MOAB!

We started off our trip to Moab in the middle of a giant foggy rainstorm. I was really grateful Christian was driving because I was having a hard time seeing!!

Luckily, once we got to southern Utah, the sky was beautiful and clear. This was our campsite. 

We unloaded the car and set everything up. The kids were surprisingly helpful! It was pretty windy, which made it difficult to set up the tent, but we got it done.

Afterward it was time for dinner. If you look closely in this picture, you'll see that it didn't take long for Kate to get covered in ashes.

 

The kids started to get a little chilly, so they decided the best way to warm themselves up was to do this:

In the morning we headed over to Delicate Arch.The kids LOVED this hike.

When James and I walked out under the arch, I made sure to hold on to him very tight.

On the way back down we found a lizard. 

Kevin, I thought of you as we looked at it.

Next we headed over to Sand dune arch.

For our last hike we went to Double Arch. James was so funny, he said, "Everyone keeps stopping to talk to me about my superman shirt. It's hard to hike!" It was so true. I would say 70% of people who passed by made a comment about his shirt. He loved all the attention, though. He's a ham.

Kate wanted to climb the giant ledge under the arch, but settled for this lovely spot.

In the evening, it started to dump rain. We headed to town for ice cream and break from the rain.

We also stopped by the t-shirt shop that I went to several times as a kid. I think this place is so fun! You pick out the picture you want and they heat press it onto a shirt. 

Fortunately the rain stopped before bed and inside the tent stayed pretty dry. The next morning we went to go see Mater. 

The kids earned a Jr. Ranger badge (and I didn't do a very good job of taking a picture).

Then it was off to go hiking again. The beginning of the trail for Landscape arch had a ton of sand. The kids probably would have been happy to stay there all day. 

Luckily, they were willing to leave the sand behind and keep hiking. Even though James wasn't wearing his Superman shirt, he decided to perform feats of strength along the way. He tried to pick up every large branch or rock he found.

Landscape arch was beautiful.

And James found more sand.

For our last hike, we drove out of the park and went on an off roading trail. Talk about breaking in the new car!

 When we got to the top we hiked to Gemini Bridges. The kids loved it; I spontaneously developed a fear of heights.

 

We headed back to pack up the car. I am very grateful for kids who are entertained by mud, sticks, and bottle caps. They happily played the whole time we cleaned up.

We got going a little later than we had hoped, and ended up driving a blizzard. We didn't get home until about 3 in the morning on Mother's Day. What is it with Denver and Mother's Day? The last two years have looked like this!