keeping fit

i did a glow run with some friends from church.

the atmosphere was a lot of fun and it was cool to see a stream of glowing lights moving through the darkness. BUT it was also NOT great not being able to see were you were stepping. my friend really hurt her ankle, and i saw someone else fall over. jury is undecided if i would do it again... maybe with a headlamp....

 we took a bike ride with b and c one day. rode about 11 miles. i didn't realize there was a small downhill grade until we turned around to come back. needless to say, coming back was slightly harder than the way there. lesson learned.

 we were almost back to the car when i spotted a park, b and c were happy to go and play.

a few other things

my kids are seriously so impressed with the tumbleweeds here. this one was huge.

 we got to have lunch with the kids at their school.

pretty fun!

 k enjoyed a human size hungry hungry hippo game

 the kids have been soaking up the sun and having lots of picnics outside.

yeah for sunny blue skies!

here chick chick chick

so, first off, i love going to costco. my hubby says it's my favorite store. i think he's right. one day while shopping there, we saw a chicken coop. we thought the kids would love that. c's parents have chickens and my kids love going there and getting the eggs. C called around and found a store right down from our house that had just gotten in a shipment. done. we bought the coop and let the kids each pick out a chick. 

we have an assortment of names- honey lemon, beaker, blood beak and rosie. i think 2 are nameless.

kids couldn't be more excited. neither could parents- kids have stopped asking for a dog ;)

 the chicks are still in the garage keeping warm, but the kids have made full use of the coop.

on a side note, i found my favorite noodles that i thought i could only get in pa- yeah albertsons. if only they carried friends from pa too-we'd be set ;)

we've been getting some painting done. using mostly his right hand.

moab

4 days after we got home from utah, we headed back to meet up with all my siblings and their kids in Moab. it was an amazing time.

here are some pics, in a completely random order.

fun things about moab- red rocks, swimming, dirty hot tubs, being with cousins, cooking out, sand everywhere (not necessarily fun), gaining to friendships with cousins, c wanting to walk every step and being her normal independent 3 year old self, night hikes, slot canyons, my brother who waists no time, questioning my brothers navigational skills as we drove further and further away from moab on dirt roads, my dad being  a trooper and hiking with bad knees, playing in sand in devil's garden, laser lights at other camps, j being up and ready for anything, s'mores, fire grilled cobbler (i wouldn't suggest it...), lots of fun times. can't wait for next year.

 this cute girl was filthy by the first hour of hiking in arches. she loved making sand angels

 grandpa hiking with grandkids in devils garden.

this was the group who we didn't necessarily want to scale up the rock face.

 here C is pouting. probably because i kept asking her to stay on the trail

 this is where we spent 1 1/2 hrs while waiting for everyone to return from more intense hiking.

it was a perfect sandy shady spot.

the kids had so much fun!

 windows

 windows was the perfect place for our kids to climb and play around.

I think this was G's favorite spot

 this was our entire hiking mob.

we randomly met my cousin, husband and 4 kids in moab- so they met up with us on saturday as we explored places that were more off the beaten path.

it was so much fun!

 C kept wanting to stop and have little picnics with me. it was pretty cute

 C hiking with K and one of her favorite cousins

 the slot canyon we almost missed because we thought we had made it and decided we were tired of trying to carry/drag/coerce the little kids through 5 inches of hiking in sand.

 luckily, we continued on, it was amazing

 makes me grateful for a heavenly father who created such an amazing landscape for us to enjoy

 coming into moab. loved the sun coming up and shining on the red rocks

 my brother got to moab friday night, he promptly took his kids and anyone who wanted to join him on a night hike to delicate arch. J was the only one who was game. they got back about 11:30pm. 

she was an amazing hiker.

best part of saturday night. all the cousins squished into one hot tub (funnily, the only warm one of the two that were there).

there were 3 other groups who 'attempted' the other one, but after a quick dip in with their toe, they left.

 i guess moab is the place to be. 

while at windows, we stumbled upon my friend from 3 yrs old til high school. 

 this girl goes hard, when she crashed, she crashes.

a great family trip.