Moab 2012

I was telling a friend about our trip to Moab and she said, "oh, for your annual trip?" I paused to think about it and then said, "Yeah! I guess it has become a bit of an annual trip!" This is our third trip to Moab and we've gone in May each time. I don't think we'll go every year but we're usually itching to go camping and when it's May we try to think where it is warm enough and Moab wins the prize! This year we invited our neighbors to come with us and we were so excited when they said they could come!

We left for Moab early Thursday to make sure we could get a good campground. When we got there we found out there weren't any big events going on that weekend so our anxiety about finding a campground was set aside, especially once we drove out to where the campsites were free.  We had a lot to choose from.  We found one that looked fun and set up camp there. It was hot and I was getting a little headachey and feeling super weird so we drove to Mc Donalds and once I got some food and COLD water in me I was almost instantly better!  After that we drove up to Arches to hang out up there until our friends the Morgans arrived (they couldn't leave until after school).

What hiking trip could be complete without a little dare devil scrambling up a big rock?
Daddy and Griz followed shortly thereafter and then gave me a little heart attack as they tried to get back down. Griz was completely unphased by it, waving at people as they passed by.
I bought this squirt bottle right before we left. It was quite possibly the best .97 cents I've ever spent. The Thursday afternoon we got there was HOOOOT and this was the perfect remedy for us all.
The second best remedy for the heat was Sand Dune Arch. We took a short little hike into the fins and hung out in the shade. Ahhh, it felt so good. The sand felt good too, the boys loved playing with it.
Brent showing off his awesome skills...

hope you don't mind, I'm going to post two more cuz I love my hubby and think he's awesome.

They were having fun climbing around but at one point Chico and Brent left us down at the bottom while they climbed a bit more. Oh my, Griz did NOT like that... this is just a small sampling of the power of his lower lip.

These are some scenic shots from when we weren't inside the fins:
Then we drove back down to Moab and met up with the Morgans (the Mowdans as Chico would say it) as they arrived at our meeting point within 30 seconds of us getting there! Then we showed them the way to the campsite. This is a picture I took as we drove past the Colorado River:
They set up camp while we got a fire going to cook the tinfoil dinners I had prepared back at home. I was lovin how the sky looked and took this one:
Then we sat around the fire eating and roasting marshmallows. Then went to bed which I had been somewhat dreading because at home Griz is a nightmare at night. He slept fantastically well though and it was SO warm I didn't even get inside my sleeping bag. Never had a night camping like that before! We woke up early the next morning and Brent captured this beautiful morning scene.
While he was busy capturing a photo, Riv was off capturing a scorpion...
He had whacked off the tail with his knife and then caught it!  He then proceeded to cook it on the fire and eat it. He said it wasn't very tasty though. After eating my tinfoil breakfast burritos which I had also prepared at home we all packed up and drove up to Arches for a hike to Double O arch. It was a lot shorter than Brent and I remembered but just as beautiful as we remembered.
Chico cracks me up in this next picture, he was posing for Steve and he does the funniest contortions with his body when he's posing.
It was a group effort (with no help from me) to catch this whip tail lizard, Ty ended up catching it and I can't remember how it happened but somehow Suzie ended up with it dangling from her hand like this...
She said it didn't hurt, hurt or not I would have been freaking out I'm sure!
It's quite hard to catch whip tails by hand but the Morgans are good at that kind of stuff. Well then we kept on a hikin and made it to Double O arch!
After eating lunch, playing with lizards, and relaxing we hiked back down.
Good thing Ty has long arms, Dude was trying spray him when he had nowhere to run! Chico was pretty amazed by how deep Ty dug that hole. Chico thinks and plans and dreams about how to dig big holes. He's the best three year old digger I've ever seen.

On or way down from arches we stopped at a big ol' sand dune hill. We somehow got "lucky" enough to be there right during some very strong winds which started up when I was 2/3 of the way up the hill. Brent trucked back down with Griz to protect him from the pelting sand but I was determined to make it to the top because I wanted to prove to myself that I could. I ducked my head and made it to the top where I waited. The top was nice because the sand wasn't pelting my face, just my legs. If you want to see what the hill looked like and how the Morgans enjoyed themselves on it see this link and fast forward to about 6 minutes in.

Once we were back at camp I had to put jackets on the boys because of the wind. Griz was intent on putting Chico's shirt on, so I finally just put it on top of his coat and he looked so funny but cute.  They sure got filthy playing in the dirt!

That night Brent found a baby rattlesnake, everyone was so excited when he nonchalantly told them.  They all ran over to the spot but they couldn't catch it at the time.  Next morning as we were packing up camp Ty was determined to find one and so he went out a searching and nearly stepped on it as he was looking for it. He called everyone over and Steve caught it. I told my boys to stay at camp while I went over and took pictures. They of course followed me but Chico was so protective of Griz, telling him to stay back and practically pushing him down to keep him out of the danger he perceived.  My boys were making quite a bit of noise so I handed off the camera to Brent and took them back to the camp.  Brent got some awesome pictures though.

We think Steve should print this one and insert text "I heart Rattlesnakes"

 

After we left our campsite we stopped at "Indian Crack" because apparently if you can climb it than you can "become a man". I didn't even attempt it, someone had to watch the kids! ;) Brent, Steve, Ty, Riv, and Suzie all climbed it successfully. Good job you guys!  

And if you keep climbing you end up clear up there!

