Sedona, AZ

Since Josh was out of town working most of the month of January, I thought a family vacation was just what we needed once he got home. I planned a weekend getaway to Sedona, AZ - none of us had ever been and weren't sure what to expect. Laura & Jerry decided to join us for the weekend, too! We left the Friday after he got home from work and made our way across Arizona to our destination. 

Once checked into our room, we stopped by to visit with Jerry & Laura before heading to bed. Saturday morning, after breakfast, we took the short drive to Camp Verde to visit Out of Africa Wildlife Park.

First up, we hopped on a bus for our African Bush Safari. We met animals from giraffes to zebras, to water buffalo & ostriches. 

We each got to feed a reticulated giraffe named Kibo - the kids opted to keep the celery in their hands while Josh and I went in for a kiss ;)

This big guys horns are actually hollow, which is what allows them to have such GIANT horns without dragging them on the ground -  if you cut them open, they look like a honeycomb on the inside!

We got lucky and were able to meet a 6 day old zebra named Encore. 

Fun fact: zebras are born with brown stripes that turn black with age, and believe it or not, their skin is black, so technically they're black with white stripes!

After our safari ride was over, we grabbed a map and made our journey through the park. They had so many different species of of animals, from ring-tailed lemurs, to reptiles of all kinds, to lions, tigers, & bears (oh my!) and we got to see them all!

Where's the Rhino, Jericho?

At the prairie dog habitat, the kids got to feed the animals, and boy, were they cute!

Did you know? A tiger's skin is actually striped, just like their fur!

Can you spot the snake? He hides so well!

After getting a bite to eat, we grabbed some seats to watch Tiger Splash - the kids cooled off with a sno-cone while waiting for the show to start. 

The show was unlike anything we'd seen before, focusing on the predator-and-play relationship between the tigers and their caretakers. For our show, they used Journey and Gabriel, two tiger "pups" just over a year old each who also happen to be best friends.

Once the show was over, we got the chance to feed the tigers! Cooper jumped at the opportunity and fed Gabriel, the Siberian tiger, without an ounce of fear!

After "Feed The Tigers", we spotted this girl who didn't take kindly to kids... although the kids loved the attention, mimicking her growl all afternoon.

Once getting our fill of tigers, we followed the trail back down the hill passing the last few animals we missed on the way up.

 Can you spot the servals? They have excellent camouflage!

Our next stop was to see this handsome boy, Sycamore, a year old grizzly cub who loves to play and show off how darn cute he is!

And of course we couldn't leave without getting close to a few lions, who didn't like our prying eyes much either.

Cooper refused to let us go without meeting the parks Tundra Wolf, Kanab, and getting a few good pictures to show Elle.

Once we checked all the animals off of our list, we headed back to Sedona for the rest of the day. After an afternoon nap, we hit the pool at our hotel for a few hours of swimming. After cleaning up, we ate at Famous Pizza & Beer, definitely needed after our day in the sun.

The next morning, we decided to explore Sedona. We took the scenic highway through the canyon that follows Oak Creek and it was BEAUTIFUL! We stopped at the Rainbow Trout Farm for the kids to do a bit of fishing, more like catching, but who's counting...

We capped them at 3 fish, or we would've been there all day, then made our way to Slide Rock State Park to do a little hiking.

As you'll see in the picture below, if Cooper does it, so does Caedyn - she idolizes her big "bubba", they share an amazing bond!

The kids did an excellent job, Josh and I were very pleasantly surprised! Cooper kept telling us "don't worry about me, worry about yourself, I'm an excellent climber" - we couldn't help but giggle, he's such an independent little dude. On our walk back to the car, we stopped at Slide Rock Market for an ice cream, we needed it after our morning hike in the warm sun!

Once back to town, we ate at Javelina Cantina before heading back home. I'd call that a successful weekend trip, family, fun, and beautiful weather! Now we can check Sedona, AZ off our list, but where to explore next? ;)