Arches National Park

Over fall break, my parents invited us to do Arches National Park with them.  My dad has been enjoying his national park pass he got and we decided to join them on one of their adventures!  WE left on Thursday after Rob got home from work and pulled into the "hotel/cabin" around 9pm.  It was an uneventful trip and the kids did great in the car.  The next morning, we were up and out by 9am or so.  We stopped by the visitors center to get a stamp in my dad's passport book thing that he got and wandered around a bit. As I got out of the car to go inside, I realized I hadn't gotten dressed yet.  I was still in my pajamas.  Oops. I guess I spent the morning making sure everyone else was dressed and ready and I forgot to tell myself to get dressed!  ha ha.  At least I was just wearing sweatpants and not my crazy chicken pj pants.  I don't think anyone knew.  Thank goodness! Then we headed out to our first stop which was Balanced Rock. 

You can walk all the way around it and it's crazy how different it looks from different angles. 

We had some fun taking pictures here.  Ha ha.  And Sadie's fingers made an appearance in our selfie.

I don't remember the names of all the arches, but this one was our next stop.  It really is amazing seeing all these huge rock formations up close.

Sadie always nails the jumping photos.

Finley mostly liked to be carried everywhere.  Thank goodness we had my mom and dad there to help with that!  

The kids pointing to the arch.

This is what you get when Emery wants to take a picture of me and Rob.  Ha ha.

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.  And some random dude flexing his muscles in the distance.

Someone offered to take a picture of all of us.  We didn't turn him down.

It was pretty cold there in the morning.  We were all in our hoodies to keep warm.  

I loved this bright yellow bush.

I think this one was called double arch.  The kids climbed around for a while here and had lots of fun.

I looked over and saw Rob sitting on this rock.  I thought it was funny. So I took a picture.  ha ha

Kids being goofy.

This was Finley the whole time we were going to landscape arch.  She was almost asleep with Rob, and then she got really angry for a while.  I think she was just really tired.

Landscape arch.  It is so skinny.  It seems like it should be broken.  

I think this is at the beginning of the landscape arch hike.  The kids spent a good long time running up and down this hill of really soft sand. 

On the way back to the hotel after a day full of walking and exploring.  Zac had had enough of his sisters by then!  Ha ha.

The next day we hiked to the Delicate arch.  It was kinda scary when we got there because there were some steep dropoffs, but the view was spectacular.  So cool to see in person.  And I made sure to get dressed this day and to make sure I was wearing my be-UTAH-ful shirt. 

Rob, Zac and Sadie were brave and went all the way down to the arch.  I stayed back with Riley and Finley and made sure they didn't fall off any cliffs.  

I found a little spot where I didn't really have to worry much about Finley falling down while she wandered around a bit.  After we finished this hike, we stopped by sand dune arch and the kids played and played in the sand.  It was so fun and the best way to end the trip.  

Fall break 2019

 This year, the kids' school had a week long fall break.  Usually, we get like 2 days off, but this year, we got a full week.  The kids were really excited about it.  We started the break off right by having our friends the Hatch family over.  They came and played, then we went to the park for a picnic and to try out the brand new play area they had opened just a few days earlier. 

 I love it when Zac has friends that want to play chess and checkers with him.  Mostly because it's not my favorite game, but also because they actually challenge him.  He can beat me pretty easily.  ha ha.

 These girls are the best.

 These ones too!

 We all managed to squeeze onto this little table and eat lunch.  The best part was the chips and salsa that Laurel brought.  Ever since then, my kids and I have been on a chips and salsa kick.  So yummy.

Then on Tuesday, my friend Camille invited my kids and I to go to the zoo with her because she can get some people in for free.  I only had to pay for a couple of my kids to get in.  It was awesome.  It was so nice of her to invite us to go with her and her kids.

 Also, it's just the best having the big kids around to help with Finley.  I forgot to put the stroller in the car, but it really ended up not being a big deal because Sadie or Zac were always willing to chase after her or carry her.  She loves it.  And it was fun seeing the zoo all decorated with Halloween stuff!

 This giraffe spent a good amount of time just licking that wooden pole.  And Finley would not look away from that dragon for a picture.  She wasn't too sure of it.  Her friend Rosie actually screamed and ran away because it scared her. 

 The Nightmare before Christmas decor.  I still haven't seen that movie.  It seems so creepy from what I remember from the previews when I was little.  And how many kids can the lion eat?  Well, there are 7 here...but they all made it out alive...thank goodness!

 The kids liked to stop at every statue.  

 We fit all 10 of them in the nest!  There are actually 2 babies not in the picture.  But they were so cozy in their strollers.  So we didn't bother them for a picture.

 Can you spot Sadie?

 These kids are just getting too big.  I sure love them. 

 Rosie and Finley are such good friends.  We are so sad that they are moving this weekend!  

This gorilla was sleeping right next to the glass.  The kids liked seeing him up so close!

Later in the week, I ran to the grocery store and came home to the kids telling me they had a big surprise for me.  I was excited because I thought maybe they had cleaned up the living room like I had hinted at before I left the house.  This is what I walked into:

 They had built this "pirate ship".  ha ha.  Not exactly what I was expecting, but they had so much fun playing in here for the next little while.  :)

 I think it was Wednesday morning that we decided to go to Gardner Village to look at the witches.  We met up with some friends and started hunting for the witches.

 We took this family picture right at the beginning so that we could get it out of the way and to prove I was actually there.  ha ha

 Then we got all the kids in a picture.

 It's always more fun to do things with friends.  I even splurged and bought a caramel apple from the Candy store.  I never do that!

 And we always have to get a picture by this flag wall.  

Then on Thursday we stayed home in the morning so we could pack for a fun trip to Arches with my parents.  But that afternoon we hit up Rita's and got some yummy italian ice and custard.  I don't think that is what it's called, but that's what I'm calling it. It was the grande opening so it was really cheap. 

Finley really enjoyed hers...well, mine.  We definitely went home and changed her dress because not shortly after we got home, we left for Arches National Park.  

I'll do a separate post about that trip next...