Labor Day Adventures

We met up with pretty much my whole family for a southern UT camping experience. I love camping and we do not go often enough. It was a bit more than we reckoned with 4 children under 6 yrs old including a full time nurser (she did pretty well considering) and a potty trainer escape artist (the real challenge).We did have some extensive creature comforts. . . we borrowed Scott's brother's tent; I call it the castle. We even found a spot with a tire swing and horseshoes (I totally couldn't believe that). This was a new set of outdoor arrangements that what I am accustomed to (I am more of a backpacking type which is a bit scaled down and more difficult with very young children). I am just glad that we got out into the dirt and rocks...something wonderful about that.

I just love this shot of E with her teeth missing. L found an old log which quickly became his car, train, plane, etc. He was giving rides for anyone interested.

We started by hiking around Moab and in Arches NP. The kiddos were pretty good sports. I splurged and got everyone there very own waterbackpack so that I would not have to carry sufficient water for all . . .and they loved them so much that we all stayed adequately hydrated to our ultimate relief (pun intended).




We spent a few hours at wall street and E,S,and L all were fantastically excited about rock climbing. They did GREAT!! I was so happy that we have graduated from just hanging/swinging on the rope. They all climbed right up the wall. . .WAY UP the wall!!

The problem was in getting them back down. The rope was sticking a bit, and they just didn't weigh enough for gravity to do it's job. We finally figured out to tie a rope on the back of the harness so that we could pull them back down off the rock when they were through. It was a good opportunity for them to practice walking backwards down the rock so it ended up being a perfect climb. I am so happy that we are almost to the stage when we can plan real rock climbing trips and actually all have fun together!!!