Bearizona

We heard a few recommendations about Bearizona so we decided to check out the hype.  It was a place you could drive through and see animals in the 'wild'.  We were ready!  

  I figured we would see a few goats and deer and call it a day...

 ..then we came up to this sign while our windows were all down.  Cool...I'm sure we will see a wolf....

Oh yep...there's a wolf giving us the crazy evil eye!

 And then a bear just casually strolled by.  I know these animals were intentionally placed here but it was really cool seeing them up close.  It was like we were actually in the wild!

 Iphones were working overtime..

 I'm sure you all have seen Jason's bear video on IG.  Here is the behind the scenes pic...

 I thought I was pretty artsy with this one...American White Bison...standing by the American White Bison sign!

 Holding up traffic dude!

Trev loved sitting in the middle without a seatbelt.

 And Ry got to stand up..in the car..without a seatbelt!

 License to drive

 The boys had so much fun sitting in the very far back.  Ryden wanted to ride back here for the rest of the trip.

 BEARS!

After we drove through the animals (that sounds horrible), we went to the zoo area.

 Even though it was after Christmas, they still had all the decorations up and it felt so Christmas-y!

 Jason wanted a karate chop picture with the boys.  They didn't get the memo!

 My little bundle baby.  In his defense, it was super cold...but the scarf made him look like Ralphie's brother.  "I can't put my arms down.."

Here's your karate chop picture Jason...a little too late Trev.

 They had a petting zoo.  When we entered, this goat was trying to claw his way though the frozen water.  Twas quite funny.

 Trevin had a grand ole time petting the animals.

 Ry....not so much

 "Look Mama...I jump over the poop.."

 Santa's sleigh

 Group shot.  I showed Jason and said "It turned out awesome because we look like we are in a forest."  To which he replied "Yeah..a forest with rope tied around it."  Buzz kill

 Ryden watched the otters for a long time.  I was frozen watching them swim in the icy water!

 Watching more bears from outside the car

 Entering the cave..oohhh...spooky!

 And one last picture of Trevin by the dippin' dots vending machine that he would not stop talking about.  It's 20 degrees kid!  And you want ice cream??!!

Flagstaff

We spent the night in Payson and then the next morning, we headed to Flagstaff.  We got a rather late start, so by the time we got there, checked into the hotel, and ate lunch, it was pretty late.  So, we decided just to go on an evening stroll and enjoy the pretty scenery.  We went to a place called Buffalo Park.

 There wasn't any snow (except for a few patches on the ground) but it was still very cold.  But we still enjoyed our leisurely stroll.

We picked up several pine cones along the way...

...and Teresa nabbed a great walking stick...score!

 Oh how I love the 'casually walking away' pictures.

And I also love the 'take my picture but don't make it look like I want my picture taken' pictures.

The other boy would not take a picture with me.  But Trev took one for the team.

 Karate choppin' mountains

 They had these work out stations placed around the walk.  Of course, we had to stop at every one and complete our exercise.

 "Carry me!"

 These pictures always get me.  I just love when they don't know that I've captured such a special moment.

 We were all frozen by the time we got back to the hotel, so it was bath time to defrost. 

Payson, AZ

Years ago, before we had kids, Teresa took us on this amazing walk around a lake in Payson, AZ.  So we decided to re-visit the area with the boys.  After we left Tucson, we picked up Teresa (who had flown in from TX after visiting Melinda and Nick) and headed to the snow.  The boys loved it even if it was super duper cold outside.

 Their favorite was to grab a snowball and throw it at the camera..

Trevin's gloves were ridiculously big, but that seemed to be his only concern.

 The lake was frozen and another favorite activity was to throw huge rocks to try and break the lake ice.

Teresa has quite the rock ready for launching..

 Trevin's favorite activity was to eat the snow.  Hope it wasn't yellow.

 Ryden and Grandma went around making more snowballs.

 Dada and Trevin

Jason is makin' it snow...

 More homemade snow cones for Trevin

 Weeeeee....

 Family shot

 The boys and their Skechers

 Trev made the mistake of grabbing snow with his bare hands.  It was all over from there.  Frozen and crying.  Goodbye snow....for now.