Day Two was lovely. This is our campsite, you can't really see our tents they're hidden in the trees in the middle of the picture, but look how awesome this campground is!
This is the Skyline Arch right next to our campsite.
We tagged along with everyone on the 1 1/2 mile hike to Landscape Arch. This hike was funny because we became the site to see. We had several (I mean like 6 or 7 different goups) Asian people stop us and ask to get their picture with us, or simply a picture OF us. I'm assuming because of all of our kids. They kept saying, "Your family?... All of dem??... whoa!!" It was HILARIOUS!!! I mean, seriously, they were more excited to see this family with... "one, two, three... five? wait...how many??"... kids, than they were the arches! I laughed A. LOT. Charity and Kelly seemed slightly irritated and didn't get into it like I did :). It really was interesting. We've not encountered that before... that I can remember. Maija said that they (the Asians) had taken pictures of her kids too... so maybe it's just fun to take pictures of strangers... who knows :). But it was funny. I made sure to get one with them in a picture on my camera just for the documentation :).
The scenery was cool. I let Charity have the camera on this hike, she got some pretty good ones!
Kelly and I had fun finding faces in the rocks... can you see this one?
There it is- Landscape Arch! I guess the name "Delicate Arch" was taken maybe? So cool though! The kids enjoyed reading about the slab that fell back in 1991.
Another random arch. I have no idea which one.
See. Funny huh. They were so excited to have a picture of us... oh, and the arch :).
Doesn't this one look like a whale?
So we went down to the Visitor Center after that, and learned a lot about the arches and how they were formed. Noah and Erika bought some souvenirs at the Gift Shop, and then we were hungry. We decided to just grab some Wendy's in Moab and then we'd be able to stop at all the short hike arches on our way back up to the campsite, rather than hurry back for sandwiches. Nate has all the good ideas. Especially when they include Frostys!!
Memory at Wendy's: Luke's pile of sand he left under his chair :). I thought he had purposely dumped his shoe out, but nope- it must have just fallen off his shoes!
There was a LOT of sand on that campout :)
So we stopped at Balanced Rock:
Luke really wanted this picture. He's so cute. Can you see him?
And there's Bradley
Charity and Kelly had to get in on this photo op
Noah and "Cookies and Cream" or "Rocky" depending on when you ask.
Jack Jack really liked this walk- he wasn't in the carrier and he was able to throw rocks to his hearts content :).
Erika and "Blue"
We stopped at all the cool little Look-outs to get pictures and drive the kids crazy. This is Salt Valley.
Then we went to see Sand Dune Arch.
I couldn't get a picture of the whole arch, but I think this was my favorite one. I just really loved the location. It's tucked back in the rocks, surrounded by sand and cool rock walls. I loved looking up and seeing that we were basically surround by red rock. It was really fascinating to me. Nate liked it too. The kids enjoyed the climbing features and the sand... apparently they hadn't had enough of it :).
I was always amazed with how much sand my kids' shoes can hold when they would dump them out... still makes me smile just thinking about the pile that Luke dumped out by the car when we had our contest. He won by a landslide!
I messed around a lot with Manual on my camera during this walk... probably shouldn't have... but I liked the coloring of most of these, just not this bright red. Bradley looks cool though :).
Okay, this one is just funny. I'm still laughing about Luke walking around with his head tipped back. He had a bloody nose, no tissues, and he just looked so cute. I kept waiting for him to run into a wall or something... he is so funny.
Everyone was ready to be back at camp by the time we finished making the rounds.
It was time for our yummy tin foil dinners!!!
Our spot
So, while we were cooking dinner the boys ran around hunting for lizards. This took me back to the ol' Lake Powell days with my cousins when Rick would wander around with all the kids, catching lizards for us. It was the coolest thing when he would catch one and after years of trying myself, I KNOW how hard theLiy are to catch. I was more than happy to let my kids attempt. What I didn't know was that their Dad is just as skilled as Rick at the art, and managed to catch this lizard with almost no effort!! I couldn't believe it! Little did I know this adorable little reptile was destined to be the newest member of our family.
One of the best things about this campsite- the sand!!! Jack had the time of his life digging and pouring the entire time! So cute.
It was fun to be with friends/cousins too.
I really enjoyed that evening. Sitting around just chatting and laughing. The Mottishaws are the best. They just make it so that everyone is comfortable, everyone is welcome, you can just be yourself. It's okay to tease, it's okay to laugh, it's okay to show appreciation... I just love being with them. They were great camping company.
As the sun was setting, I got this great idea to get silouettes of the kids standing on the rocks. I like how they turned out, however, I wish I'd been able to round them up a little quicker, we lost most of the useful light so they ended up being a little more grainy than I like. The light was coming from the wrong direction too... probably should have attempted standing on the other side... Having said that, I am pretty proud of what I got. I couldn't choose one :).
I wish we'd had them spell something out with their bodies... that'd be cool!
Cute little Elizabeth and Johan
Black and white would make these cool I think.
We got to make our S'mores that second night. Then Maija and Kirstin surprised us all with "Woofums" (however you spell it). Those were amazing! We will be learning how to make the sticks for those to add to our camping supplies. Very good. So nice of them to share.
My kids taught everyone the art of roasting Starbursts. They love showing that to people :).
That second night was not as warm, but still, barely needed blankets. It was awesome. We don't usually camp that far south, so we're used to freezing all night long. This was a welcomed change.
