We went down to Moab for four days over Fall Break this year, and had such a great time! The day we got there, we split up into two groups. The guys and Connor went on a bike ride, and the girls and little kids went to Moab Giants, a park that has statues of all the dinosaurs that lived in and around the Moab area. The kids had a great time there. Here's some shots of the fun...
Vivvie and Cohen getting a little taste of what living conditions are like for Paleontologists when they are out on a dig site...
HELP...
Not only did they have dinosaurs, but they also had a really fun playground too...
You can't beat the surrounding scenery either...
There's a big loop you follow where you can see the different statues and read about each of them. The kids had a great time exploring...
Baby Hazel came along for the ride too, and her cousins had fun taking turns pulling her around...
Searching for dinosaur bones...
Cute cuzzie love...
Happy Hazel...
Uhhhh, is that dinosaur smelling Aiden's butt??? Not really sure what's going on here...
Don't you take selfies when you're being chased by a T-Rex?
While we were at Moab Giants, Poppy, Mike, Dan & Connor rode Klondike Bluffs...
One really cool thing about this ride is the dinosaur tracks you can see along the way...
And the scenery is pretty incredible too...
That evening, we all met up at our favorite little Mexican Restaurant in town for some yummy food...
And then went back to the condo to hang out in the hot tub. Some of the kids jumped in the pool, but didn't stay in very long because it was pretty chilly...
Then we did a joint birthday party for Poppy and me with cake and presents...
Poppy showing off some of his fantastic gifts. Haha...
Then we all settled down to get some sleep...
The next morning, Mike and Dan got up early to try some of the new trails over by Gemini Bridges. Mike can't remember the name of the trail, but he said it was a really fun ride. Poppy went on another ride by himself that wasn't quite so "adventurous" (a.k.a. a trail that wasn't as likely to kill you)...
After the guys got back from their rides, we headed into Arches National Park and drove to a remote part of the park in the Klondike Bluffs area to hike Tower Arch. This is a hike I've always wanted to try, but we never have because it is literally in the middle of NO WHERE. You have to drive on a dirt road (that is impassible when it rains) for seven miles just to get out there. The park was crowded, so we decided it might be a good hike to try in order to get away from some of the crowds. It ended up being an awesome hike! It may now be one of our favorites! Here's a few shots, including one of my parents holding hands. Ahhhh, cute...
The kids had fun exploring along the way...
Along the trail, you walk past a formation called the Marching Men. It was pretty awesome...
Vivvie loved having pictures taken by every cairn we came to. If you're not familiar, a cairn is a little pile of rocks meant to mark the trail in places where it's hard to make it out...
Cohen and Landon in front of the Marching Men...
More fun along the trail...
And more cool scenery too...
There was one part of the trail that was a steep sand hill. You would take a step up, and slide back due to the sand so it was pretty difficult. The kids just decided to scale a slickrock cliff instead...
Finally, we came to Tower Arch. It was actually a really cool arch, and there were several pioneer inscribing on it from the late-1800s and early-1900s too...
The view from underneath the arch...
The boys playing around on the red rocks...
Found a couple of Spidermen...
Vivvie liked to find rocks that she though looked like beds. Basically, flat rocks. She'd then lay down and pretend to sleep. Aiden really wanted me to take a picture of it. Haha...
On the way back down the trail, Poppy, Mike & Connor decided to scale this rock formation and yell, "I'm the king of the world!" Getting up was easy. Getting down was a little more difficult...
The kiddos scaring their Mama by jumping over crevices...
That evening, we went to another favorite restaurant--The Blu Pig--for some good ol' fashioned southern barbecue...
And then the girls did a little girls night to get gelato...
The next morning, the guys all went riding again. Mike and Dan tried out the Captain Ahab Trail, and had a great time...
Then Ashlee and Greg's family came down for the day and we all headed into Arches National Park again...
First stop, Balanced Rock...
Then we went to The Windows and hiked to both the North Window...
And the South Window...
Of course, Cohen HAD to climb to the top of the this big rock that is there. It's a tradition. I think he does it every time we do this hike. It's in between the South Window and Turrant Arch...
Speaking of Turrant Arch, we hiked to that one too...
Then we headed to Sand Dune Arch. This rock is right at the beginning of the Sand Dune Arch hike. It's also a tradition that all the kids scale this and take a picture on top...
And then they climb every fin in the little canyon that leads to the arch...
There it is--Sand Dune Arch! Our kids used to always climb on top of it, but they've now blocked that off, so that tradition has come to an end...
But the tradition of playing in the fine desert sand below the arch continues...
We also got to experience Synchronized Gymnastics Routines in the sand as well...
After Sand Dune Arch, we did one last hike to Broken Arch...
All the kids (and some of the dads) under Broken Arch. I thought that was a pretty cool picture...
Broken Arch selfie...
Also that day, the guys took all the boys on a bike ride. I can't remember the name of the trail they took, but it's out by Gemini Bridges along the road that goes to Dead Horse Point. They had a great time...
Then that evening, Ashlee's family left to head home.
The next morning, we rented a couple of UTVs and decided to try our hand at a little 4x4...
We had the best time! It was awesome...and totally freaky too! Some of the rocks we were driving up and down looked like you'd never make it. Yet somehow, those wheels just gripped and we went up and down them like they were paved roads...
We did a couple of trails. First we tried Fins N Things and then Hell's Revenge. Here's some pictures from our 4 wheeling adventure...
Cohen and Vivvie holding hands during a really technical part of the trail...
A four wheeling family selfie...
At times, it felt like we were going straight up or straight down...
My girl and me in our pink helmets...
Always scary to be looking straight down at your shadow...
It was a really fun experience! We loved it!! Hopefully, we'll be able to do it again some other time.
After returning the UTVs, our family headed back into Arches for one last hike while everyone else did other things in town before heading home. We walked Park Avenue up and back...
Posing in front of the Three Gossips...
This. This right here is one of the many reasons I love Moab! It gets everyone off of their electronics and out into nature. And, an amazing thing happens out there away from the world and distractions...our family shows more love to each other, helps each other, and becomes closer...
It was a great long weekend! A fun last hoorah before the cold winter months settled in on us. Thanks for the memories as always, Moab! We'll be back!! --Lindsay
