Day: October 27, 2018

Arches National Park

Abe and I used to go to Moab and Arches National Park all the time because of his old job. But we realized recently that it’s been FOUR YEARS since we last visited! The last time we went, Lydia was just three years old, Mary was two, and Ammon and Clarissa weren’t even born.

Moab and Arches have such a warm spot in our hearts. On Saturday we finally visited them again. The drive there was beautiful, our hikes in Arches were peacefully nostalgic, and our dinner at our favorite Moab restaurant, Pasta Jay’s, was delicious–although it was, er, more expensive than I remembered. We used to go when Abe’s company paid for his part of the meal and all we had to pay for was mine, which I shared with the girls. Turns out it’s a lot different when we’re paying for two adults and three of our four kids!

Anyway, here are the pictures:

The descent into Park Avenue, our favorite family hike in Arches.

 

Mary runs in Park Avenue.
Mary stayed right by me for most of the hike. I loved spending time with her because lately she has been telling me that I love everyone else more than her. This hike was good for our relationship.
Our dreamy, creamy baby appreciating Arches.
A kind stranger spontaneously offered to take our photo.
The shadows were doing weird things with the kids’ faces, but I couldn’t spend any time trying to get a better angle because I was sure Ammon was going to fall off of the tree at any minute…
This photo of water and rock feels very biblical to me.
Even the ground of the trail is arresting.

Mary gave me this flower, which was very illegal and very sweet. Also, I have been reading about camera shake, and here it is! It is so fun to learn about photography–even in pictures where it is especially obvious that I am learning.
Abe and Clarissa are in love. Here Abe is rocking Clarissa to sleep while she stares adoringly into his eyes. I know, I know, it’s too sweet. But, also, it’s real.
Lydia completed her whole junior ranger book on this one hike.

We went to see delicate arch next. The kids were all so tired that they initially didn’t want to get out of the car and see the arch, but when we told them it was their school logo, they got out of the car and walked the short walk to see it.

We finished by hiking to double arch. These short hikes took us a looooonng time because Clarissa wanted to walk and the kids stopped a lot. Either they wanted to play in the sand or they asked me to take their picture. All of the pictures below were per their requests:

 

 

I have a photo of two-year old Lydia playing in the sand not far from where this shot was taken. I freaked out when I saw her playing in the exact same position five years later.

Then I gave the camera to Abe so he could take some photos of double arch while I stayed behind with Clarissa, who was so hungry she was stuffing pebbles into her mouth. I couldn’t photograph her and keep her mouth rock-free at the same time.

Abe took this great photo of double arch.

 

He got this picture of the kids in the arch.

After our hike to double arch, we headed to Moab so the kids could get their their ranger badges because the visitor’s center was closed.

Reciting the junior ranger pledge.

We also wanted to eat at our favorite Moab restaurant, Pasta Jay’s. I did take a minute to wonder what it would be like to just go to dinner here with Abe and without having to deal with the chaos children generate, but then I realized my kids were actually behaving really well. I’ll keep them.