Hello and happy Thursday!
I will say that this week is flying by…and it’s hard to believe that we’ve almost been home from vacation for a week.
We did our traditional fall break in Florida, but Hayden decided to visit his cousins who live in Flagstaff, Arizona. I don’t have a ton of details because “boys will be boys,” but I’m sharing a few pics today!
Two of our nephews live in Flagstaff…one of them because he runs professionally, and it’s a great place to train, and the other because he followed his brother there once he graduated college and now is a photographer and videographer whose content is amazing!
When Travis realized that one of the nephews was flying back to Louisville at the end of the break, we knew it was great timing for Hayden to visit and have a travel buddy on the way home.
My kids have flown quite a few times, but I never know if they are really paying attention on how to navigate an airport. That being said, when we flew this summer, I did let them lead the way a bit just because at this age, they should know how to make their way through security, find their terminal, download their boarding pass, etc.
That being said, I was a little nervous that Hayden had to connect through Dallas on his way to Flagstaff; I’ve been in that airport a couple of times, and it’s just so big and busy. Hayden’s flight left out of Louisville on the Sunday of our fall break, and Louisville family dropped him off.
He made it to Dallas, and he even navigated riding the tram to a different terminal. Once he was at his gate, I breathed a little easier. His flight to Flagstaff was a bit delayed, but he made it there by 1:00 or so Sunday afternoon.
I did have to text my nephew’s wife to ask what time it was in Flagstaff. In Florida, we were on central time, so I was all thrown off! Flagstaff doesn’t do DST, so sometimes they are two hours behind EST and sometimes three!
Anyway, the weather in Flagstaff was rainy the first couple of days Hayden was there, but that didn’t stop him from having fun with his cousins.
Stetching his legs on a walk after the flight on Sunday…
He became a cat person while in Flagstaff! Don’t tell Homer.
On Monday, despite the rain, Hayden went to Sedona with Josh to hike. I guess we should have packed him a raincoat!
I told Josh that I was glad he sent these pics after they got back to the house. I didn’t really know their plans for the day, so knowing he was climbing on slippery rocks would have had my pulse racing a bit.
He told Josh that this was much better than the beach!
On Tuesday, it was another rainy day, but Josh and Jacob took Hayden to the Grand Canyon (and thankfully they found a raincoat for him)
All smiles…
The last time we’d been to Sedona and the Grand Canyon was 2018 when we planned a trip there after Hayden learned about the Grand Canyon in second grade. Neither Trav nor I had been there either, and it was such a great experience.
It’s a great big world out there…(peep Hayden!)
Hayden sent these pics that he took while they drove around…
This one is so pretty with the trees with the beautiful yellow leaves. I’d shared it on Facebook and a friend asked what the animal was staring Hayden down on the left side of the pic. I hadn’t even noticed it, but that’s my nephew’s dog…maybe he’s part wolf?!
On Wednesday, I think they stayed closer to home; Jacob is training for a marathon, and his wife was working. Hayden went to the gym with Jacob and did some things around the house.
They were to fly out Thursday afternoon, but the flight was canceled due to weather…so they had to regroup. They were able to get the same flight on Friday and they made it to Dallas…but then were delayed. We were driving back from Florida that day, so they had to keep us updated with how the travel was going. After a few delays, their flight arrived in Louisville at midnight rather than 9PM…and Travis picked him up; they didn’t get back to Lex until 2AM. Let’s just say we all slept in on Saturday morning!
I’m proud of Hayden for doing this on his own. He’s never been a big beach person, and we knew this trip would make him happy…and it was good for him to be with his cousins. I hate that they had so many travel issues, but I’m thankful they were on the way back when he had a travel buddy to help him with those hiccups.
Anyway, I’m patting myself on the back for letting go a bit and letting him do something on his own. The kids are at the age where they are ready to figure some of these “close to adulting” things out on their own. I’m also very thankful for life 360 and the American Airline app, so we could help him with whatever he needed. haha
Have a great Thursday!
It sounds like he had a great time!
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