spring break at Arches! part 3

Last post for Arches National Park - I promise! It's just so hard to not post a million photos of such a beautiful place. Even now, seeing the photos again makes me want to return. If it makes you feel any better, this is just a tiny sampling of the photos we took Tuesday and then half of Wednesday in the park.

This is a section of Arches called Park Avenue. It's hard to describe the immensity of the rock formations that surrounded us and the grandeur. One of the most beautiful places on earth in my opinion.

I love my hubby!

Taking a break on the hike up to Delicate Arch. Erin and Mark with their kids and our kids. Hiking is definitely more fun with cousins!

Anna made it all the way to Delicate Arch with Troy! She was the most brave of our kids. Christian followed soon after but we didn't get a photo of him under the arch. Emily and I stayed safely back a little bit. I'm just not so good with heights and it's hard to tell in these photos, but there is a little bit leading up to this arch that just don't feel so safe to me ;) but Troy assured me was perfectly safe.

We hiked a pretty easy ways to Landscape Arch. It's quite a ways back in this pic so even though it doesn't seem that big, it has a huge span!

Anna and Emily getting sworn in as junior rangers. Christian usually does the junior ranger activities booklets too, but I guess has reached that age where he is just too cool to join the girls, lol.

The kids towards the end of the day with their awesome buddies. 

spring break at Arches! part 2

My photos look a little overcast but the weather was wonderful. A little chilly in the morning, but soon enough it warmed to mid 60's. Just right for hiking and enjoying the scenery without being too cold or too hot.

Emily plugging away at her junior ranger assignments.

"The Windows" arches.

"Landscape Arch"

I think this was a shot of the other side of part of the "The Windows" Arches.

spring break at Arches! part 1

Getting back to our spring break visit to Utah. After spending Easter and the next day with my parents and extended family, we drove down to Moab in search of sunny skies, warm weather, and beautiful scenery. All of which can be found at Arches National Park.

When we mentioned our idea to visit Arches as well as Canyonlands National Park, my parents decided to join us. So did my sister, Erin, and her family. My parents drove down in their own car. And my sister and her kids joined us later in the day because she was driving from Nevada.

Visiting national parks around the country is one of our favorite things to do when we travel. We try and complete the junior ranger activities at each park if we have time for it and we've found that our kids look forward to earning their junior ranger badges. Plus, through the years, it's been a great way for all of us to learn more about the parks.

We actually live in the dry, desert side of Washington state, but cactus is something we don't have. The kids especially enjoyed spotting prickly pear cactus around park.

In the morning we attended a ranger led walk/hike. We learned a lot about lizards because that was the ranger's focus. And though we are wearing jackets during the morning, the weather was mild and turned sunny and beautiful the rest of the day.

A few years ago we visited the park for the first time and made the mistake of visiting when it was July. The 110-115 degree temperature made that trip not so fun. Our kids would actually cry sometimes if we said we wanted to get out of the car to walk up to an information sign. Needless to say, we saw the park from the seats of our car, ha ha!

This trip was so much more fun! We went on several hikes to see various aspects of the park. My parents didn't join us for those parts but instead enjoyed photographing scenery around the park. We love that our girls are old enough now to walk or hike and for the most part don't complain or need to use the bathroom after 20 minutes. So much more you can see in a day that way!

my computer buddy

Crazy cat lady? I don't know what would make you think that. I just like to have a little kitty companionship now and then. 

crazy cat lady

When I was in Spokane Saturday, my friend and I stumbled upon a fun store called Boo Radley (do you know what famous book that name comes from?). It has a zany mix of joke books, crazy cards, novelty items, goofy gifts, and just silly stuff that makes you laugh out loud right there in the middle of the store. At least that's what happened to me! I was giggling so much at one point, I had to find a tissue to dab my watering eyes.

I just didn't realize that my cats needed a unicorn until now! And I just know they'd love it because the package says so right on it!

And this is just one of the most delightful things I came across. I'm regretting that I didn't buy this, just because I know it would make me laugh every time I saw this little group around my house. Or even better, I could hide this gal and her kitties in unusual cupboards around the house and try and freak Troy and my kids out.

Not that I in any way would have a resemblance to a crazy cat lady, right?

Right?

I only have two kitties. Two isn't crazy. Two cats are perfect! Now, three would be even more delightful. And four - just think of all the furry cuddles I could enjoy. And five...

Look into our eyes...you are getting very sleepy...you will do as we say...

Anna's big birthday party

Anna's party was a huge success! HUGE - meaning 17 crazy, adorable, giggly, awesome little girls took over our home for three hours and Anna loved every minute of it! It was absolutely the biggest party in our family's history of "friend" parties. We even helped Anna scale down the invite list but Anna just loves everyone and has so many friends at church, around our neighborhood, and from school that we just went with is. The list at one time was about 30 kids and there was just no way we could do that. So instead we had Anna limit it to the friends that were closest in age to her, the kids we see the most, or her closest friends.

Anna helped me plan out some fun party games, an easy dinner of pizza and fresh fruit, and shop for the goody bags. I loved that she wanted to be in on the planning of the details.

The party games we played were:
     *Three-legged-race
     *Name game (Starting with first person, you say your name and a food you like that starts with your letter. The next person says their name and their food and then repeats back what you said. It goes around the circle as the list gets longer and longer. It helps kids learn each others'  names quickly and the kids love to see if they can remember all the names and food. My name is Anna and I like apricots, Emily likes Eggos, Ruby likes Raspberries...)
     *Disney movie charades, Who Am I? (a Disney character is taped on your back and you have to ask a yes or no question to each other to guess who you are)
     *Four Corners (one person counts to ten with their eyes covered while kids run to one of the four corners of the room, then the person counting yells out a number and if you are in that corner, you are out. Game is played until there is one person left)
     *Keep the balloon in the air (it's just like it sounds, but always a hit, lol)

Giggly girls are just so fun to have around!

This pretty much sums up how the party went - loud and crazy, adorable and fun!!!

A few of the fun and creative gifts Anna received. Anna is the type that just loves gifts of any kind and she was in heaven. Her very kind and generous friends really spoiled her!