The Grand Canyon

On our way out west to visit my parents, we took a trip to the Grand Canyon. We thought it would be fun to ride the "Grand Canyon Railway" to go visit the Grand Canyon.

The kids had never been on a real train before, so this was a good experience for them. We also took Grandpa Frost and Grandma Lucy with us.
Ellie REALLY enjoyed Grandma Lucy, she was all over her, which was a nice break for me.
I didn't read the fine print and do the math before we left, but the train moved at top speed, 40 m.p.h. The kids quickly got bored. We did walk down between cars and get a snack while traveling. The train also had some on board entertainment- there was a guitar player on the way up and this really funny accordion/harmonica player on the way back. The kids all got themselves a tiny harmonica to take with them (which they all seem to have lost now).
Also on the way back, the train had to stop because it got robbed!

This cowboy was holding Adam hostage.

One cowboy really liked Nate, who happened to be asleep through the whole thing, and gave him a "cowboy whistle" which is a bullet shell.

We did enjoy seeing the grand canyon. I was very glad that Grandpa and Lucy were there to help me because the railings at the Grand Canyon were more suggestions than actually fall-preventing fences. I figured the older kids were fine, but Nate wanted to stick his head through and look really close and get around the railing. He also thought it might be fun to climb on the rocks that had no railings. It was nice to see the Grand Canyon, but it was stressful too, making sure everyone was safe.

We even went on a short hike down into the Grand Canyon. The hike continued on for many miles, and the boys were disappointed that they didn't get to keep going, but it was fun to be on it while we did.

All of the kids wanted a picture of just them at the Grand Canyon. I told them I would get it printed for them when we got home.

They have a great bus system in the park that drives you along to all of the viewpoints. You get on and off to see the view points and then just wait a few minutes for the next bus to come before you jump on and go to the next viewpoint.

There you go kids, your first natural wonder of the world.