Adventure Is Out There!

 Ruby explained it best:  "Our family gets so obsessive.  Araceli makes one good smoothie, and she's like, 'I should open a smoothie shop.'"  Scott had so much fun on last week's trip to Southern Utah that he messaged me the next day, "I'm planning fall break to Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon."  He didn't wait that long.  He went back down south the very next weekend.  It just makes sense that if you do something great, you should do it again as soon as possible.

Nikki and Clint watched our 3 little kids when we went to Hawaii, and this week it's our turn to reciprocate.  Everyone has been looking forward to a week of cousins, and Scott took the opportunity to plan a boys trip. Scott, our boys, Nikki's boys and Jake took off at 6 am Saturday morning bound for Arches, the closest national park to our house, and one of the most fun.  The other bonus about Arches is that Moab is right there, with a plethora of hotels to choose from.  Also, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point are close by for some variety.  And Price is situated at the midway point for gas and snacks.  It's really an ideal 4-hour drive.

 They made it to the parking lot!  Whoo hoo!  Excitement was high.  Scott was on a natural high or something, from the adrenaline rush of taking six boys hiking for the weekend.  They had the best time, and he kinda wants to go back ASAP.  Why not?  Fresh air, laughter and junk food.  Yes to all of that!  Freestone called me along the way to inform me of the rules that had been put in place for the trip:  No Swearing, No Farting and No Smoking Cigarettes in the Car.

Oh man.  I don't even like the "F" word (fart.).  Those were definitely boy rules!

 And yes, Boys Rule!

 Picnic in the park.

 Scott must have had the Jay Leno filter on this one.

 The hike to Delicate Arch is risky, and should not be attempted with little kids.  And then they got a bit lost, so they ended up "spider crawling," whatever that is, up a sheer dropoff of sandstone.  Great.  Later, Ptolemy said his favorite part of the trip was "almost falling off a cliff."  Boys need danger. It's a fact.

 Seriously, though, this is the trail to Delicate Arch.  You could just fall off.

 Jake pretending to hold up Simba.

 The boys told me they got stuck in that crevasse and couldn't get out.

 At the hotel, they got in the hot tub to soothe their hiking muscles, and had Cup o Noodles for dinner.  Scott sure the boys would love the idea of Cup o Noodles for dinner, and they did.  He went to the store and got each of them their own pint of ice cream, too.  Does it even get any better than that?

 Back at it again the next day with free breakfast!

 Then Dead Horse Point State Park.  They did a five-mile hike which took four hours.  After that, the kids were wiped out and wanted to go home, rather than doing Canyonlands.  That worked out great, as it was 3 in the afternoon.  Scott was impressed by the boys' stamina, especially 5yo Kip and 6yo Ptolemy. That's a big hike for those little legs!

 "Seeing" what it would be like to be blind on the hike.

 Kiptyn is so funny!  Look at that look on his face as he tries to trick his parents into thinking he's falling off a cliff!

 Scott:  "I love these plants!"  He's so smitten by the desert!

 "I love this tree!"

 Yeah...they didn't get close to any edges!

 It was a boys trip. Of course the shirts had to come off at some point.

The rowdy troupe paid a surprise visit to Golda in Orem on their way home.  Scott was such a hero to take all the boys and give them this adventure.  He said it was tiring, but easy when you get right down to it.  Step One:  get in the car.  Step Two: go.  It's really that easy, especially with a group of boys as wired for adventure as these guys.  They were fun.  And I'm glad they're ours!