Today Lily and I woke up exhausted because of our short night of rest. For breakfast, I made eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, oranges and orange juice for everyone. I forgot syrup for the pancakes and ketchup for the hashbrowns, but I think it still turned out to be yummy.
Then we headed out for our outings. In the car, Lydia took a picture of this cheez-it. She recently announced that she absolutely loves cheez-its so we have been buying them more. I’m so glad she had cheez-its on this trip. We accidentally didn’t pack her suitcase, and at first she was super distressed about it, so I’m grateful for every pleasure and comfort she did have on this trip.
Our first stop was Skyline arch. Clarissa was asleep in the car, so Lily stayed back with her while I took the kids. It was cold, around 40 degrees, but it was still really fun, and the scenery was gorgeous!
We then drove to Broken Arch. I should mention that like yesterday, today we also thoroughly enjoyed listening to Redwall in the car. Broken arch was perfectly sized hike, about 25 minutes each way. Lily suggested it and it turned out to be one of my favorite hikes I have ever done at arches. It was flat, and peaceful and still surrounded by magnificent rock features.
On the way back from broken arch, we branched off the trail to go to Sand Dune Arch. It had incredible rock features and a lot of beautiful smooth sand. Mary and Clarissa lingered with me to play while the others went to the car, but it eventually got very cold and windy and we didn’t stay super long. I didn’t get a picture of the actual Sand Dune Arch, but I got two cute videos of Clarissa and Ammon playing in the sand!
After Arches, we went to our favorite Moab restaurant, Pasta Jays. I’m pretty sure we have gone 3 times in the last six months. Mary especially loves it, which is especially adorable, because she orders the simplest thing on their menu (I believe it is just pasta with some butter or oil on it, no sauce). But Mary looooves Pasta Jays (as does everyone else). On the way in, she said to me, “Dad, why don’t we go to Pasta Jays more?” I said, “It’s a three hour drive.” To which she responded, “It’s worth it!”.
After Pasta Jays, we drove to the Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands and Lydia, Lily and I saw the grand view. The other three kids didn’t see the view. You’ll see why as you scroll down the pictures.
We then drove to the Yurt, and while Ammon and Clarissa entertained themselves with a phone, Lily, Lydia, Mary and I played Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza. I was deliriously tired, but still I had quite a lot of fun with my wonderful family. Lily and I loved watching Lydia and Mary have so much fun and laugh so much as we played. Our girls are so fun!
Lily and I slept incredibly soundly and woke up much refreshed in the morning.