Moab, continued

More fun in the sun...discovered Sand Dune Arch yesterday. It's a 0.2 mile hike partway between huge vertical slabs of sandstone and ending in an arch over a big hill of very soft sand. Lots of shade, more lizards and one small snake in the rock wall, and very pleasant. We hung out about an hour while the kids played and played in the sand. Like the beach without any water, more shade, less wind and of course the amazing huge slabs of sandstone representing eons of erosion.

Afterward we went out on a limb and did a 0.6 mile hike out to Broken Arch, which is not broken as far as I can tell. The prickly pear cacti were blooming, lots of different colors - yellow, pink, white - and many other flowers graced the trail in bright yellow and purple. There was more greenery than usual, I think because of the recent rains. We carried the kids part of the way but our plot to wear them out worked - again they took a very deep nap after lunch. Ahhh...

The quote of the day was Sam's - he reliably denies any questions about whether his diaper may be poopy. Bryan asked, "Sam, why do you always lie about having a poopy diaper?" and immediately Sam replied, "Becuzzz...I...WUV you!!"

The pool was not very warm our first couple days here, but they must have fixed it because last night it was very comfortable - MUCH warmer. We brought all our pool toys. Alex is really very independent in the water now - as long as she has her life vest - she likes to zoom all around on her own and jump in all by herself. The first time I saw her head go all the way under I thought, "Well, this should be interesting," but she came up grinning from ear to ear. She is ready for swimming lessons - wish I could teach her but I'd really like her to learn to swim. :-)

Sam is just getting used to floating on his own, but isn't as adept as Alex yet - he rolls in the life vest and his face goes right in the water. He does love holding on to his inflatable ring though, and gets mad if we try to hold on to him. Every day the pool is a highlight. There is sand in the bottom of it but I guess this is Moab, where people come off the trails and bring it in with them.

fun in Moab

Vacation in Moab. FUN!

Will need to post pictures later - currently they are trapped in the camera in the same room as 2 sleeping kids.

I don't think we've been here since before Alex. We've enjoyed surprisingly mild temperatures (50's to 80's) and some equally surprising afternoon rain showers. Refreshing. This morning we took the kids on their first hike in Arches, exploring the Courthouse Wash. It's a soft sandy creekbed next to a canyon wall - shade and trees much of the way - and we really had a great time. Alex loved it, loved squishing the red mud between her toes, walking in her bare feet, chasing lizards and tadpoles and water striders, and playing in the mud and sand while telling me long, involved imaginary stories. She did not like the live crawdad Bryan picked up, though. Sam, suprisingly, was pretty squeamish about the mud and wanted to be carried a lot of the way. WTH? Since when does Sam care about getting his feet a little wet? Go figure.

Anyway, we also explored the Ranger Station where we got to imprint Play-Doh with animal tracks and play with various types of rubber animal poop. We even brought the plasma cars and ranger station has a nice patio perfect for zooming around on them. After all that sun and fun, Sam actually stayed in his seat during most of lunch. :-) We got pineapple sorbet and browsed the used bookstore, where, incredibly, I found a used hardback illustrated (animated comic-book style) story of the "Robin Hood of Korea." It's over the kids' heads now, but they will probably like it when they're older. The author grew up in Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries and studied Korean painting...what a find for Moab. We bought some other books and went back to the hotel room and both kids drifted away looking at their new books.

The pool here was advertised as "heated" but if it is, it's not very warm. Well, other than that we can't complain. The hotel serves us fresh baked cookies every afternoon and a continental breakfast every morning. So far, fabulous.