goblin valley

We love Goblin Valley. At least in my opinion, most of the red rock in Utah pretty much looks the same. But not here! I have never seen such crazy formations anywhere else. The kiddos love being able to run and climb to their hearts content. There aren't rules about what can and can't be touched, which was perfect for our group with 8 kids.
Owen loves climbing scary high with all the other kids, but he also really likes a good piggy back ride.
Ainsley loves finding little nooks for her to fit in...
What you can't tell in the right picture, is that Finley was fetching high up. This hill was huge and steep and I have no idea how she made it down without somersaulting.
I told you he really likes to climb....
Goblin Valley is a perfect location for hide-and-go-seek-tag.
Sam sitting on his beloved platypus rock...
Drew riding his space vehicle after finding out Galaxy Quest was filmed here.
This little nook was super scary high. Owen had no fear and he was one fast climber.
Do you see that little speck on the mountain. Yep, that's Owen.
More playing tag.
I love the "ha ha, you can't get me" in the left picture.
Waiting to be found....
Taking advantage of the breeze...
What do you do when you can't walk down the way you went up? Slide!
Umm...they are mimicking the formation above them...
More tag...
and more tag...
P.S. Drew made it back before Sam could tag him...
And Sam hiding. If you ever find yourself in the middle of Utah with a bunch of kids (or dogs, we saw those to) Goblin Valley is our recommendation.

 

capitol reef

A few months ago, we went to Capitol Reef and Goblin Valley with our friends, the Marsden's. We had tons of fun and when we found out you could pick fruit in Capitol Reef, we knew we would be coming back. We found the best hotel last time and stayed there again. So if you are ever going to stay in Bicknell, UT, check out the Acquarius Inn. The rooms are huge and very small-town-like.
This Mexican restaurant was the first stop. Yep. I have a thing for taking pictures of great signs.
In the middle picture, you can see the top of an apple picker. I didn't even know such a thing existed! They were pretty sweet. They were basically baskets with claws on 6-foot poles. Finley loved getting to try one out.
And when the nifty apple picker just wouldn't do, Sam was perfectly willing to climb.
This girlie just got bangs. Isn't she adorable?!?
While picking apples, we came across a caterpillar...
And some Canadian taffy quickly makes Dave the favorite of all the kiddos.
We had time for an impromptu photo shoot...
You can eat apples in the orchard for free, or pay $1 per pound to take some home.
Apparently some of the apples there are super rare and don't grow anywhere else in the world.
Isn't she adorable?
Once we started hiking, the boys enjoyed sticking their heads in rocks...
And Ainsley "ran" along the walls.
On every vacation, we collect heart-shaped rocks. It solves many problems. Kids want to take tons of rocks home? Sorry, you can only keep the ones shaped like hearts. Kids too tired to keep walking? Keep walking so you can find a heart rock. Got in trouble? Make it up to mom by giving her a heart rock. Drew was the winner this round. See that perfect heart?
Someone put rocks in this wall. We were quite delighted when we found it.
Pretty much on every trip in the history of ever, Bubby falls asleep on someone's back and I take a picture. There's quite a collection.
When we were picking apples, 2 deer came into the orchard. All the kids enjoyed watching them. These deer were not easily spooked. Owen, trying to be helpful, threw an apple at one. I kid you not, that deer shrugged and ate it. Like it was saying "thanks for the apple, kid."

Never a dull moment with this kid.

Note to self: force future children to be sworn in as Junior Rangers, as they should have to endure the embarrassing awkwardness that I have encountered at every National/State Park.

party, party

Today we left our lovely hotel. Sadly, I did not get pictures. You'll just have to visit to see it for yourself. Really. Those fire hydrant red accent walls are worth the drive. The place was very clean, but extremely well, um, eclectic. We liked it. It had plenty of room for all of us, not usually the case with our clan, and I was really jealous of the owl clock and porcelain decorative silverware. We packed up and left for a DI trip. The whole purpose was to get a dictionary for a wedding present. My cousin is going to school to become an English professor so the plan was to get a dictionary, highlight random wedding-ish words and leave dollar bills on each page with a highlighted word. We got tons of blow up toys for the lake next week and made my grandma and grandpa meet us so they could drive up a game table the boys found. And of course we forgot to even look for a dictionary so we had to make a second trip.

Last week I saw pictures of a splash pad on Main Street, so the whole trip I was pushing for a visit. Owen loved it. Everyone else, not so much. It really was meant for small children. Plus it was insanely hot. Everyone was begging to leave, but we forced them to play in the water until 2:00 so we could hit up Sonic for a drink for the ride home. Everyone got a 44 oz. slush and we made it all the way to the reception in Provo without a single pit stop. Pretty remarkable, I think.

The reception was great. It was in my aunt and uncle's backyard and it was gorgeous. Everything looked great and the frozen yogurt was a big hit. We partied it up for hours. We made it home after midnight. 9:00 church was not very welcome the next morning. Congrats Taylor and Julie!

He was really bored. So he pretty much laid here and made annoyed faces.
this could be my favorite picture of all time. it is just so him.
we are a little bit redneck. we stuck my phone in the sunglasses holder so everyone could watch Grownups. favorite. movie. ever.
when finley gets ahold of the camera...

we went to zion

We went to Zion's today. We were going to hike the narrows, but didn't due to the flash flood warning. We had tons of fun playing in the river. Since we were soaking wet, no one complained of being too hot. We saw the fattest squirrels ever and witnessed 3 squirrels fight to the death (well not really, but pretty close) over a bag of food.

Asleep on the shuttle after some lady told him to shut up.
Owen accidentally fed a squirrel a Cheeto
Jumping off a rock into the river
She's kinda pretty, I guess
asleep. again.

 

a day at the lake

We went to Pineview Reservoir today. The best beach for just swimming is by far Cemetery Point. The boats aren't allowed anywhere near the shore and there are plenty of picnic areas. We had a blast. We swam for hours. When I got home however, I discovered a TERRIBLE sunburn on my back. I swear I have sunburned more this summer than the rest of my life.

Drew took an immediate liking to that monkey. We watched Better Off Dead for the first time this weekend. The monkey's name: Charles DaMar.

Sam wanted to be buried in the sand. Drew wanted to turn him into a merman and went to work on his tail.

He was really excited I guess
Chasing seagulls. Real mature.