Spring Break was April 1-5 and we got to do some fun stuff as a family.
On the 2nd, Abby, Casey, Liev and Naomi met us at Thanksgiving Point deli for lunch, and then Abby & Liev came with us into the Butterfly Biosphere! All the kids really wanted a butterfly to land on them, so it was pretty entertaining watching them all pursue them. Unfortunately our kids are too adorable for butterflies to land on.
On the 4th, we left in the morning for Goblin Valley! Neither the boys nor I had ever been there before, so we thought it would be fun to go visit. The drive wasn't too bad and the boys watched a couple movies until the scenery changed drastically. Once we got into Goblin Valley, we were all so amazed by all the structures. I told the boys they were real and not made by Disney. Ha ha! But really, this was the ultimate playground for kids.
I'm not going to pretend that I was encouraging of the boys climbing as high as possible, because I was scared out of my mind and tried SO SO SO hard to be chill. And for the most part, I feel like I did okay. At least for this first day.
Like right here, I'm praying that no one falls.
And here.
Such a cool view though!
I'm not going to explain this one other than the fact that Dave and I are insanely immature and major dorks.
Just an FYI, I made sure Cruise wore a neon color because SO. MANY. TIMES. I lost him.
"Smile and then let's get down."
At some point in the day, Cruise randomly made a friend and they followed each other everywhere, which was awesome. Cruise got to practice some conversational skills and also enjoyed having someone who shared the same interests in drawing and graphic novels.
At this point, Cruise HAD to hike over to an area in the mountain that he called a "temple" and so that's what we did. Luckily, the weather was absolutely perfect and even a little windy.
This is the "temple" Cruise had to march us to. I almost died from anxiety. Like, FREAKING OUT. But I'm also trying to be the adventurous, "let them explore" kind of mom, and so a HUGE war of emotions brewed and all I could do was sit there at the bottom, take pictures, and worry, and occasionally yell out "BE CAREFUL!" Ha ha!
Also, Miles lost his (my) Dodgers hat here at the "temple" and we didn't realize it until we were almost back to the car. He was pretty upset about it and I was sad, but I told him it's just a hat and that we'd get him a new one at the gift shop when we went to Arches the next day.
If you look closely, you can see me in black in the center of this photo. That was me waiting for someone to fall to their death from the "temple" so I could collect their lifeless body.
Luckily no one died and we made it back to the car in one piece.
After we explored and played, we started to get hungry for dinner, so we started our drive to Green River where we got a room at the nicest hotel they had which was a Comfort Inn, which was actually not that bad aside from their indoor pool that wasn't heated and the overcrowded (thanks to the freezing pool) hot tub that desperately needed a good cleaning. But they had nice rooms and free breakfast, so really that's all that mattered. As long as we didn't have to camp.
That morning after breakfast, we packed it up, checked out, and drove south east to Arches!
If it looks like I'm tired and emotionally frazzled...it's because I totally am.
We got to Arches and we went into the visitor's center to buy Miles his hat, which of course led to us buying all sorts of crap for the kids. But I mean, let's be honest, I don't really know when we'll be coming back and technically this goes under the "vacation" spot in our "budget. And by budget I mean that little voice in my head that tells me we've spent too much this month.
This picture we had to take from the car because we couldn't find a parking space because everyone and their grandmother decided to go to Arches over Spring break.
We finally found a parking space by Double Arch! The last time Dave and I were here was back in 2006 about a week and a half after our wedding. So it's been awhile.
Now, I want to preface this by saying, we were here to see DOUBLE ARCH. Like this thing in the picture above that shows two arches. Yeah, instead, they veered to the right and went to explore a more exciting and dangerous area, because they hoped to see me completely lose it.
Up this mountain that is mostly loose rocks and dirt.
Into this cave area where anyone could fall off a cliff and break their necks.
And so I'm just hanging out half way up the loose rock and dirt incline ready to help the boys down because, you know, I've put a lot of work and investment into these children and it's not like I can make another one anymore, so yeah, high stress moment for me. And of course they're just walking around like it's no big deal. And so, here you have two complete extremes in caution levels.
I know I'm probably overreacting, but at the same time,
am I?
So finally we got them down and I herded them back to the double arch area.
I just want to also note that this entire trip, Miles WOULD NOT listen to me. He WOULD NOT hold my hand or take any direction from me. So when we're dealing with cliffs and a 5 year old with pigeon toes and no sense of danger, who refuses to do anything I say, I'm not the most easy going person. Ya know?
As soon as we get to the Double Arch, Dave and Cruise randomly disappear and I'm left with Jett, though helpful, is also just enjoying stuff on his own, and the 5 year old who refuses to do anything I say. So of course he wants to do what Jett does, and so he climbs up to the window of one of the arches and proceeds to climb up an 85 degree angle cliff. And he's so small and quick, that I have to follow him up to be sure he, you know, doesn't die. So we get to the window and these are the two pictures I got while in the middle of a panic attack. Like I legit thought we were all going to die. Jett just climbs down without any trouble, and I am left trying to get Miles and myself down. It took about 10 minutes to get down a 7-8 foot cliff. I couldn't see Dave anywhere and got no cell service (later met him at the car and found out he had taken Cruise to go to the bathroom), so part of me just assumed Miles and I were going to die up there. But we got down. And it was at that point that I was ready to just go home.
But...next up was the Delicate Arch! Let's just say I remained quiet most of the time aside from the frequent reminders to the boys (and Dave) to be careful. I knew I was going to have to suck it up and do it, and I was going to try to enjoy it, but really, I was just going to make sure everyone was safe and that the boys enjoyed it. So, yeah, it wasn't as fun (or quick) as I remember it being when I was 20.
Poor Dave ended up carrying Miles a lot of the way.
We finally got to the Delicate Arch and I think I was so dizzy from my anxiety med (yes, I took one and no, it didn't work), that I felt like if I tried to walk along the bowl, I would fall down it, and therefore we all would. I wanted everyone to just sit and look at it, not go walking down to it. Which, of course, they did.
This is them hugging the arch. A picture Dave took because I was faraway taking a picture of all of them under the arch like a weanie.
Cruise was really interesting to watch this whole trip because he had boundless energy and after hiking down from the Delicate Arch, he suggested we go up again. He was quite the hiker and I think it was in part because he sees things others don't. Like this rock here. Most people look at it and see a rock to step over in the middle of a path, but he sees what type, the sparkles in it, the question of how old it could be and what the rest of the mountain looks like underneath. So any hike or adventure turns into a completely different experience when you see it from his perspective. An example that I could really follow.
After we came down and got in the car, we began our drive home. I was sore, tired, but mostly emotionally wrecked. You know that whole saying, "I can do hard things"? Although it is still true for me, it's more like, "I can do hard things...but just barely."
And that was Spring Break.
