Moab and New Mexico

Sean gets 21 days of vacation a year so we try to spread it out. We decided to take 5 full days in August for a family trip. We had initially thought it would be fun to fly to Pennsylvania and New York to visit family, but flying a family of 5 back east just wasn’t in the budget this year=) We always drive through Moab on our way to and from New Mexico and we finally decided to visit. We knew it would be hot since we were going in August so we prepared ourselves. None of us have ever been there so we didn’t really know what to expect. We got down our hiking backpacks and prayed that Brett would want to walk since he weighs 41 pounds and is way to big for us to carry him, not to mention we needed to carry the girls.

We stuffed our van full and left on Monday morning. The kids did ok on the drive although they had both had way too much to drink in the morning and we had to stop A TON to go potty.

On our last rest stop we found some lizards called Western Skinks. They were so cute and the little ones had blue tails, we all had so much fun watching them.

We arrived in Moab a little to early to check into our hotel so we went to an ice cream parlor called Crystals cakes and cones.

Alana and I shared this pistachio cone:

She loved holding it!

Brett got rainbow sherbet:

Sean got a fudge brownie shake with giant chunks of brownie.

We went to our hotel and got a little unpacked. Alana was told she got to sleep on the couch bed which she wasn’t a fan of until Sean told her it was the magic bed. She thought I was going to sleep with her so insisted I stay till she fell asleep and then cried in the morning when I wasn’t there.

Lizzie immediately took advantage of the cozy beds:

We were planning to go to the local rec center that has a big pool, with slides and lots of water toys, but our hotel had a really fun pool so we opted to just play there. It was a really fun pool and the kids were so brave!

We left the pool about 6 and everyone was starving so we headed off to a restaurant called Zax. They had a pizza buffet with this really yummy crust that has honey in it. Brett and Alana devoured their pizza and Sean and I enjoyed the salad, soup, and especially the honey chicken pizza. You guys, they drizzled honey all over the pizza! We went back to the hotel and got the kids to bed. After they were asleep I told Sean we should watch a movie on the iPad since we never get to watch movies at home because we always have too much to do. We thought about it but decided we were just too tired so we went to sleep at 9:30, another thing we never get to do at home-it was glorious!

We woke the kids up early and had some yummy breakfast. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express because that is where we stayed on our honeymoon and they have really good breakfasts. They had biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage, and cinnamon rolls to name a few of the options.

We loaded up and headed down the road to Arches.

Here we are all ready to start.

We first hiked up to the Double Arch which was so breathtaking! Brett was a trooper and just kept walking and climbing. WE told him he earned the best climber award for our trip!

Alana loved riding in the pack and looking for all the different animals she could find.

She liked getting out too and climbing around a little.

Brett only rode in the backpack for about 5 minutes. Which is really good because he is way to big and way too heavy =) I was so proud of him for going the 4 miles with us by himself!

I was having a hard time holding Alana, so I asked Sean if we could trade. He put Alana on his back and then continued on with both girls for quite a long while! Our next stop was the window arches and then the Turret arch.

I just loved all the friendly people we met and the fun comments we would get about hauling our 3 kiddos up the hikes.

The maid made our beds with Brett and Alana’s stuffs:

After we refilled some water bottles at the hotel we headed out to a new dinosaur museum called Moab Giants for lunch and fun. Sean pointed out all these signs that show the different parts of the dinosaur that you could eat. I thought it was very funny!

The food was delicious. Sean and I both got wraps and the kids got a hotdog.

We shared this giant cookie with dinosaur tracks in the middle. It was really yummy!

I loved the Kokopelliis everywhere!

We bought a pass that gave us access to everything. We started with the outdoor playground. The kids thought about riding in one of these dino strollers but changed their minds.

The dinosaur was too hot so Alana wasn’t too pleased about being on top!

The play ground was really fun! I wish we could have stayed a lot longer than the 3+ hours we were there =)

We then went on this long trail that had all kinds of life size depictions of dinosaurs. The trail was long and hot but the dines were so cool and worth it!

