Charlevoix. I’m pretty sure Charlevoix is as picturesque as it gets…I felt like I was walking around in a postcard.

Day two started off at a beautiful lavender farm (where the lavender was at its peak), where we got some wonderful family photos. We then hiked 462 steps up Avalanche Mountain for a view of Lake Charlevoix. Poor Miles, who was still recovering from being sick, even hiked all 462 steps himself. We ended the day with a family dinner out. Our last day together was spent at Petoskey State Park where the sun was shining and the water was calling.

After saying goodbye to my brother’s family, the rest of us headed north to the Upper Peninsula. After taking a small break to take in the beauty of the Mackinac Bridge, we stopped at Tahquamenon Falls. The 200 foot wide waterfall is the largest in Michigan. Beautiful wooden boardwalks allowed visitors to access the falls. We experienced our first rain here and it only sprinkled on us while we walked to the falls. Fortunately, it only rained on our travel days and we had two amazing days at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, MI.

We spent our first day with a quick hike to Munising Falls and then more time than we were planning playing at Sand Point Beach along Lake Superior because it was so warm (well warm for Lake Superior)! Our day ended with a catamaran ride along the lakeshore where we were able to view the gorgeous coast.

Thanks to my parents, our second day was uh-mazing! While my parents entertained the kids, Scott and I hiked a 10-mile route where the trail led us to some gorgeous overlooks. My favorite spot was the rocks along Mosquito beach where we took a dip to cool off.

After a long drive back to my parents, in which the kids did great, we packed up all our souvenirs and flew back to the Las Vegas summer oven the next day. After such wonderful summer visits year after year, it’s safe to say that we will be continuing this Michigan summer tradition. I hope we can give Ella and Miles just some of the summer memories I had growing up.

Brian Head, UT

The Lautzenheiser Family Trip this year was held on Duane’s property in Brian Head, UT. We camped for five nights under the aspen trees. Our days were equally spent exploring the surrounding area and hanging out at camp. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a family photo so although Marcia, Duane, Beth, and Evan were all there, their beautiful, smiling faces are not pictured here. So sad!

Cedar Breaks National Monument

We spent our first full day there doing a small hike around Brian Head with Beth and riding dirt bikes. Yes, you read that right…we (Ella, Miles, and myself) all rode dirt bikes for the first time! Otherwise, the kids were easily entertained with cousin Tyler and swinging on Duane’s hammock.

The following days we explored Yankee Meadow (which was much fuller than the previous year we’d been there), Cedar Breaks National Monument (where at 10,500 feet the hail came well, hailing down), Navajo Lake (where we stopped for a quick lunch), and the super cool Mammoth Cave (where we crawled on our hands and knees through lava tubes).

We continued our adventure seeking out Parowan Gap (where the road is literally lined with petroglyphs) and some nearby dinosaur prints. Coming down the mountain and spending an hour in the 85 degree heat was a gentle reminder what we would be returning to in Las Vegas.

We are so grateful to Duane and Beth for making this week happen. While at camp we threw axes, devoured great food, munched on s’mores, drank delicious beer, and enjoyed the conversation with friends and family. If we don’t get up there during this fall, we will definitely return next summer.

San Diego, CA

Scott had an International Association of Identification (aka Fingerprinting/CSI) conference in San Diego the last week of school so the kids and I flew down after school was out to join him. We had an tiny (500 square foot) AirBnB right on Mission Beach, just steps away from the bay’s calm waters. And although I was sick the first two days , and we learned that the locals refer to this time of year as Gray May and June Gloom, we had a great time enjoying the cloudy and cool mornings as a reprieve from the already hot Las Vegas summer.

At the beginning of the week, Scott drove the truck packed with all our ‘necessities,’ two of which were the kids’ scooters and the electric bikes. The boardwalk along the bay was perfect for scooting each morning while soaking in the scenery. We also took the electric bikes around the entire bay! I think it was about 13 miles of coastline filled with wetlands, parks, beaches, and endless places to recreate. Once I felt better, the kids and I paddle boarded around the bay. Ella was even brave enough to stand up with me.

What trip to San Diego isn’t complete without a trip to the world famous San Diego Zoo? We took the kids to the zoo during covid, when Miles wasn’t even one yet, so we expected this time to be much better. We realized, however, the kids were more interested in ice cream than the animals and this was perhaps a little karma for me.

As a kid my parents took me on adventure after adventure where my biggest concern was whether the hotel we were staying at had a pool or even better, a pool with a slide. My parents also had to drag two grumpy kids out of bed to start the day at a reasonable time, 9:00am. Fortunately (or unfortunately) our kids still wake up bright and early (6:00am) to start the day. Scott and I still thought the animals were so cool…especially our gorilla relatives.

Although I grew up around lakes, I didn’t have the tide pools that oceans provide to explore. This is something that Scott enjoyed growing up and I’ve learned to appreciate so we drove to Point Loma tide pools and tried to find as many sea creatures as we could. Although we didn’t find any sea stars, we saw lots of crabs and a dead lobster. The ocean views and giant waves crashing on the rocky shore was also impressive.

