Dana Daily

It's taken many years, but I finally appreciate desert landscaping. It requires minimal work to maintain, and it's a neutral so it always looks pretty. I took this picture at our hotel yesterday morning so that I can come back to them and 1) relive our vacation and 2) remember the desert warmth when I'm freezing in January. It may be years before I can talk Sal into returning to the southwest, but I loved it.

We were scheduled to fly out of Phoenix at noon, getting us home at 6:55pm Eastern Time. We returned our rental car, hustled to get through security, and made it to our gate with some time to spare only to find out our flight had been delayed by two hours. We were told there were mechanical issues with the plane coming in from Burbank that would take us on to Pittsburgh. We found out later they had given our plane to another gate for travel elsewhere. Ultimately, we were given $100 per person in travel vouchers. We decided to eat lunch to kill time. After lunch we arrived back at the gate only to learn we were delayed two more times. Now we weren't going to be arriving home until 1am. The only saving grace was that we were on Mountain Time which meant 1am would only feel like 11pm. Late, but definitely do-able. In the meantime, passengers were starting to get a frustrated. The first delay was annoying, but didn't throw off the schedule too much. However, not boarding unti...

I loved the triple digit heat, but I also needed to be mindful that we were traveling with a two year old, who isn't the best about staying hydrated. He can't understand that he must  drink even if he's not particularly thirsty, so I knew we needed to take it easy. I also knew that we'd all be ready for some down time after our long week of driving and sightseeing. The kids are troopers and great travelers, but to make a family vacation truly successful and limit stress, just doing something for the sake of fun is important too. We planned a day at the water park to close out our vacation.  Big Surf water park was a few minutes from our hotel and family friendly. It's also a reasonable size for a day long outing. There were some water slides, a wave pool, and a couple swimming pools with adequate, shaded seating. I didn't do a ton of research into choosing this particular park, but it was great. My parents took us to a water park in Ocala, FL on...

Prior to booking our Elvis vow renewal, I had contacted a photographer in the Sedona area to take family pictures as a souvenir of this trip. I knew the pictures we had with Elvis would be sufficient, but I couldn't back out on the photographer so we went ahead with the session. I explained to our photographer,  Michelle , that I wanted photos that were obviously taken in the Southwest with cactus and desert landscaping. It was also important to have the beautiful red rocks of Sedona in our photos too. (Update July 5: As of today, I've only seen one picture from our session, but we have cactus and red rocks so I'm happy.) Our session lasted just under an hour which I think was good enough for everyone involved. It was HOT and we still wanted to visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross before heading south to Phoenix. After photos, we returned to our hotel, packed up our things, and almost forgot to check out. As we were starting out of town, Sarah says from the back seat...

We arrived later at the Grand Canyon yesterday that I had planned so we had lots to see this morning. The girls and I walked the few steps from our room to the rim to watch the sunrise. It was peaceful, quiet, and pretty. After 30 minutes or so we returned to our room and went back to sleep. We slept in later than I would have liked, but that's traveling with kids. We got up and headed over to the Bright Angel Lodge for breakfast. Breakfast took way too long - this seems to be a recurring theme. However, we finished in time to meet up with Rick and Linda again before they headed out. After some souvenir shopping, we found the bus stops in front of our lodge and tried to figure out a game plan. Ultimately we ended up on the wrong bus and were stuck on it for an hour. It didn't really take us anywhere interesting or good so, while I hate to say it, it was kind of waste. It would be wonderful if the National Park System borrowed a trick or two from Disney as far as transport...

Our vow renewal with Elvis was not until 10am, so we had time for breakfast and a quick picture with the iconic "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. I missed seeing the sign the first time I visited Las Vegas so this was a fun stop. We went back to our room and got ready for the renewal. I had worn the dress I bought for our wedding, which I had altered into tea length for this occasion. About a month before our wedding, I had decided that I wanted to wear a more traditional gown so this gown was just hanging in the closet. When Sal "checked us in" to Las Vegas yesterday, Dennis and Kathy McGrath replied that they were also in Vegas so Sal invited them to our renewal. They beat us to The Little Neon Chapel , and it was so nice they were able to be there. Dennis was one of our ushers at our official wedding in 2013. Upon arrival, I chose a silk, pink rose bouquet with crystal bling from a case. Seth promptly stole it from me so we made him the "flower boy....

