Our First Trip To Red Rock Country

We went camping with some of our friends this weekend: Kevin, Cara, Heather, Tristam, Tom, Bob and Laura...Oh and we can't forget Sasha and Chelsea.  We headed down to Moab on Friday morning - what a boring drive!  We had to take both vehicles because we took the dirt bike and 4-wheeler along and that was pretty much all that fit in the back of Andy's truck!  I drove with the kids and gear in my car.  It's a lot of desert along Rt. 6, especially from Price to Moab, but that's why we got a bunch of movies from the library before we started our voyage!  (Some of these pics are mine and some are courtesy of Kevin)

We got to Moab around lunchtime and set up camp with the gang.  Kevin and Cara went down on Thursday and found some good campsites for us.  We camped on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) which is first come, first served as well as cheaper and more authentic for us hard core campers than a campground.  

This is our home away from home...You can see the Colorado River in the back on the right.

This was the view across from our campsite!

Kendall's playmates on our camping trip:  "Tom's ga gas" aka Chelsea and Sasha

I brought a few buckets and shovels for the kids to play with while camping.  Kendall discovered joy in filling her bucket with dirt and then dumping it all over herself and then wearing the bucket on her head like a hat...her fleece is supposed to be purple, but here in this picture, it's more brown than anything!

Kevin had rented a Razor to go exploring so he, Cara, Heather and Tristam headed out with Andy, Riley and Tom on their dirt bikes.  Andy took Riley on his the entire time.  Riley couldn't get enough of his dad's dirt bike!  I stayed back with Kendall while she took a nap.  In the meantime, Bob and Laura arrived and set up camp with us.

Riley and Kendall enjoying a pre-ride photo-op!

Riley and his good buddy Tristam

Andy getting back in his groove...He's got the itch bad now.  Planning his next riding trip is all he talked about last night.

Taking a much needed pit stop.  The air is even drier in Moab than it is in Salt Lake City!  Keeping hydrated is a must.

"Hey Dad!  Why are we stopped?  Let's keep riding Dad!"

When everyone got back, we made dinner and started our evening activities:  fire making, beer drinking story telling, and smore making.  

Kendall helped herself...she couldn't wait long enough for mom to cook her hotdog over the fire!

Kendall loved feeding Aunt Cara some chips and salsa

Enjoying Tom and Andy's pyrotechnic capabilities

Aunt Cara was a favorite on this trip!

Daddy's girl

Momma's girl

The next day, Kevin, Cara, Heather, Tristam and Tom decided to go see where the famous Thelma and Louis car scene took place via their atvs.  Bob and Laura went on a hike and Andy and I packed up the kids and headed to Arches National Park.  I wanted to see for myself the wonders of this unique state!

This is Balanced Rock inside Arches National Park.  Riley was amazed.  He thought it was really balancing there!

This is on our way to see the Delicate Arch

Almost there!  Riley and Andy hiked up to see through this little arch and were so excited to see Delicate Arch on the other side!

The view around Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

How cool are these rock formations?

We were afraid to let Kendall out of the backpack for fear she'd go rolling off the edge!

Andy thought this hole in the rock looked "Riley-sized"

Momma and her heavy load

Riley didn't understand right away why he couldn't play with the rocks...

Pretty things can grow in a desert

These colors were so bold in contrast to their surroundings

After our hike, the kids were worn out.  We headed back to camp in hopes of putting Kendall down for a nap and taking advantage of Kevin and Cara's offer to watch the kids so we could go for a ride by ourselves...something we haven't really gotten to do since we left Albany!  Wow, that's really sad now that I think about how long it's been!

Kendall made a few more boyfriends on this trip...She really enjoyed Bob's company!

Playing with Tristam who is like a big brother to both kids

Are they dissecting a lizard?

Kendall and her new boyfriend Bob.  She also took to Tom.  Tom's got the dogs which is a total chick magnet when it comes to my daughter.  She's been asking for Tom and his ga gas since we returned!  When we were hiking she kept telling me "Momma, Tommy's ga gas sleeping." 

