A Quick Spring Break in Utah

Drew needed to have another follow-up appointment for his eyes over spring break, and we didn't need much of an excuse to make it a full family excursion.  We left Tuesday after work and drove to Cortez, CO to spend the night with cousin Whitney and her family.  We got in late (by child standards), so it was straight to bed that night, but we got to visit with Whitney and her kids a little bit the next morning over breakfast.  I love that I married into a whole other family of awesome cousins!  After breakfast we loaded up and headed off to Canyonlands.  Merrick's at that wonderful age where all you have to do on long drives is feed him a book every half hour or so and he just reads to himself in adorable coos and jibberish.

On the way to Canyonlands I discovered that the tomato seedlings that I had brought with us in the car so they wouldn't die in our empty house had frozen to death in the night, since I'd forgotten to bring them inside.  This was, of course, regrettable, but it was absolutely earth shattering for Vivien.  It soured her mood for pretty much the rest of the day, which is generally how things go with our dear Vivs.

 But undaunted, still we proceeded to a good hiking spot.

 We opted for the Slickrock Trail, and our weather could not have been better.

 The trail guide promised our path would cross uneven surfaces, which we knew our little climbers would enjoy.

Plenty of nooks and crannies for exploration amidst the geological wonders.  

 And we were also promised 360 degree views, which we started getting not 5 minutes into the hike.

 The hike had several turn offs to walk out for better views.  The La Sal mountains looked like a Princess Crown.  Vivien approved.  (Rafe has grown SO MUCH recently.  They're almost the same size!)

 Momentarily, anway.

 Then she remembered her poor shriveled tomatoes...

...and the stupid mom who killed them.  You might have to zoom in to get the full effect of that scowl intended for me.

It was an engaging trail, marked by cairns.

 Rafe became our master cairn spotter.  Here he is posing with one, the Needles in the background.

He can be really fun, when he wants to.  

 Annie did pretty well on the hike...

 ...but she is slow, so she got carried a lot.

 We stopped at what seemed a good spot for a little snack.

 Then we continued on our merry way.  I knew the trail was a loop, but at this point we started to go in unexpected directions.  Most worryingly, directions that did not lead back to the car.

Drew and I were starting to worry we had somehow met up with a trail that would lead us, 4 small children, a single water bottle, and half a bag of Craisins into the farthest reaches of Canyonlands, but when I ran ahead with my elf eyes to divine our path, I ran into some hikers that informed us we had just gone the wrong way.  How can you go the wrong way on a loop?  Turns out the trail starts on the tail of a Q, and when we got to the circle of the Q, somehow we turned left instead of right.  The other hikers gave us their extra trail map for good measure.  

There were four impressive lookouts on our way.  At the first one, I made the kids climb up on that big rock behind Rafe for a really good view, and even though they had been boastfully scrambling up everything they could see for the whole hike, they got spooked on the way up that particular rock and spent the few minutes on top yowling and flattening themselves to the surface in fear instead of enjoying the view.  

 I think it was probably the drop that set them off.  I admit my heart was thumping pretty loud and fast for this picture.  "I am a mortal, and liable to fall!"

 They were happy to move on.  We found some Indian Paintbrush.

 And a small village of cairns, which Vivien and Annie joined and Rafe did NOT.

 This was Viewpoint #2 (the 3rd one we saw, because we went backwards).  I actually liked it better from this angle anyway.  You'll have to zoom in to see the triumphant hikers with arms outstretched.

 Coming back to the trail.

 Here's where we missed our turn.

 When we got back to the car we let Merrick stretch his legs for a bit.  He promptly fell and bashed his head in the gravel.  Still a bit unsteady on uneven ground.

 On the way back out we admired Wooden Shoe Arch (can you spot it below?), then we met up with the highway and finished our drive to Grandma's house.