 

After that the men all jumped in the river. Then we sat and ate lunch in the sand. Everyone then started catching lizards. I finally got up the guts to hold a baby whip tail. Then after a few minutes it jumped out of my hand and Riv went to catch it. Unfortunately he was holding a larger whip tail in his other hand and held them a little too close to each other and the larger one bit the smaller one's head.  It was crazy weird and quite sad.  Luckily they also caught a different whip tail that wasn't a murderer and we got to keep it and take it home. Hopefully this one does better than the lizard we caught in Zion last year.  Oh, and we decided to name this one Archie.  Seemed like a really clever idea at the time but that was on the drive home when we were exhausted so now it seems a bit cheesy. Oh well. :)

Anyway, next we hike Delicate Arch. It was beautiful and amazing as always. We didn't stay at the top very long which we regret but we did have quite a fun time playing down in the bowl.

When I was taking this picture I saw a guy point at me and say, "hey, how did she get down there!?"

 When I was done taking the picture above I turned and saw Riv and Chico doing this:

It was steeper than it appears in this picture. Chico's skills always amaze me! Then we sat in the shade and had some snacks and the kids explored around. This is the view of the arch from where we were sitting:

The structures on the left look like a sphynx and a pyramid to me.

 This was the end of the trip so I insisted upon a family picture, I didn't care if we had an arch in the background, okay well I would have preferred it but I didn't feel like hiking back up there just for that shot. So this is us: 

And this is the Morgans:

What a fun trip it was! Thanks Morgans, for coming along with us. It was a blast!

Elephant Rock

The first weekend of Brent's break we decided to try a hike in our neck of the woods so we went up to Mueller Park Canyon to hike the "Elephant Rock" trail.  Brent has been so busy with school that it was so much fun to just spend the whole day hiking together. And he was happy to have the camera back in his hands, he sure loves it.

these little bridges were so fascinating to the boys.

I just had to capture this cool design. Nature is so cool!

If you've been reading our blog for any length of time, you will have already surmised that fashion is not one of our strengths.

Chico wasn't so much in the hiking mood that day. He was more content to talk to Daddy and draw in the dirt and play with sticks and rocks.

It really was a pretty view on the way up. And yes, that is Elephant rock you see clear in the distance.  If I'd known it was about a 6 mile hike round trip we wouldn't have attempted it.

We finally made it to the rock after three hours. Chico decided he wanted to climb on the rock so Brent took him down there while I stayed above with Griz. I couldn't get a picture of them but if you have x-ray vision you can see them through those dense trees. It was too dangerous for them to go to the top of the rock.

I love how you can see Grizwald's teeth in this pic.

I'm not seeing the Elephant. You?

Always the silly pose.

the first couple days of May

Chico is so often squinting when he smiles that I don't get to capture his big blue eyes. I love his eyes.

Later that day we were sitting outside watching Daddy mow the lawn. Chico was doing something with that rope and wanted me to take a picture. So I got out the camera and we all had a grand old time.

 

Chico and Griz felt safer in the wheelbarrow and were being a bunch of goofballs.  

 Look closely behind Griz, we had tulips this year. I forgot to take close up pictures of them though and now they are gone.

 

*** 

 The next day Chico was mudding (purely for fun) on a piece of wood with Brent. Somehow Griz snuck in there and was COVERED in mud within seconds. I was upset at first because I had JUST gotten him all dressed in cute clothes Then I decided it wasn't a big deal, took off his pants and let him just have fun. Then he was done and if he got near me I'd do a pretend scream and run away. He thought it was so funny to chase me around. I still had the camera in my hand but had the long lens. I put it on full auto and while I knew the pictures wouldn't turn out great since I was shooting the pictures while running away from Griz, I'm so glad it captures his laughing and running after me. It was a lot of fun.

Pictures from the rest of April

Hey again! Remember how I was posting like daily because Brent wanted me to since he was so busy with school and not seeing us as much as he'd like? Well, he started being able to study at home a bit more once he quit his job and then he had a two week break between semesters and now he's still studying at home a bit more. SOOO I haven't felt the urgency to blog as much.  But I do like blogging, so I shall catch us up.

Where did we leave off... ah yes, the middle of April!

April was warm on some days cold on others. So this particular day must have been on the colder side.  The boys were very anxiously awaiting the arrival of my mom to take us on an adventure.  I pulled out the camera to try to occupy them while we waited.

Don't ask me what Chico was doing with that wire. I was just trying to capture how cute it was that they were sitting next to each other by the door.

then pacing...

***

Sometimes I just let them do their own thing. But holy cow it can cause a mess!!! I'm glad they did it though, looked like good brotherly bonding time.

***

This little sandbox is Grizwald's favorite because it's not really a sandbox yet. It's more like a dirty water/mud catcher. When the Weber Water came back on for some reason I let them fill it up with water and hopefully there was already some dirt in there. Look at that water! Yuck!

Oh well, at least it distracts from Curious George!
 

Chico is such a hard working boy when he plays.  Oh, and that thing in his hands below is the mop I ruined by bleaching it too long. All the fibers came apart. Ugh. So anyway, it was outside ready for the trash and he decided to use it in the mud.

You cannot tell me that this next picture is not epic!



cute crazy kids. how I love the adventures they can have in our own backyard, I mean frontyard, same thing I guess. :) Griz got in this bucket all on his own.

   

***

 I was asked by our ward to take pictures at the Mid-Singles big dance. They all brought the props and they put up the background, I just took the pictures. It was fun but kind of late at night. I wasn't too terribly busy and Chico was at home missing me and not wanting to go to sleep so I drove home real quick and got him and he hung out with me the rest of the night. Which was SOOO much fun. He kept playing with the props they all brought and asked me to take his picture.
 

Brent has been telling me to get in the pictures more often so I asked someone there if she wouldn't mind snapping a few of me and Chico.
 

How is that Brent?