Moab

 While we were getting all packed up again, Colton was busy doing yoga:

Nice tree pose, son!

We drove all the way to Strasburg, Colorado that day, marveling at how different everything looked in Missouri and Kansas.  My kids have never seen anywhere so flat and devoid of trees.  I really enjoyed looking at it all, but I'm glad I live where we do.  

Craig had found a really fun AirBnb for that night-- it was in the basement of a farmhouse, and they had chickens, goats, and ponies which we were delighted to get to see!  The basement itself was very large and had lots of beds, but the way it was laid out, you had to go through the bathroom to get from one side to the other, so that got complicated.  Let's just say it was quirky.  But fun, especially for just one night!  When we arrived, we could watch a lightning storm in the distance, and the way it was flashing through the atmosphere, it made the lightning look red.  Very cool.

This is a screenshot from a video Kendra shot.  You get the idea, at least-- so cool!

Camille and the goats were equally excited to meet each other!

We had to get up really early and hit the road the next morning.  Waze and Google Maps couldn't agree on how long it would take to get to Moab (this makes no sense to me at all, but it kept being an issue) and we were worried about missing our time slot for Arches National Park.  I slept terribly because I couldn't see a clock and I was worried I would oversleep.  (It's super awesome when you're tossing and turning and you finally stumble out of bed to check the time because you're certain it's time to get up now and when you grope your way to your phone charging on the floor across the room it turns out to be 3:45am.  Yup.)

Anyway, despite the Denver traffic and heavy rain in the mountain passes, we made it to Moab in plenty of time.  Whew!  There was a 20-minute wait to even get into the park, and then we had to stop and get water and apply sunscreen.  We also spent a LOT of time looking for Camille's tennis shoe before finally making her hike in her flipflops.  (It turned out she'd left one shoe at the AirBnb.  I was glad I'd brought her old, beat up sneakers and not the new ones.). But eventually we got to actually see some of the amazing scenery at Arches.  And it was incredible.  We mostly just drove around and got out of the car to look more closely at the ones that were close to the road.

As Bentley was taking this (awesome) panorama shot of Double Arch, he suddenly realized there were actually two arches and got all excited.  We, of course, made fun of him for not understanding what the name clearly indicated.

Some of us were grumpy, so the rest of us pulled muppet faces in sympathy!  I look like Beaker.

It's Balanced Rock and we're all balancing, too!  Get it?

I really wanted to keep going and hike up to Delicate Arch, but Craig ixnayed that idea.  He decided we were all too hot and tired AND no one had enough water (which was true.  The kids had refilled their water bottles at the entrance to the park, but it was gross and they didn't want to drink it.  I hadn't wanted to sully my water with the gross water, so I only had a little left at all).  He said it was time to check into our hotel, instead.  He was SO RIGHT.  Because the hotel had two things: a pool and an ice machine.  And they both made us so happy.  The kids happily splashed in the pool for a good two hours before we finally decided it was time for dinner.  And ice cream.  Everyone was so refreshed and happy.

Not only was there a pool, it was a BIG, FUN pool with waterfalls and hot tubs and giant games. It was fabulous.

I loved how the design blended right in with our natural surroundings!  It was fun watching the kids, drinking my ice water (our AirBnbs had all been great, but they did not have ice makers!), and enjoying nature off in the distance!

And yay for ice cream, too!

We got a good night's sleep, and then once again got all packed up and ready to leave.  We refilled our water bottles, bought Ryder a sun hat, and this time we got started hiking before it was 100 degrees outside!

It's not a particularly easy hike (especially if you aren't used to the altitude or the dry desert air!), but we did it without too much trouble.  I was so glad we hadn't tried to do it the day before!

And I was so excited once we finally rounded that corner and my kids could actually see Delicate Arch.  Because you see it everywhere on all the Utah license plates, but you just can't understand how HUGE it is.  Seriously, until the first time I hiked it back in grad school with my friend Elizabeth, I thought it was about 6 feet tall.  It's 52 feet.  That is COLOSSAL.

Pictures like this are kind of silly since you can barely see us, but it sure gives you an idea of the scope of this thing!  What you can't tell is that standing there is really scary-- the ground slopes away from you and drops off on both sides.  We saw a metal water bottle roll and fall down and break all apart and we were glad that wasn't us!  My kids were anxious to get back on wider ground as soon as that picture was taken!

Standing in a different arch to see Delicate Arch

Colton looks like he's enjoying a day at the beach!

As is Camille!

I was pretty proud of this shot!  (But standing in the scary spot and looking up without losing my balance was a little freaky.  Bentley was like, "Are you crazy? Stop that!"

We may have to put this one on our Christmas card...

One more.  I can't resist!

We dithered around for some time admiring all the different views, but finally it was time to head back to the van.  The way back was all downhill, which was easier on our lungs, but harder on our feet.  I was glad when we were finished!  And I'd drunk all my water, so in case I had still been doubting Craig's wisdom in waiting a day...  He was definitely right!  We were sort of obnoxious and went back to the hotel and filled our water bottles one last time (YAAAY ICE!!!!) before driving to our next destination: Lehi, UT!