Fun in the Sun!

So it turns out that mommy had to make a work trip to Southeastern Utah last week . . . . and what's better than a nice long drive all alone? A nice long vacation with the family with a little bit of work mixed in! We left last Friday and couldn't have picked a more beautiful weekend. We stayed in Moab and made that our home base. Mommy had to work most of Monday but we had fun without her and came home Tuesday. The weather was perfect and the hiking was incredible. Of course, little boys seem to be drawn to the fun things that a hotel has to offer - and the hotel we stayed at was really amazingly cool. They had a great outdoor heated swimming pool and a great playground area with a pirate ship. We spent our fair share of time enjoying the amenities.

We spent all day Saturday in Arches National Park. Mommy has always said that this is her favorite National Park in Utah and now we understand why. It really is cool!

One of our favorite areas was the Windows area. You can see from these pictures why it is called the Windows area. This is the North Window.And this is us underneath the North Window. It is HUGE!Mommy and I hiked way up underneath the arch - that is us way up underneath there on the bottom left. I wanted to climb all the way up on top . . . but mommy said no.And this is the South Window.
And here are the boys in front of Turret Arch. Here are more pictures from the Windows section. It really is beautiful! Our little legs were worn out after all the hiking in the Windows section and we fell asleep in the car. So mommy and daddy took turns seeing some of the northern sections of the park. Here are pictures from the Fiery Furnace area and the Devils Garden area. We also hiked to the lower Delicate Arch viewpoint before we fell asleep. You can see it in the top right picture.And in an attempt to not bore our readers too much, here is another collage with some of the best sights. Included are Sandstone Arch, Devil's Garden, Double Arch, Balance Rock (which we later hiked).
Our traditional lunch while hiking is cheese, crackers, and salami - along with various fruit and of course, water. We ate in a nice shady spot under Turret Arch.Here is a family picture under Delicate Arch. And here I am holding up a big rock - gotta keep the trail clear for everyone! I do what I can!On Sunday we were originally headed to Mesa Verde National Park but we ended up stopping at the South entrance to Canyonlands National Park. It was very nice and different from the North entrance. We ended up spending the day there and quite enjoyed ourselves.Here is a picture of me and daddy under Wooden Shoe Arch. We also stopped at Newspaper Rock (you'll see a picture of it coming up) and wandered around there. And more fun things to see. The top left is Newspaper Rock. We saw tons of really neat lizards. Some were really small and some were huge. I got a hold of mommy's camera and snuck in a picture of mom and dad too. And here I am with one of the lizards crawling on my shirt. Ironic that my shirt says "Bugs Rule". Are lizards bugs? The look on my face tells it all!More pictures along a hiking trail. It seemed like there was something totally new to see with every turn we made.
And more beautiful scenery including an old ancient native american granary that we hiked to, and Wilson's Arch which is right along the highway South of Moab. The top right picture is from the Edge of the Cedars State Park which daddy, Sam, and I went to while mommy worked in Blanding on Monday. Daddy showed me and Sam about Juniper berries and how they make great "rocks" for throwing. We threw until there were hardly any Juniper berries left.On Monday mommy worked in both Moab and Blanding. We spent the morning playing at the hotel and then, as I said above, went to Edge of the Cedars in Blanding in the afternoon while mommy was busy. Here we are in one of the kivas. It was a really nice trip! I cried for a good 20 minutes after we left Tuesday morning - "I want to go hiking!".
Sam Alert: Hey everybody - - so we learned something new about me on this trip . . . it's official . . . I get carsick. That really does make for a miserable road trip but hopefully it is something I'll grow out of . . . really soon! Here is a cute picture of me helping mom make some cookies before we left on our trip.And here I am demonstrating my efficient use of chopsticks . . . we had teriyaki rice bowls one night for dinner on the trip. I didn't want to use a fork (like daddy) - I wanted to use chopsticks (like mommy). No instructions necessary - it comes natural to me! And finally, here I am playing on the hotel's pirate ship. This was a super cool thing that we think daddy should build in our backyard. It had multiple levels and ladders and swings and a slide and everything. Have a great week everyone!

Random Pictures

For your viewing pleasure . . . . some random pics from the week.

One night we wanted to play in our dress-up clothes. I played pirate and Sam played dalmatian. The best part was that we decided to go visit all the neighbors. As everybody answered their doors we said "Trick or Treat". We were a big hit and we actually scored some treats too. We had lots of fun. Who says you have to wait until Halloween to play dress-up?

