Summer Vacation 2013 ~ Part 1

We have recently returned home from a 9-day vacation. We slept in a teepee, a tent, a cabin and a resort! It was a long, fun trip!

Day 0: In order to make our trip as inexpensive and easy as possible we spent a day preparing food and packing. Before it got too hot, Hubby and the kids washed the car. Then we prepared breakfast burritos, egg sandwiches, chicken macaroni salad, pasta salad, granola, and cooked the sloppy joe meat. We also gave our puppies baths.

Washing the car

Getting the food ready

Macaroni Salad, breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches

Day 1: We filled the cooler up with food, packed up the car and pulled out of the driveway at 8 am! We dropped our little puppies off at my sister and brother-in-laws house as they were going to puppysit 6 1/2 of the days (my mom took them for the last couple days). Then we left Phoenix and headed to Four Corners. For lunch we had chicken macaroni salad at a little picnic area. We got to Four Corners 15 minutes before they closed!

Unicorn @ Four Corners

Ladybug @ Four Corners

Monkey @ Four Corners

Monkey in Utah, Ladybug in Arizona, Unicorn in Colorado and Mom and Dad in New Mexico

After Four Corners, we headed to Cortez, Colorado. Here we stayed at the KOA and slept in a Teepee! We made Sloppy Joe's in the Dutch Oven and made S'mores for dessert.

Dutch Oven Sloppy Joes

The Teepee we slept in

Day 2: For breakfast we had Breakfast Burritos that we had pre-made at home and froze. We used the KOA microwave to reheat them (you could also warm them over charcoal or a fire if you have time). Then we packed up and went to Mesa Verde National Park. Here we saw some cliff dwellings and the kids became Junior Rangers.

Breakfast Burritos

Cliff Dwellings

Heading out to see the Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings

A Ranger let her wear his Ranger hat

Ladybug climbing down into a Kiva

Monkey climbing down into the Kiva

Monkey, Ladybug and Unicorn in the Kiva

Cliff Dwellings

Junior Rangers!

After the Park we drove to Tucumcari, New Mexico and stayed at the KOA in our tent. For lunch we had some of our pasta salad and hard boiled eggs. Because of New Mexico's fires and the wind we were unable to have a fire so we had left over chicken macaroni salad.

Campground playground while daddy puts up the tents

Campground playground while daddy puts up the tents

Day 3: I was awoken, very rudely, by the wind pushing the tent sides into my face at 4 am. There was NO way we were going to sleep through the rest of the wind storm so we threw the kids and our stuff in the car and Hubby and I managed to get the tents down and packed up before they blew away! We pulled out of the campground around 5 am. We cheated on breakfast and stopped at a McDonalds. At 8 am I called the KOA we would be staying at and upgraded our tent site to a CABIN! We drove through Texas and most of Oklahoma. We camped at the East Oklahoma City KOA and even had time to swim, do some laundry and teach the kids how to play UNO and Skip-Bo. We had Foil Dinners and Dutch Oven Monkey Bread for dessert.

Playing with his toys

Dutch Oven Monkey Bread

We ate it all!!

Playing UNO

Playing Skip-Bo

Day 4: We didn't have to get moving very quickly this day so we took our time getting up and packing up the car. We had Egg Sandwiches that we had pre-made and frozen at home. We warmed them in the KOA microwave and headed out around 10 am. We avoided the toll roads and headed through Arkansas to Branson, Missouri. For lunch we just snacked on whatever snacks we had in the car (granola, wheat thins, animal crackers, tortillas, etc.). We arrived at the resort around 4 and pulled in right behind a fire truck. The smoke alarms in our building were going off. We found our family in the parking lot. It was a false alarm. The firemen were really nice and let Monkey and Ladybug climb in the fire truck (I didn't get pictures because they were with other family members at the time). Before dinner the kids got a little pool time in with their cousins. Dinner that night was pizza with the family. It was nice to sleep in a real bed and get some nice showers!

Cousin M and Monkey

Ladybug, Unicorn and Cousin M

Click Here for Summer Vacation 2013 ~ Part 2 
Coming Soon: Our Dutch Oven Adventure