Goblin Valley and Arches

Feelin' HOT, HOT, HOT!!! But we had soooo much fun! We spent four nights/five days camping in sunny Goblin Valley with wonderful friends. The average temperature was about 97, there were no trees and plenty of ants. On the other hand, we saw incredible rock formations, beautiful slot canyons, numerous lizards and, of course... a Valley full of Goblins.

We also spent one day at Arches National Park! I been there before, but it was the first time for Nick and the kids. The youngest ones LOVED the Sand Dune Arch; what's not to love about a large, shady, cool sandbox the size of a house? The second favorite memory of Arches is a cute little prairie dog, who was not shy and obviously used to being fed by tourists.

Little Wild Horse Canyon was a fun hike, just outside Goblin Valley Park. It's an 8 mile loop, but we made it about a mile before turning back. The kids have become expert rock climbers thanks to this hike. There were several places that were perfect for little ones to scramble up, and a few places where we all had to do a little climbing!
We're still in Southern Utah and we still have almost a week before we come home, so I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post soon!

Catching up on life...

Is that even possible? I'll give it a shot!

School's out, for another few weeks, and the kids have been loving summer. Hurray for warm weather, sleeping in, swimming and vacations! The kids each got to take a small summer class; Nate chose art, Brandon did soccer and Sadie chose dance.Nathan has been working hard at scouting, (and so has Nick!) They enjoyed a long hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon.Brandon had the exciting experience of getting stitches for the first time! He collided with someone while playing laser tag and got three small stitches up by his left eye.Sadie celebrated her 6th birthday! She had a super-fun pool party, complete with mermaid & sand castle cake.

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Brandon is now NINE years old! He is such a sweet boy, always kind to the younger kids and so willing to share. His smile is contagious and frequent! Brandon only recently began piano lessons but he's doing so well! I have never even had to ask him to practice, he just does it on his own. Brandon has also developed an interest in soccer. He plays every recess (when its not raining) and is excited to be on a team.

For his birthday, he wanted to have a Phineas and Ferb party. It was a blast! First they played “Busted!” in which they had balloons tied to each leg. They attempted to pop other kids’ balloons while keeping their own safe. So much fun! They also had a treasure hunt where they found Frankenstein’s brain (this actually makes sense if you’ve ever seen the Phineas and Ferb TV show!)
Then they split into groups and made “Inator” inventions, including a hypnotizinator, a ticklinator and a squashinator.
We then played a quick game of “Where’s Perry?” and enjoyed a dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and jello jigglers, followed by a Perry the Platypus cake and an Ice cream sundae-inator. Everyone had a great time and we are so glad to have Brandon be a part of our family!!! Happy Birthday Brandon!!!

More Camping!

After petrified dunes, we went to the White Rock trail. Surrounded by all the red rocks and sand, this hill really stood out. Thinking back, I wish I had picked up some samples of the different sands, red, white and even black. Anyway, it was cool. A short hike took us to a natural amphitheater where the kids, once again, scrambled up and down the rocks. It's amazing how tired they can be on the path, then as soon as we get somewhere with rocks, they are bouncing with energy! We finished the day with Tinfoil dinners, more hot cocoa and gooey s'mores around a wonderfully warm campfire. I have to say, Snow Canyon State Park has an awesome campground! I loved the warm showers and flush toilets in clean bathrooms, and the kids loved to ride their scooters around. Combined with the incredible natural beauty of the canyon, all this made it a place we can't wait to go to again!
Sadie and her cousin loved being "Twinners" in their matching PJ's! And, of course, we couldn't go camping without some injuries... I think everyone but Sadie ended up with a few band-aids and scrapes. Nathan topped them all though, when he crashed his scooter! This picture doesn't quite do justice to the bloody mess he was before I cleaned him up. Luckily nothing was deep and no stitches were needed. He just scraped off a lot of skin on his hand, arm, knee and chest (that part isn't pictured). By the time we left camp, my first aid kit was almost completely empty!
I'm just glad we all ended up home, safe and sound, and a little sunburned. It was quite a shock to the system to get back and find everything blanketed with snow! It makes me especially glad we took the trip and got to bask in the sun for a few days.

Camping part 2

Wednesday was colder and it rained a bit, so we spent some time huddled in our tent, telling old family stories and making fruit loop necklaces for snacks on our hike. We also did a treasure hunt: Nick drew up clues with little maps and the kids went all over the campground to find the treasure, (glow-in-the-dark bracelets, which were great when it got dark). When the rain was done and the sun was peaking out a bit we left for the Petrified Dunes. It was incredible! It made me want to take a class in geology so I could understand how all these amazing rock formations came to be. The kids, once again, loved the rock-climbing! It was actually more like rock scrambling... which was perfect for them.

CAMPING!!!

We were so excited to escape the frigid wintry weather here in Centerville, for the Cheerful sunshine of St. George and Snow Canyon Park! We left Monday and, after stopping in St. George to pick up my brother and his family, set up camp. We didn't have much time to hike the first day, but our camping site was near a large group site with an empty parking lot and the kids made full use of it with their scooters. After grilling some delicious "Tropical Kabobs" (Camp food is the BEST!!!) We enjoyed a campfire and hot cocoa as the day cooled off and temperatures dropped.

Our second day began bright and early, and I've never seen my husband so happy to eat a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal! The sun came out around 9:00 am and everything heated up pretty quickly. We took a picnic lunch to the sand dunes, which was a blast. I felt like I was at the beach! It was hot, but the sand a few inches under the surface was cool and refreshing. I think we all ingested a bit of sand and I found it in surprising places, :o) but we had so much fun!

This is Brandon, attempting to free himself from the pit monster.

Sadie and her cousin being cute and happy!
Nathan dying of thirst and heat stroke in the desert. Our family vacations are definitely full of dramatics!

After the sand dunes, we went on the Pioneer Names hike. Several pioneers wrote their names on a rock wall in axle grease in the late 1800's. The kids just liked climbing all the rocks!

Pinewood Derby

Okay, this will be my last post for the day! I didn't realize how long it has been since I emptied my camera onto the computer... I had a lot of catching up to do!

This was Brandon's first official Cub Scout Pinewood Derby! He designed the car and did a great job with the silver flames on the sides, though you can't see them in the pictures.

Leonardo Da Perkins

Brandon did an oral report on Leonardo Da Vinci. He worked hard and, though he used notes, had it almost completely memorized. Way to go Brandon!!!

Final Davis County Spelling Bee!!!

Nathan did so great! He is an amazing speller and did so well for being one of the youngest ones there. As usual, his unique personality kept us quite entertained. There were only 60 contestants, but half of them were from Junior High schools. The boy next to Nathan towered over him! We had so much family support, Thanks Everyone!!!

Taylor Elementary Birthday Celebration

The kids school (mine too... many years ago) had a big bash to celebrate 50 years. The kids classes each did a musical number that coincided with one of the last five decades.

The kindergartners did "Alligators All Around" from the 60's! Sadie is the one in the middle with one pant leg tucked into her boot. :o)
Third Grade did a great dance to that 80's classic "Ghostbusters!"

Fifth Grade did a newer song called "Fireflies." It's hard to see in the picture, because the kids were all wearing black and holding little lights. It was well done and cleverly choreographed. They all finished off with the whole school on stage for a jazzy "Happy Birthday!"