One night we played with Play Doh - always a huge hit with us. And a relatively easy clean up too (for mom's benefit).Then on Saturday morning it was warm enough to have "Haircut Day". I went first and got a fabulous haircut.Then it was Sam's turn. He did great! Mommy says it's a good thing she had boys so that she could practice her (previously nonexistant) haircutting skills on us and we probably don't care all that much (at least for a few more years).

Then after haircuts it was PLAY time! And play we did. Sand and dirt everywhere - but boy did we have fun!Sam loved his new truck. He filled it up with sand and had a great time doing it!
"What mud mommy?"
And here is a group photo of the three boys with their new haircuts. Yes - daddy was brave enough to trust mommy to cut his hair. Brave!!!Sam Alert: Hey everyone . . . One good thing about being on the small side - I still fit in my new truck and get to ride around. I know you're all jealous! Hope you have a great week!

Happy Easter!

We've been waiting and waiting and the big day is finally here. Our Easter fun actually started a few weeks ago when mommy got out the Easter decorations. She has a set of pretend eggs that we've been hiding all around the house and practicing our hunting skills on. We're excellent egg finders! Then when we got back from our trip a few days ago there were some boxes waiting for us - some Easter chocolates from Uncle Carl and Aunt Francine, Bug Catchers from Aunt Jen Jen and Uncle Michael, and a bubble maker from Grandpa and Grandma G.

Then yesterday Aunt Cindy dropped by to bring us an Easter basket full of goodies - we have the best neighbors!And then last night we colored our Easter eggs. Here we are with daddy getting started . . . and pretending to be Easter bunnies.If the little wire egg holders aren't working for you . . . feel free to use your hands to get right in the dye!This morning we woke up to a table full of Easter fun - the Easter bunny left us lots of fun treats along with new Tonka trucks for our sandbox. He also left me a new Thomas Easter train. I love it!Sam loved the Easter candy most of all - that boy has quite the sweet tooth!It snowed overnight and so there was no playing outside with our new trucks today. But the snow was really great for discovering the Easter bunny's foot prints to our house. Can you see them in the snow?

Here we are playing trucks in the house. We had to practice our driving skills - and more importantly our stopping skills to make sure we didn't crash into the furniture.

The Easter bunny also left us some new books - little boys can never have enough books!This afternoon Grandpa and Grandma L. stopped over for a visit and brought us more Easter treats. We are very spoiled - but we love it!

And finally we ended the day with an excellent Easter dinner. My most favorite part of the day was getting my new Easter train - thank you everyone and thank you Easter bunny! Sam Alert: I am truly obsessed with stirring. That's pretty much all I want to do all day long. Here I am mixing some eggs - these are the same eggs we've been hiding and finding for the past few weeks. I'm a great egg finder!And here I am with my new truck. Finally a truck I can call my own - no longer do I have to borrow a truck from my brother. I can't wait to get out to the sandbox and play more with it. The weatherman says to expect good weather next weekend - keep your fingers crossed!

Spring Break Vacation

Spring in Utah means cold weather, rain, snow, warmer weather, and then everything all over again. Spring break means . . . it doesn't really matter what the weather is, we're getting out of town and going on a vacation! This year we decided to head to one of our favorite spots in Southern Utah - Capitol Reef National Park. It's very quiet there especially this time of year. It's beautiful and doesn't seem to draw the huge crowds of some of the other local hot spots. We had lots and lots and lots of wind every day and some cold weather towards the end of our stay, but it was sunny and great for a few days of hiking and fun.

Here we are on a hike to the Goosenecks. This was a great little spot out of the wind and blowing sand (mostly). This little spot was not out of the wind. Mommy thought we might actually get blown off the rocks. But isn't that blue blue sky worth it!

One of the fun things to look for on our hikes is old gnarled cedar trees. Here is a perfect specimen. Can you see the snow in the background? And here we are out on Sunset Point. Ah . . . beautiful!
This is me exploring a hole in the rocks. It's a good thing I'm small.
Here are mom and Sam heading back towards the car.

And Sam enjoyed crawling around in the holes too.Does it look like I'm having a good vacation?We hiked to both the top and the bottom of Fremont Falls. The water was incredibly muddy that day. And two little boys you know had a great time throwing rocks into the water. We threw and threw and threw until there were no stones left on that entire side of the river!Daddy found this pussy-willow blossom on the shore. We've never seen one of these before - beautiful isn't it!Daddy and I found these cool rocks up behind an old cabin. Looks like swiss cheese, huh! Does that make me the mouse?And here we are on one of the walkways out to see some petroglyphs. Our last day was really cold so we spent more time inside the hotel that day. We watched movies and went swimming.

And we had a midnight snack of spaghetti. And finally a picture of the boys below the Castle. Capitol Reef was a great place for a much needed vacation!