We had so much fun and can't decided what toys we will take with us on our next trip to Moab...It's the perfect place for us - we can take my kayak, hike, ride our mt. bikes, ride our dirt bikes, camp, etc.  The most difficult part is that our kids are little so we can't be selfish and go explore on our own like we wish we could.  But that's part of life and we're grateful that we got the chance to go ride our dirt bikes together like the good old days.  We had so much fun and can't wait to plan our next camping trip.  Riley told me this morning that he misses camping already!  He didn't want to come home!

Ahoy Matey's! Captain Riley Turns 6!

ARRRRGGH!  It's Captain Riley's 6th Birthday and he's invited all his friends to be a part of his crew!  We had 10 kids plus Riley and Kendall on Saturday.  Kevin and Cara were able to attend the party as well - they were a fantastic help!  Kevin took all the pictures for me and Cara helped me with the kids.  Here is the invitation we gave to his buddies:

I used some distressing ink to make them appear old and worn like an old treasure map.  

We set up a "plank" for the kids and had foam swords for them to battle each other!

This was some our handsome looking crew.

To help them look more like pirates, we had them make their own pirate hats.  I had the foam fronts pre-cut for them and then gave the kids the skull & cross bones (cut from my cricut and then run through my sticker maker) and glue sticks to attach their feathers and sequins.  Then we stapled them to a construction paper ring around their heads -  next time I think I'll get some oaktag instead so it is less likely to rip.  We were jammin' to some pirate tunes while we were makin' our hats.  Each pirate also got some necklaces to wear, because what self-respectin' pirate wouldn't be showing off some bling from his/her lastest treasure!

For lunch, our menu consisted of pirate ship hot dogs (each one had a sail), gold coin chicken nuggets, cannon balls (grapes), goldfish, Pirate Booty, and grog (capri sun).

Riley and two of his buddies

Getting ready to go on a treasure hunt!  There was buried treasure in the house that the crew had to work together to find.  We originally planned for the party to be outdoors, but since Mother Nature forgot that this is MAY, she went and dumped some rain and snow on us so we were stuck inside for this activity.

One of the crew reading the next clue...

Getting closer to finding the treasure...

Found it!  Now to get their loot bags to divide their treasure.

The treasure was in the form of a pinata...

Again, since the weather didn't cooperate, we had to break open the pinata in the garage.  We blindfolded everyone and spun them around.  Andy had fun lifting the pinata up and down to challenge them even more!

Everyone was cheering for each buccaneer!

Isn't her little pirate costume adorable?

Another pirate trying his luck!

The cheering section with their loot bags, ready to spring into action when the chest gets broken open!

This little buccaneer did some serious damage to the pinata!

A piece or two started to fall out, but still no luck!

More good attempts

Will he be the one to crack it open?

Our last little pirate was the one who busted it open!  Everyone got a chance to hit the pinata!

TREASURE!  The crew filling up their loot bags!

Time for cake!  This is the pirate ship cake that I made for Riley for his party.  The ocean is a white almond flavored cake and the ship was a chocolate cake.  It had cannon balls (malted milk balls), powder kegs (rootbeer barrels) and cannons (chocolate candy).  The sand was made from brown sugar.  I was thrilled at how it turned out after the stress I went through on Friday with my first attempt.

Making a wish...For more LEGOS?

Every buccaneer got his/her own telescope in their loot bags as well as ring pops and pirate tattoos.

After cake, we gave each pirate their own bag of pvc parts to create their very own mini-marshmellow shooter.  I showed them how to do it, but Andy and Kevin were also helpful in offering assistance.

After the shooters were assembled, we took them outside (thankfully the sun decided to pop out at that exact time) and each pirate got a small bag of mini-marshmellows to try out their shooters.

Kendall getting some QT with Aunt Cara - by the way, she can say "Cara" now!

Kendall had more fun eating the marshmellows than trying to shoot them!

Andy was shooting them at the kids - he had as much fun as they did!

All in all, it was a great party.  The pirates were well behaved and seemed to enjoy themselves.  Riley had a blast and that was the most important thing.  We are thankful that he's made friends with some great kids.

Happy Birthday Riley!