The NEVERending...

Our camping trip out to Escalante was filled with spontaneous moments. After we were settled in we decided to take the kids on a little nature walk to see some petrified wood. It was suppose to be a nice little walk that ended up being a 2 mile hike up to the top of the mesa. The kids did fairly well and Cooper only got a ride a few times, luckily Vanessa helped out a ton with Ellie, since Brady was napping in the trailer. That night we celebrated Cooper's 2nd birthday with cupcakes and singing. The Heinekin's got him a super soaker and he held onto it all weekend. I can't wait to show him what it does. 

At the scenic overlook...

 Abby wanting to be part of our family photo...

Friday morning we got up and went over to fish off the dam. We didn't have much luck considering my kids only wanted to throw rocks into the water and reel the line in. Brady finally just put a bubble on the end of the pole and let Cooper reel away. When we got back the others had decided we should go down to Calf Creek Falls. I remember doing this hike a few times and wasn't to sure about all i knew is their was a lot of SAND. On the way there i was hoping the kids would fall asleep so we could skip it and take a nice drive instead, but that didn't happen. The hike started out great, then the kids got tired, they wanted to play in the sand, it was hot, and it just kept going and going. We would ask how much farther and each answer was different and longer than the first. They also had number pointing out different plants along the way, i was never more excited to finally spot #15 and then the falls!!! The kids played, laughed, and made mud pies, the adults on the other hand were realizing we were just halfway done!!! 

Here is Brady when we realized...

Luckily the hike back wasn't as long and I mostly just carried Ellie to be done quicker. We had a lot more shade, so that was nice. When we made it to the car i was glad to hear that instead of doing dutch oven we would stop in town, i think the adults were more worn out and ready for bed than the kids that night:)

Saturday we got up and headed out to Devil's Rock Garden for lunch. It's out in the desert and on the same road out to Hole in the Rock. It has huge sandstone formations the kids can hike and play all over. Ellie referred to it as the Rock Playground. The kids were in heaven, especially Abby and Ellie when they hid in some bushes waiting to jump out and scare Brady and Cooper. 

When it was time to go the Franks decided to head back and the Heinekins followed us out the Dance Hall Rock. Along the way we saw 2 cowboys herding cows and Chimney Rock, that was a marker along the route. I had no idea how far it was, but by the time  we had driven there we were only 27 miles from Hole in the Rock. Dave said it's only 27 miles lets keep going, so on we drove. Our kids were super, they took a few cat naps and after some car sickness and turning around from the Heine's our party finally made it!!! 

It was A.MAZ.ING to see in person, I couldn't imagine going down that drop in just a wagon or sending my kids walking down. I don't know how those pioneer's did it, but my gratitude for those pioneers grew in an instant!! We spent quite awhile there waiting for some sickness to pass and just enjoying the view. I also would really like to visit there again, but actually hike to the bottom of the canyon and come back up. It was one thing to go down a little, but seeing the blast marks and wheel marking would add a lot to the experience. 

These painting are by Lynn Griffin, my Dad's cousin,

and are at the monument just outside of town.

And this was our lovely view for 4 days!!!