Parenting has to be hard. Obviously I wouldn’t know — the idea of me having kids is laughable — but after spending an extended weekend with Ryan’s brother Derek, and my soon-to-be nephew (Braxton) and niece (Adler), I’m even more convinced parenting is not for me.
Sorry mom and dad.
Derek, Braxton and Adler were able to escape the beyond frigid temps of the midwest late last month to fly out to Arizona for an extended family weekend celebrating Ryan’s dad’s birthday — first up around Flagstaff and Williams, and then downstate in Phoenix and Casa Grande, which is Ryan’s hometown.
Derek and the kids got into Phoenix on a Tuesday night, where Mary and Brad (Ryan’s parents aka my future in-laws) picked them up. Then, the five of them drove up to Parks.
Ryan was able to take a good chunk of time off work for their visit, but I had to work here-and-there throughout the visit.
Derek and the kids came over to see our new house Wednesday after they all took a trip to Bearizona, and then I was able to get Thursday off work to join on a day trip to the Grand Canyon via the Grand Canyon Railway.
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon several times now (never not taking advantage of being so close) but this was the first time I’d ever take the Grand Canyon Railway, which departs from Williams, up to the national park.
Ryan and I met at the Williams depot bright and early, where things got kicked off with a little shoot-off skit. Derek (lucky him) was pulled into the skit, which the kids seemed to like.
After the skit, we all boarded the train, which kicked off the two-hour journey up to the Grand Canyon.
It was actually pretty fun! Each car had a dedicated musician and emcee, so we spent the two hour ride up to the canyon listening to live music and learning about the history of the railway and the canyon.
Two hours later, we stepped off the train and into the national park.
The kids got to walk up to the rim and take a look.
(Braxton, word-for-word: “Whoa. That’s steep.”)
We had lunch reservations at El Tovar, so we spent a few hours there, and Adler even snuck in a nap by one of the lodge’s fireplaces.
The train schedule gives day riders about three hours to explore the canyon. After lunch, the five of us took some photos and explored some of the gift shops.
The kids were a bit tired (it was a long day for them) so they went to the train station a bit early. Ryan and I snuck away for a bit to get a quick hike down Bright Angel Trail. Not a lot, just a mile or so — something to do after sitting on the train for so long.
Then Ryan and I made it back to the train station so we could board our train back to Williams.
On the way back to Williams, we fell victim to a “heist” by the same robbers who acted out the skit at the train depot earlier that day.
Mary let me know that the last time Ryan rode on the Grand Canyon Railway, the robbers made him cry.
She also let me know he was about the same age our niece and nephew are now.
After the train got back to Williams, we all had dinner together at Grand Canyon Brewing in Williams before Ryan and I made it back to Flagstaff.
I had a quick shift at work the next morning, but after that, Ryan and I drove downstate for the desert portion of his brother’s visit.
Because we had a few wedding-related appointments in Phoenix — ring shopping on Friday and cake tasting on Saturday — Ryan and I had a quick night to ourselves down in the valley.
We took advantage of the warm weather by taking Ochi for a nice long walk at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert.
Afterward, Ryan’s parents, Derek and the kids stopped to meet us for ice cream at Handel’s, since they were on their way down to Casa Grande from Parks, which is where Ryan’s parents live in the summer.
Ryan and I grabbed dinner and beer at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., and then checked in to our hotel for the night.
We were up early enough to go for a nice run together before the weather got too hot. Ryan had booked us a hotel near Tempe Town Lake, so we walked down to the trail with Ochi for a four-mile run before breakfast.
Then after breakfast, we packed up our room, loaded up Ochi, and went to our cake tasting.
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Cake tasting! (The most exciting part of wedding planning probably) and the unexpectedly best brownie I’ve ever eateN
After that, we left Tempe for Casa Grande, so we could help watch the kids and set up for Brad’s birthday party, which ended up being a ton of fun.
We were up early the next morning for a family hike. We made it a little way off the Casa Grande Mountain Trailhead with the kids, Derek and Mary, until the kids had enough.
(Braxton, word-for-word: “I don’t wanna see another cactus!”)
Mary, Derek and the kids went back to the trailhead and back home while Ryan and I took Ochi on a nice little four-mile loop to finish the trail before we got back in our car.
After our hike, we went back to Ryan’s parents’ house to shower, pack up, and say our goodbyes.
We ran a few errands (cough, Trader Joe’s) on our way home.
The weekend went by pretty quickly, and I’m already looking forward to seeing family again at our wedding later this year.