It was a very early morning. We were out of the house by 3:15. We dropped off the car at Globe and then made it to the airport by 4. I was concerned that we wouldn't make it through security in time, but since we were traveling with children, they moved us to a much shorter line. We arrived at the gate with time to spare. Our flight to Las Vegas was long, but uneventful. We arrived on time at 6:40am. We figured out how to transfer to the car rental agency, and picked up our Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Oddly enough, Sarah and Emily situated themselves in the second row next to Seth, rather than spreading out to the third row. The rental agent directed us across the street to Winchell's for breakfast/lunch. The kids were starving and all three ate very well. Our next stop was Hoover Dam. We drove the 40 minutes out of town only to find out the in-depth dam tour was sold out until 1:30. It was only 10am. We were exhausted and it was hot so rather than waiting, we took the ...

It's finally here. Tomorrow starts vacation. We took Seth to the doctor for an ear check, and they're clear. That's a huge relief. He shouldn't have any issues while we're gone. Sal did a trial run of the strap contraption that we're going to use to turn a carry-on into a stroller for Seth. He loves it. We had a few last minute things to pick up at the store, and then it was just a matter of packing it all up. Our flight leaves Pittsburgh at 5:10am so I expect that we will be up at 2:15, leaving the house around 3 and parking our car at 3:45 or so. I'm so ready for this adventure.

I don't know how I so easily forget there are so many details when traveling with children. Sarah came down with some kind of sore throat, fever, headache, minor stomachache virus last week so it reminded me that I need to pack a pharmacy for this trip. I'm taking zofran, motrin, cough drops, dramamine in both chewable and pill varieties, pepto, tums, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Sal needs a pair of sandals, and I need a pair of denim capris. I think the kids' attire is all set, as long as I get laundry done on Monday. He still doesn't know what he's wearing for our vow renewal, and really, it doesn't matter. I need to pick up a package of pull-ups for Seth. We'll see how he does letting us know when he needs to potty on this trip. Right now he just feels the need, uses the potty, and moves on with his life. In other words, he doesn't tell us when he needs to go. I need to run to the bank and empty our vacation fund. ...

Unfortunately, I haven't been as detailed a "book keeper" as I would like. I know we've missed quite a few that Seth has heard. Oh well, I guess what matters is that he's being read to, not that we haven't been keeping track. 1. All Day Long with Jesus, by Matt Anderson 2. On the Night You Were Born, by Nancy Tillman 3. A Big Guy Took My Ball, by Mo Willems 4. Me and My Mom, by Alison Ritchie 5. Spot Goes to the Beach, by Eric Hill 6. One More Swim, by Caroline Pitcher and Jenny Jones 7. How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends, by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague 8. Oh, the Places You'll Go, by Dr. Seuss 9. Hic-Hic-Hiccup, by Warner Brothers Looney Tunes 10. Sid the Squid, Underwater Adventures, by N/A 11. Elmo Loves You, by Sarah Albee 12. Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods that Make My Day, by Jamie Lee Curtis 13. Baby Animals, Gyo Fujikawa 14. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown 15. George and Martha Best of Friends, by James Marshall 16...

Honestly, I don't know where my ideas come from sometimes. I was thinking about our upcoming trip out west and thought, "would a vow renewal with Elvis be fun?" I floated the idea to Sal who said, "yes, it would be." We emailed a few wedding chapels and found one that will fit into our schedule and vision for a Vegas vow renewal. It's really going to happen. I'm finally going to have the "wedding" I wanted. Small, immediate family only, and somewhere other than my home state. For clarification purposes, Elvis was not in my original plans.