In the morning Drew went to his appointment and the kids and I went to play at Tia Kate's house.  While the little cousins ran wild we did an exercise video together (we've been doing Mountaineering Monday workouts together over FaceTime, but it was fun to be in the same physical location), then we went outside to admire the yard and we chatted while we weeded.  Then Mom and Coco came over, and Kate went to pick up Sarah and Co., then Haley showed up after work, and it was idyllic to sit in the sunshine on Kaitlyn's deck with so many people I love so well.  When we had to leave they walked to the park.  Sisters are the best.

 That afternoon we all squeezed into the car to drive up to the Jordan River Temple Open House.  There really isn't enough space for an adult sized person to sit between the two car seats in back.  Well, there wasn't.  Now there is because I bought Rafe a new booster seat.

 My pretty Vivs hamming it up.

 Merrick doing the opposite.

I love the windows in this temple.  In all temples really.  There were some really cool paintings inside too.  Notice Rafe posing so cooperatively for this picture.

 The little man and his Daddy walking back to the car afterwards.

 That night the kids played enriching games with Grandma Paula. 

 And Vivien posed in this funny thing that had been decorating Grandma Paula's door at school.

  

On Friday we went over to Nana and Papi's for breakfast and some play time while I went to a cello lesson with Shauna Bowman (which was awesome.  We just played duets together.  She says the only thing better than one cello is two, and I agree!).  Holding the bunnies:

 Riding the self-propelling trikes:

 Hanging out in the new and improved "tire" swing:

 Bucking bronco on the tramp:

After that we went to Coconut Cove with Papa Mark to celebrate Rafe's birthday (again!).

 The kids had a great time running, climbing, throwing, and sliding.

 When we got back Grandma Paula had put out exciting balloons and a birthday sign, and we had Pizza Friday and ate cake.  I had gotten a giant cake at Costco which we ate maybe a fourth of.  Good thing Nana, Coco and Rex came to help us out, and that Jessie was there to take it back to all those hungry college students at BYU afterward.  During the course of the evening we noticed Vivien had disappeared.  We found her on her bed crying.  I asked her what was wrong and she choked out, "I just don't feel very loved right now."  Because it was not her birthday, of course.  Here they are finishing Stuart Little before bed:

 This picture is blurry, but look how cute they are, sharing the bed in their favorite room to sleep in at Grandma Paula's house.

 In the morning we woke up and went back to Nana and Papi's for breakfast casseroles (and more of the nummiest breakfast treats you can imagine) and an Easter Egg hunt.  Vivien and Rafe were required to give Papi a high five after every egg found, to make it fair.  Look how well Rafe did.  He totally had his hand on this egg...

 ...but he let Annie have it...

...and was quickly off to find more!

 It was a grand hunt.

 We watched Conference all day.  That morning was the solemn assembly to sustain Russel M. Nelson as our new prophet.  I did manage to drag Vivien and Rose out of the room where the Barbie Box was for a few minutes so they could stand and take part with the general body of the church.  Vivien's not sure about President Nelson.  She prefers President Monson.  I told her President Nelson will probably grow on her.  That night while boys were at Priesthood Session, Haley and Kaitlyn whipped us up a Thai curry feast with sweet sticky mango rice to top it off.  Sooooo delicious!  Too delicious for pictures.

Afterwards we went back to Grandma Paula's to put everyone to bed.  There was a cool moon that night that Paula encouraged everyone to go look at as she was walking out of the room.  Jessie got up to look, then Paula came back in and started locking up for the night, not knowing Jessie was outside.  There was an indignant knock on the door a moment or so later.  It was funny!  Jessie and I stayed up late into the night, talking about great and terrible college-y things.  She is a gem!  But then it was Sunday, and we had to go home :(  I think it's the shortest trip I've ever made to UT.  I'm not sad we went, but I wish we could have stayed a bit longer!  On Monday morning I sent Vivien to school, forgetting that they didn't actually go back to school until Tuesday.  She was thrilled to get to come home and have one more day off.  Poor Drew still had to go to work though.  Watching movies on the iPad in English, then in Spanish.  Inside Out is a great car movie.