We spent our last afternoon (hoping for the sun to come out) at the ocean side of Mission Bay. And although the sun never found its way through the clouds, we still enjoyed running from the waves. Even Miles, who is hesitant of most things at first, was ‘hi-ya’ing (karate chopping) the waves as he ran from them.

San Diego has so much to offer that even though we’ve visited the area three times in the last five years, we have so much more to do: Sea World, Torrey Pines, and exploring the naval ships in the harbor just to name a few. Needless to say, we will be back.

Easter in Cannonville, UT with the Ekbergs!

We try to meet with the Ekberg family once a year. Last year we met near Bryce Canyon in the winter, so this year we did the same in the spring. In Jan. 2021 the four of us had rented the cutest AirBnB in Cannonville, UT. I decided to reserve the same one to show the Ekbergs its charm.

The Easter weekend crew!

Fortunately, we had beautiful weather and explored Kodachrome Basin State Park our first day. The kids all, without complaint, did a one mile hike! Yay! Everyone got to enjoy the electric bikes as well. Surrounded by monolithic stone spires, called sedimentary pipes, we enjoyed catching up, redirecting kids, lunch, and more redirecting kids.

The next day was Easter! We did the typical Easter baskets and Easter egg hunt around the house. The kids got along so well and were quick to find all the eggs. With beautiful Bryce Canyon a short drive away, we packed up intending to hike along the rim (the year prior we did the Navajo Loop Trail, but with kids hiking on their own two feet, we thought this 3-mile hike was too much for Ella and Miles). We didn’t make it too far before we realized that we would be hiking in waist deep snow. Although hilarious, it would take all day to make it along the rim, and we’d all have frozen toes by the end so we called it quits.

To break up the drive home we stopped on the East side of Zion National Park. We stopped along the side of the road and explored a stream and canyon all to ourselves…imagine that in Zion? The kids got wet and dirty, we saw bighorn sheep and waterfalls cascading over the giant canyon walls and it couldn’t have been a better ending to our weekend.

We will continue our yearly tradition of meeting the Ekbergs somewhere between Salt Lake City (where they live) and Las Vegas. Now that we have visited Bryce Canyon twice with them, we will have to explore another spectacular location in southern Utah next time.

Paso Robles & Morro Bay, CA

We spent our Spring Break renting an AirBnB near the California coast with Aunt Shirley! And Uncle Duane and Beth joined us too! We were very fortunate that although our first day in Ventura was cold and rainy, we were able to join days full of sunshine to rest of the week. And the heavy rains in the weeks prior resulted in fluorescent green hills and beautiful wildflowers!

Overlook on CA-46. Morro Rock is the background.

In order to break up the long drive, and get to the beach as soon as possible, we stayed at a hotel in Ventura. These kids, for whatever reason, love hotels! Apparently the fact that we rarely stay in them has made them extra special. Despite the constant rain, we were not deterred from tide pools or running from the waves. Ella especially, was so excited at each rock or seashell she found.

I always wanted to bring Topo to the ocean. We’ve been a number of times with the kids, but we’ve never brought Topo. She was thrilled to be running through the sand, chasing birds and feeling free! Although she didn’t care too much about the waves and water, it was great to give her this experience.

Our first full day, we explored Morro Bay and enjoyed seeing sea otters by the docks. We all got fresh fish and chips and sampled local wine for our lunch stop. The AirBnB was in a beautiful location, a bike ride from nearby wineries, but it was a little less maintained than we were hoping.

Our second full day, Duane and Beth were just north of us so they drove down in their class C motorhome and stayed in the driveway. We spent the morning in downtown Paso Robles where the kids got to play at a playground and we drank local beer. The crew went to the ONLY winery we visited (Peachy Canyon) while I took the kids back to nap before our big night out. (Yes, you read that right, I went to Paso Robles and didn’t even go to a winery or vineyard. I guess that just means we will have to go back).

We spent the evening at Sensorio, a giant filled with over 100,000 solar powered lights. It was Sensorio that Shirley had showed us pictures of on her phone years ago. When I saw it, I said that I wanted to go there…so it was that conversation that initiated this trip.

Because it was raining the morning at the tide pools in Ventura, we wanted to make sure we got in another tide pool visit. We stopped at the beautiful Los Osos area just south of Morro Bay. There were plenty of creatures to find and a waterfall to enjoy. We explored downtown Cayucos for lunch (and ice cream of course) before heading back to house.

One of the most impressive parts of the trip was the drive back along CA-46. Because of the heavy rains, the fields were covered in yellow and orange wildflowers! I was bummed we didn’t get any pictures because it sure was a sight to see! I guess, we have another reason to go back…wineries and wildflowers.

Red Cliffs Campground, St. George, UT

We spent the three-day President’s Day weekend camping at the beautiful Red Cliffs Campground, where there are only 11 campsites. It is a super popular day-use area and we were able to see why.

The trip, however, almost didn’t happen. Ella threw up at 2am on Friday night. and continued to throw up into Saturday. She even threw up as I was loading her sleeping body into the truck, thinking that she was better…silly me! And even though she threw up one more time in the camping trailer on Saturday night, I was prepared! She was a trooper and you wouldn’t have guessed that she was sick.