There was a dig it out spot half way through where the kids looked for dino bones and Lizzie enjoyed guzzling down a bottle.

The kids got really tired so Sean took turns giving them shoulder rides. When we got to the very end, there was a T-Rex. Alana started growling like crazy at it and then told us that she thinks “it won’t kill us.” We went to the 3-D movie which was just a little 10 minute film on the beginning of the world and life on the earth. It was so funny because we came in and sat down and the worker said that the movie was just a big bang theory things and that the scientists had to get their word in somehow =) It was actually a great film and I thought it was very educational. I thought it was some of the best 3-d I’ve ever seen. We then went to a the new Paleo Aquarium. It was a fun walking exhibit where you where 3-d glasses and look at screens that look like tanks filled with giant underwater dinosaurs. It was SOOO cool. Maybe a little hokey, but really well done and lots of fun! The kids had dinosaur suckers and enjoyed every minute of it. Then we stopped at the actual museum to look around. Kids started melting down a little and it was time to go, so we stopped off at the gift show where Sean bought the kids some dinosaur stuffed animals. Brett got a T-Rex which he named Rex and LOVES. Alana got a purple dinosaur which she named Smart, Brave, and Strong, like her pajamas say =) The kids have played with those dines so so much! The Moab Giants was definitely their favorite part of the trip, they get giddy whenever we talk about it!

After the Dinosaur place we headed back to the hotel for some rest. My foot was really hurting and Sean had given me a blessing at the start of the day which I think is how I was able to do all that hiking and walking, but I thought some ice would help. I took a shower because I felt yucky. The kids and Sean started Inside Out and relaxed.

Lizzie got a bath in the sink to get some of the sunscreen off her little body:

We decided to go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, but when we got there it was closed. Not sure why since the hours said it should be open. We just drove down main street and ended up stopping at the Broken Oar. The food was really good and really expensive. Brett corndog was $8! I had a cobb salad and Sean had a cheeseburger, but we weren’t willing to buy dessert when Brett asked =) Luckily when we got back to the hotel they had hot cookies out for the guests =)

The next morning we loaded up the car and headed out for Los Alamos. The kids did so great on this leg of the journey. My favorite part is when they played with their dinosaurs and other toys for more than an hour together! They use these funny names like Budya and Dudya and Dinky dUbya. They are so funny! We hit a fun number, and caused more wear and tear on our car =)

Lizzie was a trooper but got pretty sick of her seat!

A thunderstorm welcomed us to White Rock which made Sean very very happy!

Mom and Dad P have been having their exterior relandscaped so it was lots of fun to watch all the workers!

Papa and Mimi got us a s’mores maker which we needed to use right away. Mom P and I ran over to Smiths and got stuck in a massive monsoon. We were both soaking wet when we got home, but we came with chocolate and marshmallows.

Brett found Brian’s old scooter in the closet and acquired it! He has been wanting one and we were going to get him one for his birthday, but this was so much better. We went on lots of walks, watched movies, played games, and just relaxed.

We went to the park:

Ate apples:

The kids made cookies with Mimi:

Read books:

took naps:

Found an elephant in another park:

rode the trolley in Los Alamos:

We got Hawaiin Shaved Ice which was AMAZING! Did you know it has ice cream at the bottom? Alana got cotton candy, Brett got strawberry, Mimi got black cherry, Papa got root beer, and Sean and I shared Horchata.

On Saturday we went to the temple which mom and dad P took the kids golfing! It was so wonderful to do a session! We got to do initiatory to start as well because we were doing some family names.

We went to Wecks for lunch, yum!

There was the most incredible double rainbow that night!

It was time for us to come home on Sunday and it was a remarkably smooth journey! The kids were amazing and we made really good time! WE stopped at Neil and Rebecca’s for dinner on Sunday then headed home to get back to normal life =( What a fun vacation it was!!

Getting wiggles out on the side of the road in some random town in colorado;)