Utah Trip: Family, Arches, and Goblins

We rolled into Utah on Wednesday afternoon and immediately ate Cafe Rio and stopped by Trader Joes.  We ended up not squeezing all our TJ food into suitcases so that was a wasted trip, but tonight we ate chicken with their yellow curry sauce, and it's possible the meal made up for the 20 minute inconvenience.

Cory and Kristen graciously offered us about 50% of their enormous house, which we somehow filled right up with our gobs of laundry and suitcases.  Kristen also watched our kids while I tried to keep up on a run with Brady.  The kids were so happy reuniting with cousins again on this trip.  We had the "Utah conversation" about a dozen times while we visited and a dozen times since.  It's hard living away from family.

We went to Kathie and Lee's for dinner that night.  We love them so much.  They've watched out for us since we were newlyweds.

The next morning after a fun run with Kristen, we picked up Kneaders and met Zachary's birth mom at the park to play soccer.  She was a soccer star in high school and it was fun to see her really challenging Zachary, even in her work clothes.  We loved catching up with her and we feel lucky to have an open relationship with her.  

Every time I see them together, I think Zachary looks even more like her.

A rare sighting of O sleeping on this trip.

We did a little shopping, Brady went to the gym, and we hung out with cousins in the later afternoon.  That night, we went to dinner with Cory and Kristen at Tsunami, one of our favorite places in Utah.   My mouth waters looking at these pictures. So ono.

At 5:45am, Kristen had my try my first barre class.  Between new workouts with Kristen and Angela on this trip, I was sore for days and convinced that I need to try some new fitness routines.

We left for southern Utah a couple hours later.  When we plan our Utah vacations, it's important to us to include something outdoorsy and memorable.  We spend a lot of time visiting family, which is the most important thing, but we don't get the luxury of summer trips like most mainlanders.  We have to squeeze those into our family trips.  It was awesome that Kristen and Cory and Scott and Natalie's families agreed to join us for this quick, southern Utah adventure.

I asked the kids and Brady for their top 3 experiences of vacation.  This little lunch at our hotel before our hike in Arches made his list.  It was so charming, and Kristen even thought to bring a tablecloth and onions for the sandwiches.  That was going many extra miles in my book.

The afternoon was in the 80s and a stark contrast to our chilly Colorado temperatures.  The kids were good sports and rarely complained, and the hike was topped off by partially frozen Poweraids, courtesy Kristen.  I usually don't like sports drinks but that was the second-best tasting drink ever.

Rachel and Ellie doted on Kate the entire time we were in Utah.  My heart ached with gratitude watching the kindness and affection they gave her.  

Zachary couldn't stand any time we were away from cousins, and his relationship with Walker was hilarious.  Those two are chased each other around, built Lego robots, slid as fast as they could down the stairs, played with the dogs, and showed each other up on the hover board.  You'd think the age difference would play a factor or Zachary would see Walker as quite a bit younger, but it didn't seem like that when they played together.

Delicate Arch:

People were lining up to take this photo (of themselves, not us).  Looking at it now just makes me laugh and laugh, since you can barely tell anyone is in it!

Love the group shots, and so does Kate (making a heart).

Kate, Rachel and Ellie did a handshake/dance for us they had practiced in the car in preparation for this big moment at the arch.

The kids didn't have it in them to do more hikes late in the day, so we got out and looked at a few arches closer to the road.  They were excited to spot a huge black widow spider while exploring around these arches.

That night, we met up with Scott and his kids.  No place was still open but by our hotel, so we ordered take out and the kids swam.  Cousins are so fun.  This order from Zachary is also so fun.

After another quick run with Kristen in the morning, we all met up for breakfast at the hotel.  Our family looked like a hot mess with Owen blowing out his diaper and spitting up everywhere, Kate spilling her hot cocoa, and some other silly disaster I can't even remember now.  Sometimes three kids feels like a lot of kids, even when you are hanging out with people who have four and five kids.

We packed up and headed to Goblin Valley.  This was my first time and Brady's first time here, which is surprising because we've both been so southern Utah so many times.

According to Zac, this was the excitement of Goblin Valley, Blake's drone.  He stood with his head kinked back for half an hour.

Kristen accurately described this place as a huge playground.

So much running, so much exploring.

So many smiles.

So many exclamations, "COME HERE!  YOU'VE GOTTA SEE THIS!"

We have a lot more pictures of Kate because she isn't a super fast, 8-year-old boy.  She was plenty excited to explore and run and pose, though.

Ah, here he is.  We only caught glimpses when he needed something.

At one point, the kids and adults climbed into a cave.  We had fun eating crackers and feeling like we were enjoying a truly unique experience together.

Besides climbing, running, and jumping all over the natural structures, the kids also stayed busy hunting for "crystals."  Zac filled the pockets of his brand new board shorts with them and looked lopsided all day.

After several hours, we ate lunch at the picnic tables above and felt lucky that the dust storm we got hit with came after we came up from the valley.  Our slot canyon hike planned for after lunch was canceled with the weather but we had enough good fun with goblins to count the trip as a success.

Like mother, like daughter.

We drove back to Heber, stopping at Wendy's for a Frosty and a chance for Owen to poop all over Scott.  Scott was holding him and it was like a slow-motion, yellow waterfall.  It was moment number 15 that I was annoyed Brady unpacked my Oxyclean while slimming down our luggage.

We stopped in Provo at Bombay House, very possibly my favorite restaurant in Utah.  It's been many years since I've eaten there, and oh, how I miss that savory food.

Getting to Mom and Dad's and seeing them in person after two years was a major highlight of the trip.  I loved seeing their reactions to baby Owen.

More Heber to come!