Friday morning we drove through Arches National Park to the trail head for Delicate Arch. It is a beautiful park and there were so many cool rock formations. Lynnlee and James brought hiking sticks that they found on other hikes. I'm so glad we hiked so much during the summer because it helped them on this hike. No one complained and they all hiked the whole thing. Round trip it was 3 miles.
Ali warned me that there were steep parts around the arch but I wasn't sure what to expect. She was right and with the crowds of people it was hard to find a safe spot for the kids to enjoy the view. I may have turned into a crazy lady trying to keep all of the kids safe. The minis and Kaden were acting restless and not cautious at all. They wouldn't just sit still while eating a snack.
I don't know why Taggart was so grumpy when we sat down and had a snack.
James was worried about everyone's safety too so he helped me out. Marshall just thought we were both crazy and over paranoid.
Marshall walked over to the arch with Lynnlee.
Then he came took the minis and Kaden. There were a lot of tourist at the arch and they all clapped for him.
Here is the view around the arch.
When we got to the top you could see the trail, parking lot and road through Arches. When we got to the parking lot it was cool to look back and see the area where the arch is and be able to pick it out since we knew what to look for. Before the hike I had no idea I could see all of that but after the hike I knew what I was looking for so it was easy to pick out. Isn't that just how life is. Hindsight is better than foresight.
We drove up the road farther to a look out point.
Then as we were driving out of Arches we took this picture because after going there we knew what to look for to see the arch.
We had dinner for lunch and packed our lunch for dinner on our second hike for the day. We parked at the Mill Creek trail head. Here's a view of the beautiful canyon.
This hike was two miles round trip and the kids all surprised us and hiked it all.
The minis love Marshall so much. When we are all together they only want him.
We crossed the river three times each way. It got deeper each time and was very cold.
The swimming hole or grotto, whatever it's called was so cold. It was in the shade the whole time so the temperature outside didn't feel warm enough for a cold swim. We had fun exploring around and putting our feet in.
The minis each fell in a few times when they slipped on rock covered in moss. We were glad they had their floaties on.
This is a view from the top of the grotto. I would love to come back here when it's really hot outside.
Sienna looks like a determined hiker but she was actually more like a distracted puppy. She couldn't keep her hands off the sandy trail. So she would stop every few feet to grab the sand. They she told me she was a puppy and she would go on all fours for ten feet. I was keeping up the rear and we got so far behind a few times because she was so distracted.
Near the trail head is this beautiful gorge. We hiked down to it and explored.
The sun set as we got to the trail head.
The moon came up as we were loading up in the car. We went to the pool at the RV park after. The pool was warm but it was really windy. I stayed out so I could get kids from the pool to the shower and then to the trailer. They all fell asleep much faster even the minis.
Saturday we went to Rotary Park. There are over twenty instruments.
We played some games as a family to help James pass off a merit badge. Then everyone took turns on the swings.
On the way out of Moab we stopped at this huge sand hill.
We had fun slowly going up and then running down. James went up five times!
Belly sliding down.
Marhshall's and Lynnlee's showing their guns.
The minis were at each others' throats the whole time. Don't be deceived by this picture. Sienna had a black eye by the end.
We headed home after this. We had a great weekend and I can't wait for our next trip to Moab!