Duane and Beth met us for the first day! Miles got to go on a SXS ride with Duane and we hiked to dinosaur tracks located just above our campsite on the sandstone cliffs!

Our second day there, the kids did a mile-and-a-half hike to a small waterfall! (I never would have thought that Miles would do this without being carried). We may or may not have bribed them with s’mores if they did it without complaining. The weather during the day was perfect and we stayed warm at night despite lows hovering around freezing.

Sedona, AZ

Despite the cold and rainy weather, the Lautzenheiser Family Christmas (plus a couple of Kienzles) in Sedona was fantastic!

The fam!

We started out a trip a day early and made a stop at a dog friendly hotel in Williams, AZ. The kids always ask to stay in hotels, which we don’t do very often, so this was extra special. We made a stop at the Deer Farm and walked a short trail before driving south to Sedona.

We celebrated Christmas the next day with the family; Duane even brought a Christmas tree to put up. We took the electric bikes out for a spin and even Grandpa tried it out. Even though the days were rainy, we were able to squeeze in some adventures. What was even more disappointed was the sheer number of visitors (just like us) in Sedona for the holidays. The downtown area was packed and the trailheads were all overflowing with cars.

We made a drive to the Native American Honanki World Heritage Site, and even though the trail was closed it was great to get out of the house. Duane, Beth, Scott and I were able to go on a short hike, and even though it started raining on us, it was wonderful scenery and wonderful conversation.

With packed trails everywhere, we also spent a morning at the Wetlands Park. We walked around the area and enjoyed a lunch on the picnic tables, which we nearly had to ourselves. Even though the scenery wasn’t as impressive, the solitude and company were perfect! We drove through the _______ area and got some family photos in just before, you guessed it, the rain set in.

We took a slight detour on the way home and stopped in the adorable hillside town of Jerome, AZ. We walked around the day and enjoyed our last lunch with Duane and Beth at the Haunted Hamburger. We probably won’t head back to Sedona (because of the crowds) anytime soon, but hope to make a trip to nearby Prescott, AZ sometime soon!

Valley of Fire State Park

What better way to spend a couple days before Christmas than leaving the chaos behind and camping in beautiful weather? We spent two nights not too far from home, camping (at the same campsite Scott and I camped six years ago) at Valley of Fire State Park.

Topo, Sara, Miles, Ella, Scott

We enjoyed highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s in late December! The red rocks near our campsite were perfect for exploring and this camping trip completely exceeded my expectations. We were able to hike the White Dome Trail, which we had not done and revisit the Firewave area. We also took turns riding for miles on our new electric bikes (that Scott got us for Christmas) and checked some other areas in the park.

The kids got to see the Milky Way at night and although we didn’t have s’mores, we enjoyed a nightly campfire each night. The campsite was only half full and although the park was still busy an we were only an hour from home, we felt like we were able to ‘get away.’ And of course, it wouldn’t have been a trip to Valley of Fire with out multiple bighorn sheep sightings!

Las Cruces, NM

Four years later, we finally returned to Las Cruces for Thanksgiving! We were supposed to go in 2020, but we all know why that didn’t happen. We are grateful for yet another year where Grandma K made all the traditional Thanksgiving foods! Yum! Maybe next year she will get the year off. ;)

First things, first: we spent a beautiful day at White Sands National Monument! We sledded, walked, and played in the perfectly cool and undisturbed sand.

Thanksgiving day was spent hot tubbing, playing outside, drinking and eating. It was a perfect day!

We were also able to visit the Farm and Ranch Museum, finally meet Mary and Joe Avalos, and peruse the Las Cruces Farmers Market before flying back late on Saturday night. The kids got to play ‘hide and seek’ in Grandma and Grandpa’s giant house and Ella learned how to play Skip-Bo and Jenga. With good health and each other’s company, we are grateful for another year together!

Cane Beds, AZ

Anytime we have a three day weekend, we try to take advantage of it to explore somewhere. For the Nevada Day Holiday, we went camping on Duane’s property in Cane Beds, AZ. Instead of towing our trailer, which was a nice break, Duane let us stay in his hard sided camper. Over the next two days, Duane showed us some of the area’s hidden gems!

Pure joy running down the dunes!

Coral Pink Sand Dunes is one of the places Duane took us. We drove through the sand to a 1.5 mile trail to see pictographs from 1,200 years ago! The inked artwork was amazingly preserved and the hike was perfect for kids (adventurous, but not too difficult) and adults (picturesque fall trees). Unfortunately, Ella was getting over a cold and this was not her idea of fun. Thankfully, she powered through and rested in the truck the remainder of the day.

While Ella rested in the truck, we were able to stop at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and Hidden Lake. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is a no-kill shelter that takes in all sorts of animals. We were able to visit the final resting place for many of their animals. Hidden Lake is….just that, a hidden lake.

On the way home we went to the very picturesque, but very ‘off the beaten path’ Toquerville Falls. It was definitely worth the long and bumpy road. We are grateful that Duane has two wonderful pieces of Southern Utah that he shares with us!