The Grand Canyon... and a Blizzard

 

After the skiing and fun in Flagstaff, the boys headed out once more a bit north.  This time through what was hoped to be a short snow event, to the Grand Canyon!

It was cold, and for the 24hrs that we were their, we were in the middle of a huge snow storm that accumulated 39" of snowfall over 36hrs.  At times the snow was so thick visibility was 10'-15'.  But when the snow paused and the clouds would break for moments, the views were spectacular.

We stayed at the El Tovar Inn which is the original Grand Canyon Hotel built back in 1905 well before the Grand Canyon became a National Park. 

The hotel had a fantastic restaurant with huge picture windows facing the canyon... if only Mother Nature would have entertained better!

But as seen before, clear and beautiful vistas did come at times.

While Carter was interested in the Canyon and the park, Parker was only interested in hot chocolate.  Luckily the cocktail lounge had just what he wanted, Carter couldn't say no either.

The next morning the boys all woke early to hit the road and try to make their flight in Phoenix back home.  Luckily they were able to get out of the park about 30min before the gate was closed due to weather.  It was a slow and snowy drive to Phoenix, but made it in plenty of time.

While at the airport, the boys were entertained to see the Germany (Deutschland) World Baseball Classic team at the airport with them.  Sadly this was due to the team having just been eliminated from the last qualification spot the night prior.

Overall the boys all had a great time and saw a very different part of the country, but were happy to be home after a very busy and full week.

Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff AZ

 Leaving Phoenix, Dad and the boys headed a few hours north to Flagstaff Arizona.  Carter and Parker have only skied in North Carolina and Flagstaff happens to be home to one of Arizona's best ski mountains, the Arizona Snowbowl which is part of the San Francisco Peaks which is an old formation from a large stratovolcano.

The mountain was great and had fantastic views.  From the main chairlift to the top of the mountain (11,500ft) you could see the scar of the Grand Canyon in the distance.

We skied for two days with the boys doing ski school in the mornings and then all three skiing together in the afternoons with each other.  

Turning under control

Working on controlling speed

The boys having no idea Dad is right behind them

The boys skills grew tremendously over the two days and they were given high praise from their instructors on both their improvement and their attitudes in learning.  They had such fun that they are talking about taking another trip next Spring Break to possibly focus solely on skiing.

That's an idea Dad can get behind!

Cactus League Spring Break 2025

 The boys Spring Break was the first week of March and they had been discussing wanting to see some Spring Training games for a while.  So Parker, Carter, and Dad planned a trip to Arizona to witness some Cactus League Spring Training.

For the first three days of the trip, they went to multiple baseball games and stadiums seeing the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, and the Milwaukee Brewers all play.

In between games, the boys found a fun putt putt style location called PopStroke developed by Tiger Woods next to their hotel.  Both difficult and very entertaining.

Each ballpark in the Phoenix area had its own specialty foods and drinks, but the unanimous favorite by all was the Rockies home at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.  

While in town, it was noticed that Parker's favorite NBA team, the Minnesota Timberwolves happened to be playing the Phoenix Suns, so we headed downtown for some additional sports on the hardwood.

The temps started to cool quickly in Phoenix as we wound down our trip. The boys had fun at the local aquarium and Parker could not be kept out of the pool despite the temps getting to the low 60's.

After one last ballgame at the Reds in Goodyear, it was time to say a fond farewell to Phoenix and head north!

November

November brought lots of activity with winter sports (Wrestling for boys and Basketball for Avery) and several Boy Scout commitments for the boys. We were all happy to have a "week off" for Thanksgiving to slow things down a little bit. 

Dad hit up a Thursday GT game with friends

Mom hit up the gym with friends

Ladies' night for Ashley's birthday

Dad has his own book!

Avery (10 years, 3 months) - Avery started basketball this month and is excited to get on the court. She really enjoys being on the team and playing defense. We are working on his confidence with shooting. She had more sports fun finishing up Fall tennis lessons and cheerleading on her brothers at baseball and wrestling. She is having a great semester at school and mom and dad were excited to both be able to make her final Thanksgiving Lunch.

Seeing Wicked - liked it but thought it was too long

Crazy hat day at school

Last Thanksgiving Feast

Parker (13 years) - Parker had a super busy November! He started the month with his first MS wrestling meet of the season and his travel baseball team had their last tournament of the season on the same weekend. Then he spent the next two weekends camping with his boy scout troop. During the week, he had daily wrestling, baseball lessons and scout meetings so he was definitely ready for Thanksgiving week! He did fit in some fun with GT Basketball games and a Packer's watch party.

Enjoying his "shot" of Sprite to celebrate the 1st touchdown

Enjoying making treats in his Ninja Cremi

Hanging with Campbell buddies at the Lovett/Campbell meet

Wrestling on the side at his brother's meet

Helping with Carter's Eagle Project

Carter (14 years, 6 months) - Carter hit a big milestone with Boy Scouts, completing his Eagle Project. He choose to build a path at a local community garden to help with erosion issues they are having. He still has several steps before he submits for his Eagle Board of Review but he is getting close! Otherwise November was all about wrestling for Carter. High School sports are definitely a different level of commitment with daily practices, full day tournaments every Saturday, mindset training and film study. Carter has several good friends in the program with him and is managing the commitment well.

Celebrating Teddy's birthday

Dad's breakfast before the Lovett Duel

Helping run the camera between matches

All that activity requires lots of food!

Siblings - Lots of cheering at sports for these kiddos!

Squinty eyes post-Thanksgiving brunch at Pop/Emme's

Siblings wrestling during the Lovett duel

King Valley wrestlers at the Lovett/Campbell Scrimmage

GT Basketball

End of Season Riverdogs party