Southern Utah Campout - Arches Campsite

I love the Arches campground. It's one of my happy places. And, thanks to the giant, mommy-heart-attack-inducing rocks behind our campsite, my children have deemed the Arches campground an extraordinary place as well. I stress, no children were harmed in the taking of these photographs. Also, this was completely their idea.

What are those little ants climbing up the rock face? Oh, I know, it's my children!
Oh. Joy. They made it to the top. Great.
What? You can't see them because they're so very tiny on top of the giant fin of rock? Here, let me expand the picture
Sam talks Mom into following him up on said killer rock
I made it to the first plateau and lost my nerve.
Sam: "Ok, this is the part where you have to run to make it up"
Mom: "No"
Sam: "Mom, I thought you said you could do this!
Mom: "Yeah, that's before I knew it was insane! What if I don't make it up and I fall?"
Sam: "You'd just roll"
Mom: "Roll?!? Roll to where?!? To those rocks miles below us?!?"
So Sam took photos of the view from the top for your enjoyment, ridiculing me all the time as I clung to the comparative safety of the rocks a mere 50 feet above the ground.

Our other campground activities were thankfully far more mundane.

Anything you can do, I can do, too, Ben!
Yes, that's my husband holding the marshmallow stick with his toes as he prepares a hot dog for Sasha. Way to multi-task, Babe.

Southern Utah Campout - Park Avenue and Double Arch

After our fun-filled day in Goblin Valley, it was time to head even farther South to Arches National Park. Well, after packing up our campsite in Green River and tending to Ben's numerous injuries it was time to head to Arches. Boy did we go through the Band-Aids this trip! Kiddos + rocks and trees to climb = blood loss.

Our first stop in Arches was Park Avenue, a favorite easy stroll through a wash. It was a wonderful introduction to the beauties of the park!

Then we stopped at one of the three must-see sites on the boys' list - Double Arch!

Ben makes an arch within the arch - does that make this Triple Arch?
Sam and Sash had so much fun climbing up and sliding down
Sam, Ben, and Poppop make the harrowing climb up the arch
I think Daddy may have had the best arch-enjoyment strategy of them all

Southern Utah Campout - Goblin Valley

This week we were able to introduce three beloved family members to the wonders of Goblin Valley State Park and Arches National Park and it was fabulous! Sasha, Gramma, and Poppop each had a fantastic long weekend in Southern Utah, although admittedly some (Sasha) did cope with the dirt and scrambling and climbing with more energy than others (the elders). But a good time was had by all!

We have enough photos to fill weeks of blog posts, but since you would probably eventually like to see something besides red rocks on our blog, we'll try to contain ourselves.

We spent our first night in Green River and after checking into the campground and pumping up the air mattress, we headed to Goblin Valley State Park. We ended up taking the "scenic" route to Goblin Valley, which involved 30 miles of dirt roads where we passed more cows than vehicles and more four-wheelers than cars. It was quite the adventure, but Rainy handled it all with aplomb and we arrived in Goblin Valley in one piece, after mere 30 minutes detour, and with a heck of a story to tell!
Sasha really enjoyed the ride - hands in the air like a roller coaster!
Moo!
The red sand sets off her blue nicely, no?

Goblin Valley is a great spot for kids who like to climb, slide, and generally roll around in the dirt - it was Morningstar Child Paradise.
Ben climbs his first of the hundreds of hoodoos he scaled during the afternoon
Victory!
That is one happy "cheese" face!
Those boys sure do love a good climb
Sam was prepared for anything between his safety whistle, first aid kit (which only left his wrist during sleeping hours), and backpack loaded with water and essential provisions (granola bars)
Good thing Sam was so prepared, we ended up using a lot of Band-Aids on this trip, but thankfully didn't require any more serious medical intervention
Gramma and Poppop enjoyed Goblin Valley, too (especially the photo-ops for Poppop the shutterbug)
Here's a shot from farther away to give you some perspective on how big some of the goblins were in proportion to my little goblins!
The girl wasn't happy unless she was climbing, sliding, or running to the next hoodoo!
After dinner Steve took out his new kite for a lovely maiden flight
It was sure a great start for our Southern Utah Adventure!

My Very Own Pippi

Steve's been letting Sasha dress herself lately and the results are highly entertaining. Here's one of my latest favorites - leggings, rainbow leg warmers, patent leather shoes, and Cinderella fleece. Perfection!

And in case you're wondering about not being able to see Sasha's face in this photo, she insisted on me taking a photo of her doggie birthday card. It sorta completes the ensemble, I think.

Our Very Own Backyard Trampoline

The sheer joy of our very own backyard trampoline for one brief, glorious day.They only made it outside for about 20 minutes - nights still get cold in April :)

And as quickly as it came, it was gone. Goodbye, crappy old guest bedroom mattress, bringer of incalculable happiness.

Ready for Camping Season

You wouldn't think you could build a whole blog post out of photos of the kids playing with their new headlamps from REI. Well... you wouldn't think it was possible unless you knew my kids.

Yep, they're ready for any adventure
Somebody doesn't yet understand the idea of not bouncing in a low-light shot. When you're that excited about your new headlamp, you just can't hold it in!
And check out Sam's new internal frame pack! Backpacking up Timp, here we come!
I love Sasha's sheer wonder at having light come out of her head. So cute!
Yep, excited for camping season
Methinks she's missing the point