National Park Trip

Condensed Version (If you don't want to read this long post.)
We took a trip to Arches National Park, Goblin Valley and Capitol Reef National Park. Two 2-year-olds, Two 4-year-olds, Two pregnant women and Two Dads, all traveling in one MotorHome. We all had a lot of fun and had to listen to a bit more fighting than we would have liked, but overall, it was a success!

Now for the Long Version (If you want all the details.)
Last weekend we took a trip with our friends, The Day's. We left Thursday afternoon and met up with them at Janelle's grandparents house in Provo. Where we then loaded all our things into their Motor Home and headed on our way.
We drove to a rest stop outside of Moab, where we just parked the RV and slept for the night. The ride down was kind of crazy. The kids were all really hyper and very resistant to the idea of going to sleep for the night. We finally got the kids to sleep, but it was a pretty rough night. I think Maddie was the only little one to wake up during the night. Lexi was the last one to wake up in the morning. The beds were pretty uncomfortable and not very big for Chad and I to share, but oh well. The worse part though was the Semi that pulled up next to us and left it's motor running for HOURS!!! It was so loud. I can't believe the kids slept through it, because I certainly didn't!
The next morning, we all were up before 7. We had a quick breakfast, climbed back in the RV and headed on our way. First stop - Arches National park. We made a quick stop at the Visitor Center to fill up water bottles, then headed into the park, to the Delicate Arch trailhead. It was turning out to be a fairly hot day, so I'm glad we all brought a lot of water. We made fairly good time on the hike up and with only a couple of stops to rest.



Myra was such a trooper. It was kind of slow going with her though because she kept stopping to look at rocks, plants and play in the dirt. Lexi loved riding in the backpack although she wouldn't keep her hat on. The sunscreen certainly did it's job! We finally reached the top and had lunch. I was so paranoid the whole time about the kids falling off the ledges up there. Myra really wanted to run around. While we were eating, a couple of Ravens joined us for lunch. I was amazed how close they came to us. The kids really enjoyed having them so close by. The hike down was quick and uneventful. We were all pretty hot and tired by the end, so we headed back down to the Visitor Center to look around there. The kids especially enjoyed playing on the bronze statues outside. The big kids would "ride" the mountain sheep, but Lexi enjoyed "riding" the little lizards. After that we headed to the RV park to set up for the night. We spent some time playing in the little stream nearby and the kids enjoyed playing at the playground.


We had yummy Dutch Oven chicken and potatoes with cobbler and ice cream for dinner. It was so nice that night to be able to shower, put the kids to bed early in the tent and we actually had a decent night sleep.
The next morning was a early start again. We cleaned up and headed back into Arches. We hiked to Landscape Arch, which has recently been labeled as the world's longest arch. The kids were a little less enthusiastic about hiking the 2nd day, so luckily it wasn't a very long hike.
We then headed out of the park and onto Goblin Valley. I'd never been there so I was pretty excited to visit it for the first time. It was very hot when we got there, otherwise, I think we would have spent more time playing around. The rock formations were very fun to climb on, around and through.
And they were generally easy enough that all of the kids were able to just run around and enjoy themselves. Myra and Lexi were very brave with their climbing and exploring. All of the kids had a great time playing hide and seek and pretending they were in castles and such. It was kind of funny how Myra and Camille stayed together the whole time and Lexi and Maddie hung out with each other. They are all such good friends. Chad and Brad even played Frisbee while on top of the rocks. The funniest though was Lexi going down the hills. She discovered it was easier to sit on her bum and scoot down the little hills. Unfortunately, the video we took of this didn't work. :-( We eventually ran out of water and had to head back to the RV. It was such a hot day! After that we drove to another RV park for the night. There were just a couple of other people there, so the kids had a fun time running around and exploring. Myra even found a snake. We roasted Hot Dogs and marshmellows that night. I think the marshmellow roasting was the highlight of the trip for Myra. She was so excited about it! We had the best night sleep that night. It was quite relaxing. The next morning we had Dutch Oven eggs, bacon and potatoes. Then we loaded up again and headed home. On the way, we drove through Capitol Reef National Park. I'd never been there before and I have to admit I was a little disappointed. It was pretty, but I've seen similar looking places driving elsewhere in Southern Utah. In actuality we only saw a very little bit of the park. We stopped and looked at some Petroglyphs. They were pretty cool. There were tons of little caterpillars where we were, and the kids really enjoyed looking at them. We also saw a deer quite close-up. I was surprised it didn't run off. We checked out the Visitor Center and took a scenic drive where we had lunch at the end. After that, we headed home. The kids slept a lot of the way and it was very peaceful. I had a great time chatting with Janelle while the kids were all silent! And, of course, it was nice to get home and sleep in our own beds. We all had a great time and the kids are wondering when we will go camping again.

It's been really hot lately! Not anymore!

Before


After

After weeks of deliberating over this, I finally just did it! I chopped all my hair off. I decided that it was just too hot and I needed a change. Yikes! I cut off close to 14 inches and am donating it to Locks of Love. So far, I think I like it. I think it looked better right after the girl dried it, before she started gooping it up with styling gels and such. So, we'll see how it looks tomorrow when I do it myself.

Another Milestone

I think when I started my business, I wasn't sure this day would ever come. And the most amazing thing is how quickly I've arrived here. Yesterday, I sold my 1000th item in my CuddleBaby Boutique shop on Etsy. I'm pretty excited about it!

Birthday Parties

The past couple of days have been filled with Family, Friends and Parties! Sunday was both Mother's Day and Myra's 4th Birthday. Chad and the girls gave me a new printer for Mother's Day. Lexi gave Myra an umbrella, but we made her wait to open up the rest of her presents until later in the day. At church, Myra got to be spotlighted in Primary and sung too. She was sooo excited! Then the primary sang to all the Mother's during Sacrament meeting. I was kind of sad about it though. I had to play the piano, so I didn't get to watch them sing. :-( Chad said she was waving at everyone and was so happy to be up there. After everyone left the stage, Myra and Camille didn't realize what was going on, so they were still on the stage. Silly girls. I also played for the Ward Choir to sing in Sacrament meeting.
In the afternoon, My mom, Bre and Danny came up for dinner. (My dad had to work.) Myra is very excited to use her new Water toy that Bre and Danny gave her. It was quite difficult to explain to her yesterday that it's still a little too cold to play outside in the water. Myra also loved the Belle Doll she received from Grandma and Grandpa. She spent a lot of time yesterday have "Tea parties" with her. We had a yummy dinner, then after Chad and I put together a treasure hunt for her to find her gift from us. Chad took pictures of different areas around our house and the first gift we had Myra open included a picture of an area of the house. She had to go there, find the next "clue" - another picture, that would lead her to another place.

She loved it! It was a fun way to give her her gift. We ended up giving her a scooter. She's pretty good at it already and has really enjoyed playing around on it. After we had Cake and Ice Cream. Myra wanted just the Cookie Monster face, so Chad cut out just that part for her.
On Monday, I took Myra in for her 4-year check-up. She was so great. She chatted away to all the nurses and the doctor, then it came time for her shots. She had been very nervous about them, but she was WONDERFUL! She didn't even cry and now she says it's didn't even hurt. I think she was mostly just excited about the sucker. That afternoon we had Myra's friend birthday party in the Soft Play area of the Fun Center here in Logan.

The kids LOVED it and it was nice for us to not have to find things to entertain the kids. All they did was play, open presents and ate slushies, then played some more.

It was pretty crazy having little 12 kids running around, but they all seemed to have a fun time. Myra was pretty exhausted that night. Then after it all, she got to go home and open presents from her Grammy and Grandad. She especially loved her new nightgown, which she wore for most of the evening, before even going to bed. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a tough time keeping her out of it during the day. Overall, I think Myra had a wonderful Birthday this year. And now, I get to listen to her and Lexi fight over the new toys for the next few days until the newness wears off. (Exactly what happened after Lexi's birthday.)

Happy 4th Birthday Myra!!!!

I can't believe Myra is 4 already! Time goes by way to quickly! We have enjoyed every second that Myra has been a part of our life and look forward to seeing what this next year with her has to bring!

Preschool is Over

Wednesday was the last day of Preschool for Myra and her friends - for this school year at least. Myra has had a fun time throughout the year learning the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes and more. I think she mostly enjoyed play time though. Here's a picture of when Myra started Preschool last October
and Wednesday, 8 months later.


The past few times we've had preschool here, Lexi has really gotten involved as well. She just thinks she's one of the older kids and that she's there to do whatever they are doing. I'm sure because of it, she'll learn a lot of things quicker than Myra has.

Little Miss Sunshine

When Lexi gets upset, she's taken to sticking out her little bottom lip. I thought this was especially funny with what her bib says.

Fun Times

This past Saturday, we had tons of things planned that we needed to do, but most of it was outside and since it was a rainy day, we just spent most of it inside goofing around. We played some Disney Dance Dance Revolution (the kids LOVE it) and the girls loved jumping on Dad and trying to tackle and tickle him. Then we enjoyed rolling the kids up in blankets and seeing how long it took them to get out. Then Chad decided it was time slide down the stairs in sleeping bags and pillow cases. Lexi would scoot down the stairs, one at a time, saying, "Wee" the whole time. Myra did pretty good, but Chad decided to show her how it's really done. Thus, the resulting video. (Sorry Chad, it was just too good to not post!)

Today, for playgroup, Janelle brought a pinata for the kids. We had an unusually high number of people show up today, so it was a lot of fun having all the kids running around, playing with each other and enjoying the nice morning weather.

Picture Perfect

So... I had been planning on getting family pictures taken this next week, until this happened last night.She was playing out back, tripped over the end of her little slide and caught herself with her head. Poor girl! She was very upset about it, especially when she looked in the mirror. If only she would grow some hair, it might not have been so bad. :-) Anyway, I guess family pictures will just have to wait.