Payson

Mary and Michael found an awesome rental house in Payson, AZ. We were glad to mooch off their planning and enjoy a little fall getaway with cousins! It was about a 3 hour drive for us, ending with a grocery stop that including picking out a birthday cake and ice cream for Annie!

We pulled in to find the cousins going bonkers over the awesome tree house in the yard.We managed to drag everyone inside to eat some delicious ribs that Michael had smoked at 3 am that morning- the benefits of insomnia! After that, we whipped out the cake and ice cream. 

Some happy cake eaters

Opening her new drawing pad

Mimi sent her an adorable backpack!

Elliot with Annie's new drawing pad in the cousin bunk room

Annie had a rough night. She woke up around 3am. Normally she would just cry a little and then fall back asleep, but since her crib was in our room she saw us and it was game over. We couldn't let her scream it out since we were right next to the room with all the kids, so we got to spend the next hour convincing her to try to sleep in our bed with us. Eventually I went downstairs to sleep on the couch, and Aaron got her to sleep pretty soon after that. The next night we stuffed her crib in the bathroom and it worked out much better for everyone. 

Not at all remorseful for her nighttime shenanigans and ready to take on the day!

She wasted no time getting her backpack back on

Then it was outside to play in the yard!

They have these neat swings all over the place

These two needed some persuading to try the zipline, but both quickly became masters

All the kids (and Aaron and me, naturally) loved the zipline, but Andrew was definitely the most bold. He would hold onto the top bar with just his hands while someone else sat on the seat. 

We were planning on hiking to this neat bridge, but luckily the night before Michael figured out that some big race was happening there and we wouldn't be able to get in. After a considerable amount of review reading, we decided to hike the water wheel even despite the warnings that our shoes might get wet. It was perfect for our group- completely beautiful and with some rock scrambles and stream jumps that made it feel like a real adventure. 

We got to watch some brave soul jump into the freezing water by the waterfall- the perfect entertainment to reward us for reaching the end of the trail!

Tarantula just meandering along the trail. This was our first up close encounter with one in the wild since moving to Arizona. Eck. 

Kudos to Mary for finding such a neat spot to stay!