Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Moab/Arches National Park

I’ve lived in Utah my entire adult life and I’ve never taken the 4 hour drive south to see one of the things Utah is most known for.  So, when Jonathan’s sister said they would be going to Moab and hiking around arches before the family reunion we decided to tag along – and I’m sure glad we did.  It was more fun that I thought it would be and I loved spending time with family.

We left Friday after Jonathan got home from work and pulled into our ultra swanky Super 8 around 8:00.  We met up with the Ford’s (Jonathan’s sister’s family), unpacked (I have to unpack when I arrive somewhere, even if it’s only for a few days), and tried to put Hannah to bed.  I say tried because it took us 3 1/2 hours before she finally fell asleep.  At 9:45 we put her down (much later than her normal bed time) but were worried her crying would be annoying to our neighbors.  (By night 2 we got over that fear).  We only let her cry for about 5 minutes before I went in and held/bounced her for an hour.  She was almost asleep when I texted Jonathan (who had been sitting in the hall) to come in and turn down the AC so it wouldn’t be so loud next to her pack and play.  Our stupid, LOUD as could be door woke her up and she was ready for another party.  Fast forward to midnight and she’s still wide awake so we put her in the stroller and walked the halls of the motel/town for 30 minutes to find her even more hyper with the new environment.  Around 1:15 we just put her in her bed and she cried off and on for another 10 minutes before falling asleep.  Needless to say the next morning we were very tired.

We got to Arches around 9:00 and set off for our first “hike”.  I’m sure there are much harder hikes to do but we did simple ones that little kids could do with us.  I was very pleased with how family friendly arches was.

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For the second hike we lost the three year old and his mom but the rest of us went to Landscape Arch and Navajo Arch.

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Did I mention that Hannah loved being carted around on Daddy’s back?

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But after awhile she started to get tired so we headed back for naps.

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That night David and Melissa and their little girl that is just 3 months older than Hannah joined us.  We went out for dinner.

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The next morning we went to church then headed to “Hole in the Rock”.  No, not the place where the pioneers had to take their wagons, but a house that some guy with too much free time built in the side of the mountain.  After that we went to the “movie museum” where there were a bunch of pictures documenting all the movies that have been shot in Moab.

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The next day, Monday, was by far the most eventful.  This was the day we decided to do Delicate Arch.  We got a later start than planned (which tends to happen when little kids are involved.)  The Fords decided not to go on this one as they wanted their kids to sleep in and they thought it might be tough for the littlest one.  We pulled into the parking lot at 9:00 and from the time Jonathan turned off the car and got out and looked in the back window Hannah and thrown up all over herself.  We’re still not totally sure what made her sick but it was everywhere.  Luckily we had a full thing of wipes and extra clothes.  We changed her and wiped up the car seat the best we could, left the car windows rolled down to let it air out and continued on with our plans.

I’m so glad we didn’t turn back then.  Delicate Arch was a great little hike and a beautiful sight.IMG_5655 We thought we made it….but had to continue on.

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The walk back was apparently hot and exhausting for the little girls.

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We made a quick stop at Balanced Rock then headed to a laundromat do wash Hannah’s clothes and attempt to wash her car seat.

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I’m not sure why car seats have to be so difficult but it was hot, we were tired and hungry, we had a squirmy baby and after half an hour we could not get the thing off.  There was one little part that we could not figure out for the life of us.  Then, we saw on the label that you’re not supposed to dry it in a dryer and we figured that even if we could get it off, we didn’t have time to let the thing air dry.  So, I washed Hannah’s clothes and Lamby (the stuffed animal that we can’t sleep without that was a causality in the mornings incident) while Jonathan did the best he could to clean the car seat.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the awfulness that was that afternoon because looking back it was a good memory but at the time I was very stressed.  The only picture I took is this one:  I’m sitting on the toilet, feeding Hannah lunch while Jonathan is scrubbing the seat.

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After we got everything cleaned we headed to Colorado for the Snow Family Reunion.  We were in charge of FHE the first night so we had planned to stop at a Walmart an hour away from where we were staying to get popsicles.  Well, just as we were pulling into the parking lot, guess who threw up AGAIN!  That’s right.  So we spent an hour longer at Walmart than intended.  We also got baking soda and Febreze while there.  Lamby was covered again and this time we had no access to a laundromat.  Later that night I cleaned Lamby in the bath tub and then dried him with a blow dryer.  Oh, and did I mention it was my birthday?  Happy Birthday to me :)

She didn’t get sick the rest of the trip with is great.  Not sure if it was just a 24 hour thing, or car sickness, or breakfast didn’t sit well but I’m glad we had a full 5 days to leave the windows rolled down and let the mountain breeze air out the car.

 

Stay tuned for the details of the actual family reunion…

Happy 4th (a little late)

I decided that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday.  I love the BBQ’s.  I love the music.  I love the parades.  I love that everyone dresses in the same three colors.  I LOVE the fireworks.  I love everything about the 4th and this year we had a great one.

It started on Saturday the 2nd.  We dropped Hannah off at my parents where she was going to have a sleep over.  My parents back door neighbors were having their annual 4th of July party and once again they set up an awesome slip and slide that went from the top of their hill down to a water spraying bounce house.  Of course, my dad wanted to take Hannah down it.  The more she went the more she liked it.

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While Hannah was playing and Grandma and Grandpa’s, Jonathan and I headed back to Provo for the “Qualtrics Stadium of Fire”.  That’s right, Qualtrics was the name sponsor this year so that meant we got four free tickets.  We brought 2 of our nieces, Natalie and Kendra.  We all got cool blue tee shirts to wear which was an OK sacrifice to make for such great seats.  We on the field, 20th row.  David Archuleta and Brad Paisley were the performers.  David Archuleta could use some work on his song transitions but Brad was awesome and put on a great show.  And of course, the fireworks are the best in Utah and I loved every second of the 20 minute show.

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Sunday morning we went to church baby free then headed to Sandy to have dinner.  We spent the night there since the next morning Jonathan, Lisa, and Austin would be doing the Pepperwood Mini Triathlon.

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Austin did the whole thing himself and Jonathan and Lisa were on a team.  Lisa did the swimming, Jonathan did the biking, and they both ran (for fun).

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Then my dad took Hannah for a little run and they crossed the finish line too.  It was a pretty casual triathlon.

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Next was breakfast, music, playing on the playground and the tennis tournament. 

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My dad participated in a tennis tournament.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad play tennis before so it was fun to watch and I learned a lot about scoring.  Unfortunately, the last time my dad played tennis was 10 years ago and the man he was playing against plays tennis 3 times a week in a prestigious tennis organization.  My dad held his own but ended up losing.

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After the Pepperwood festivities we head to Willow Creek Country Club for lunch and games.  Hannah rode a train and got her face painted.  After lunch we (Jonathan, Ali, Tom, Carrie, Lisa, Austin) stayed to play cards.  Hannah was keeping herself busy crawling around but found a leftover bowl of popcorn.  She got a piece caught in her throat and threw up all over herself and the carpet.  That was her first real throw up that wasn’t baby spit up. 

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Finally, we went home and had a special 4th of July cake I had made.

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Hope every one had a Happy 4th!