And so we were off! I left Amanda's house at about 2pm and got to Moab around 8 pm. The kids did wonderful as always and it was so fun to talk to them about my Moab memories.
Jackson set himself up to watch TV with his milk bottle a little too easily, I thought. We went to bed way too late. It was fun having a 'sleepover' with the kids, with all of us in a king bed.
Jackson turned out to be as uncomfortable to sleep by as Lily was when she was his age. I woke up many times with his feet or hands or head on top of me.
After our continental breakfast, which has never been as awesome as it was when you're traveling alone with two picky eaters trying to save money, we headed out to Arches National Park. I told Lily we were going on a hike, then tried to explain it as a long walk, then as exercising because she has been on an exercising kick lately (except when her legs hurt...). She immediately exclaimed, "But Mom, I don't have my bike!"
But regardless, she kept (mostly) entertained by telling me and Jack that if we did good, she would give us some candy when we got back to the car. Jackson just hopped on the trail and started walking with that swinging arm of his. Super cute. He did awesome although every few minutes would drop to the ground to start playing with the sand and dirt. I would love to go back to Arches with Adam, as the park is basically a bunch of super tiny hikes to the arches, and so gorgeous!
We chose the Double Arches hike. It was about 3/4 of a mile and took us 45 minutes. I only carried Jackson twice for a few seconds each time because of slippery rock and sand. So they did it all by themselves!
We then jumped in the car and got on our way to St. George. Adam had taken the shuttle down that morning and we talked to him for a bit. He told Lily he was going to St. George too and she said "We're going to beat you! We have been in the car for a LONG TIME." Hilarious. She was probably wondering why we weren't there yet after so much driving.
For this trip the Whitman's were driving through so we took them to the sand dunes in Snow Canyon. The kids had such a blast and I think we should probably make it a more prominent activity as it is so close to Kayenta.
Adam wanted me to make sure I included his photography.
We also went downtown to the water park. The kids have been here a lot but I've never taken pictures. I kept on wishing the kids would get down from the rock steps and hopefully SOME DAY I will actually pay attention to those promptings as (of course and as always) Jackson fell a few minutes later and got a HUGE goose egg.
He slept the entire way to Salt Lake.
As always when I travel, which is a big reason why I'm always going out of my way to do it, I get so much motivation to be a better mom to my kids. It's so nice let go of what sometimes becomes the 'daily grind' and just have fun. So thank you to Amanda and her family, to my wonderful husband who lets me do whatever I want, and to my amazing children for being so much fun to be with.
Jackson set himself up to watch TV with his milk bottle a little too easily, I thought. We went to bed way too late. It was fun having a 'sleepover' with the kids, with all of us in a king bed.
Jackson turned out to be as uncomfortable to sleep by as Lily was when she was his age. I woke up many times with his feet or hands or head on top of me. 
After our continental breakfast, which has never been as awesome as it was when you're traveling alone with two picky eaters trying to save money, we headed out to Arches National Park. I told Lily we were going on a hike, then tried to explain it as a long walk, then as exercising because she has been on an exercising kick lately (except when her legs hurt...). She immediately exclaimed, "But Mom, I don't have my bike!" 
But regardless, she kept (mostly) entertained by telling me and Jack that if we did good, she would give us some candy when we got back to the car. Jackson just hopped on the trail and started walking with that swinging arm of his. Super cute. He did awesome although every few minutes would drop to the ground to start playing with the sand and dirt. I would love to go back to Arches with Adam, as the park is basically a bunch of super tiny hikes to the arches, and so gorgeous!
We chose the Double Arches hike. It was about 3/4 of a mile and took us 45 minutes. I only carried Jackson twice for a few seconds each time because of slippery rock and sand. So they did it all by themselves!
We then jumped in the car and got on our way to St. George. Adam had taken the shuttle down that morning and we talked to him for a bit. He told Lily he was going to St. George too and she said "We're going to beat you! We have been in the car for a LONG TIME." Hilarious. She was probably wondering why we weren't there yet after so much driving.
For this trip the Whitman's were driving through so we took them to the sand dunes in Snow Canyon. The kids had such a blast and I think we should probably make it a more prominent activity as it is so close to Kayenta. 
Adam wanted me to make sure I included his photography. 
We also went downtown to the water park. The kids have been here a lot but I've never taken pictures. I kept on wishing the kids would get down from the rock steps and hopefully SOME DAY I will actually pay attention to those promptings as (of course and as always) Jackson fell a few minutes later and got a HUGE goose egg.
He slept the entire way to Salt Lake.
As always when I travel, which is a big reason why I'm always going out of my way to do it, I get so much motivation to be a better mom to my kids. It's so nice let go of what sometimes becomes the 'daily grind' and just have fun. So thank you to Amanda and her family, to my wonderful husband who lets me do whatever I want, and to my amazing children for being so much fun to be with.
