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Just realized that this didn't publish earlier in the week...

We made it home Saturday night, and we are still recovering. We are glad to be home, but the girls haven't been sleeping well. And I think they get bored and petty with too many toys in the house, so I'm considering getting rid of half of our belongings. They got along so well on the trip but have been petty since we got home. I'm hoping the third day is the charm!

Teagan is enjoying her adventures with solid food, which has been much easier at home. 

Corey has gone to TN to visit his grandmother who is not well, and Iffy is here to visit and help. 

Day 21: more pool

I don't really have much to say about today. We spent most of the day at the pool, except a few hours when I brought Carsen and Teagan up to the room for naps. 

It was blazing hot and felt like you could get sunburned in 5 minutes or less, but we managed to stay in the shade most of the time, applied sunscreen liberally, stayed hydrated and cooled off in lazy river or pool. 

Rosi made a friend while the little ones were napping, and they are watching a movie together now. 

My phone was in the room all day, so no photos. We did take some with Corey's GoPro (waterproof adventure camera), but who knows when I'll get to post them!

We have had a blast, but we look forward to getting home tomorrow (after a little more pool time in the morning!

Day 20: Pool time

I Corey turned the RV in earlier this morning while the girls and I slept in. Then we had the challenge of deciding which pool to try first. 

Unfortunately Rosi is just a little too short for the wave pool, so we spent most of the morning in the lazy river.

Kids, pools and phones don't really mix well, so the only photos I have are at the chairs.

Day 19: Tucson to Hoover Dam, part 3

We had a slow but nice drive toward Hoover Dam. We liked how decorative some of the highways were instead of just having plain concrete.

 

We also enjoyed seeing a lot more saguaro and other cacti, plus lots of Joshua Trees during our drive.

We stopped to check out the Hoover Dam.

After the Hoover Dam, we packed up the RV and headed straight to the Four Seasons. Everyone enjoyed a thorough bath and a great night's sleep last night.

Day 19: Tucson to Hoover Dam, part 2

And all the way to Vegas!

Well, the 108-110 temps turned our last two nights of RV-roughing-it-adventure into two extra nights of Four Seasons luxury in Vegas (which was already going to be our home for the last night of this adventure), complete with bubble bath kits and kid-sized robes for Rosi and Carsen. 

We stopped at the Hoover Dam and decided that we didn't need to spend two day there or at Lake Mead.

Our adventures tomorrow will be to trade back and forth between the 7 pools and the AC! ;)

I will post more about today's journey tomorrow, but we're finally ready for bed after settling in!

Day 19: Tucson to Hoover Dam, part 1

Today is our longest driving day of the trip - 6 hours, not including traffic or stops. But I'm okay with that, because it's too hot to be outside anyway!

We ended up at a hotel down the road from our campground last night because it was still too hot in the RV at 9:30 pm. I was sitting on the floor directly under the AC with Teagan, and that was the only thing keeping her from crying. And everyone else was pretty hot too. So we decided it was best for everyone's physical and mental health to get out of that extreme heat. :)

We did stop briefly at the campground this morning to take a few photos in front of the saguaros, and now we are headed to Hoover Dam with the AC blasting!

Day 18: Silver City to Tucson, part 4

Driving in Saguaro National Park

Carden says "Whoa Rosi" about Rosi's driving. It's been a joke that every time we go fast (or what feels fast to her, which can be 30 mph) or drive around curves, Carsen says "Whoa daddy, whoa." It's really cute, and now she's giving Rosi the same treatment. :)

Day 18: Silver City to Tucson, part 3

Rosi and I worked on her junior ranger activities from the RV. We didn't finish in time to get sworn in by the ranger before the visitor center closed, but we can mail in the completed booklet and get the badge by mail.

The girls also got to practice their driving skills with daddy while we were on the deserted one-way scenic loop.

We saw hedgehog cacti, barrel cacti, and other types that we have been before (prickly pear, ocotillo, cholla, etc). This one I couldn't identify, but it's really pretty and looks to me like thorny deer antler.

More Saguaro. They really are majestic.

And now all three girls are naked except for panties/ diapers because it's so hot, I'm sitting in the floor under the RV's AC unit to nurse Teagan, and we are considering getting a hotel and canceling our campsite for the next two nights near Lake Mead.

Day 18: Silver City to Tucson, part 2

The drive to Tucson took about 3.5 hours. A few interesting observations from our drive.

They manage to have pecan and walnut orchards, and vineyards out in the desert.

I wonder how much of the cost of these products is due to irrigation.

We stopped at Saguaro National Park just outside of Tucson. Home of the iconic saguaro cactus. It was too hot to explore by hiking, but we took a scenic drive and hopped outside briefly to see a few things up close.

Day 18: Silver City to Tucson, part 1

How is it already Day 18! Before heading out for lunch and saying goodbye to our friends, they invited us to paint a petrograph (like a petroglyphs but with painting instead of carving) of a desert animal on the rock wall in front of their house. We used stencils. Rosi painted a roadrunner, and Carsen painted a jackrabbit. Their kids also painted a Gila monster, lizard, and ... I can't remember the third one!

Now I think the blog is all caught up, and we are back in Arizona, one the way to Tucson.

Day 17: City of Rocks, part 3

When we got home from our adventure to City of Rocks, the dads and kids picked a bunch of apricots from their tree!

And Carsen hammed it up for me to get some close-up photos of her precious freckles.

This cactus from our friends' yard is a type of Cholla in bloom. The yellow part is part of the stalk, and the blooms are the magenta color. I had no idea we would see so many cacti in bloom or that they could be so strikingly beautiful!

Day 17: City of Rocks, part 1

On Monday, we visited City of Rocks, an area with large stones that were made from a volcano eruption millions of years ago. The kids had a blast exploring and pretending that different areas were their houses and schools, etc.

Rosi and Myn

I guess this is Carsen's bedroom. :)

Myn

Xander and Carsen