Moab!

The last longish road trip we took was a year and a half ago, when we drove to Colorado. Last summer, we avoided trips to save money, so the kids were extra excited when they found out we'd be taking two trips this summer.

Our first trip started the Monday after school ended!
We packed our bags and headed to Moab with Grandma and Grandpa Steele and Peter and Mary.

We stopped for lunch in Price, and decided to check out the CEU dinosaur museum, too. Pretty cool fossils! When we went camping last year, we ended up close to the lake where they found this skeleton. I think I'm glad mammoths don't still roam the hills around here!

We arrived in Moab with time to preview the park- here are the kids at the visitor's center...

applying sunscreen every ten minutes (or did it only feel like that?),

sego lilies,

and a hot, tired kid. I actually carried her for half of every hike. I must be getting soft in my old age.

Here is the requisite picture of my husband from the back :)

and the object of our design... Balanced Rock.

Prickly pear,

the Windows formation,

and Josh with a Charlie Brown-head shadow.

Double arch ,

and again. The last time I was in this spot, Rebekah was inside me, weighing something less than 7 pounds. When did she grow up?

After our hot, sweaty hiking, we needed a dip in the pool! Unfortunately, the filtration system was broken, and it was closed. We made due with the hot tub. You have no idea how hard it was to get the kids to line up like this. Seriously.
(The pool was open the second day. It wasn't heated. I stuck to the hot tub.)

On our second day in the park, we left the younger kids at the condo with Aunt Mary and hiked the Fiery Furnace. I forgot my camera. It was amazingly awesome. Trust me.

When we finished, we picked up the kids and went back yet again, finally stopping to take a picture at the entrance sign.

Yet more pictures of Arches.

See Delicate Arch in the background? We'll have to do the hike another time. We were way worn out and it was HOT by the time we got to the viewpoint.

On our last day there, we stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands. Beautiful views, although we only did a short hike. We'll have to explore more next time.

It was a great trip. And now, when the kids' teachers ask them what they did this summer, they'll have something to say besides, "Um........ we went swimming."