Moab Madness

 We took advantage of the long weekend of fall break to do some camping down in Moab. Arthur is now mobile enough that this is probably the last camping we'll do for a while. We also hit some very cold nights. The kids were warm enough and slept fine, but I definitely was not and did not.

During the day the weather was absolutely perfect for hiking! We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and immediately hit the trails. First stop: Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.

None of the main hikes in Arches are very difficult, but this one of the more challenging ones. We actually didn't get much complaining from the boys, though they wanted plenty of rest on the uphill. The Arch was a busy spot full of families and photo takers. 

We used our daylight for hiking and set up camp in the dark. Maybe an unpleasant challenge, but well worth the trade off.

 Thursday morning we got up not too early to head back into Arches again. This time we headed for the Devil's Garden. Despite a much shorter, less steep hike, we heard A LOT about how tired Paul and Laszlo were, and how HARD the hike was. 

We feel that Landscape arch is actually more delicate looking than Delicate arch. It makes me wonder if someone was going around naming all of them, having already named Delicate arch, when the saw landscape arch were like, "Oops. I guess they can't both be Delicate Arch...how about...Landscape?"

After a nice picnic, we saw Sand Dune arch. The sand is so fine and soft, and I had the forethought to bring a pail and shovels for playing. Good job, me!

Our final stop of the day was Double Arch. Paul declared this his favorite because he was able to climb around so much and the acoustics are quite fun.

He and I have this in common. Double arch is my favorite in the park and has been since I was a teen.

We spent the night warming up in the hot tub and huddling in our tents to stay out of the wind. 

Friday morning we knew better than to try getting into Arches again. It gets wildly crowded during school holidays. Instead, we headed to Canyonlands National Park.

This is the only National Park in Utah that I had never been to, so I was quite eager to go. Certainly one day isn't really enough, but I'm really happy with what we were able to see. We'll just have to hit some of the more isolated spots on a different trip. 

First stop: visitors center. We need Junior Ranger booklets and restrooms. Second stop: Mesa Arch. A very easy, short hike with an arch that overlooks a big beautiful canyon.

Energy was high, attitudes were good, and the view was spectacular.

We then headed to White Rim Trail, first to use the picnic tables for lunch, then to hike to the overlook. Again, despite the ease of the hike, we got a fair number of complaints. 

Whether or not the kids would agree with me, I'd say the destination was well worth the journey. Going all the way to the overlook point you can get nearly 360 degree view of the canyon all around you. 

A little nerve-racking to be sure, so I took Paul and Laszlo, holding onto Laszlo, then let Lee go out himself so Arthur would not be anywhere near the narrow point, surrounded on all sides by dizzying drop offs. 

Paul said it was terrifying, but in a good way. We took our kids to a restaurant that night, for the first time in I don't know how long. Long enough that they'd forgotten that you have to wait at your table for your food to be cooked. 

Our final day we spent folding up tents, packing up the car, and then doing one last hike on our way out of town. After an incident of Laszlo getting hand sanitizer in his eyes (not for the first time), and a picnic lunch, we headed to Corona Arch! 

Definitely the trickiest hike of the trip, but it was the easy parts that drummed up the most complaining. As soon as we got to the scrambling, the ladders and ropes, the kids were all in and thrilled. 

Corona Arch is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the area and it isn't even in a national park! The scenery is, from start to finish, just gorgeous. 

I cannot imagine hiking this in the summer though. Not a lick of shade, and we were sweating when it was only 60 degrees. 

After the hiking and climbing, we were ready to drive home and rest our feet (though sitting for that long after a hike made us a little stiff). The best thing about camping? How much I love my own bed when I get home.

Arthur's Halloween and Other Firsts

 We've been busy these last few months! Getting the kids in the swing of school, weekend soccer games,  chasing Arthur away from the top of the stairs... Here is our little quarterly family journal update!

Arthur is now a crawling speed demon, but above all else, he wants to walk, nay, run! He wants to be where his brothers are, eating the toys they are playing with. He has one hillbilly tooth and prefers to stick his tongue out at all times.

Laszlo is liking pre-school. He is learning the names of his class mates and is getting really good at recognizing words (like his colors and the days of the week). If you were to ask him about them, though, he would likely hide behind me and, whispering, ask me to tell you that he is actually very shy.

Paul has been doing well in second grade, and I must admit his teacher has really impressed me. He is very into Minecraft, Mario, and explaining Minecraft and Mario to me.

Paul and Laszlo both played on soccer teams this fall, first foray into organized sports for us. It went pretty much as expected, except that Laszlo really took to the game faster than I thought he would. He scored 9 goals in his first game. In all fairness, he was one of the older kids in his 3-4 year old league and so might have a coordination advantage. But he did well and seemed to enjoy playing. Paul was a bit less enthusiastic, but he got the hang of it and had fun with his teammates.

 I think we're happy to have our Saturday mornings back now, but both boys have expressed an interest in trying baseball next. We may see another season of busy weekends come spring!

We really made sure that we enjoyed our Halloween this year. Gone are the days of the unified family costume, but I still have a little baby who needs me to choose for him, so all is well!

We did a corn maze activity with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dave. Though for Paul and Laszlo the highlights were the giant swing and the giant teeter-totter. 

We visited the aquarium's Halloween Carnival, with pirates and mermaids and augmented reality creatures from the deep.

And we of course did some trick-or-treating! We started off with a homemade, garage spook alley in my parent's neighborhood--it was a little too good. Paul swore off scary things and disavowed Halloween. Laszlo cried. For, like, 20 minutes. It was a quality little walk through, I was mightily impressed, if not as terrified as my children.

They did calm down and still have a lot of fun gathering candy. I took entirely too many pictures of Arthur in his Arthur costume...but it was just SO CUTE. I COULDN'T HELP IT! You may also note Laszlo in his skeleton costume, Paul in his Hufflepuff robes, Lee is an astronaut, and I am legendary super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes.