The Surprise Trip to Moab . . .

I found out a couple of weeks ago that my brother H.B. was coming to Utah with his family and since his wife, Karen, and kids (Mia, Mae, and Maddie) have never been to Southern Utah, the course was set.  H.B. treated us to a week of adventuring in Moab.  (Read: Shrimp Boat.)  Casey needed to work, so we left him in Salt Lake. Poor guy.

Wednesday morning, we hiked up Negro Bill Canyon.  Casey told me it was a sweet hike, but I'd never done it, and since the trail followed a spring-fed stream to the sixth largest arch in the country, I knew that it had to be done.  The trail was gorgeous from beginning to end.  Look at the dreamy scene below:

Zeke hiking up the Negro Canyon Trail to Morning Glory Arch.

The weather was mild and warmed up with the afternoon sun and the changing leaves in the canyon were brilliantly beautiful.

H.B. with 6 month old Maddie.  This baby is so ridiculously cute that she literally stops people in their tracks.  Everyone who sees her says, "She looks JUST like a little doll."

I brought along my collection of magnifying glasses so that we could "science" (we use that word as a verb in our family) along the way.  Arden, my nephew, was feeling it, but every cousin got in on the sciencing action and there was a rush to see who would get the magnifying glasses each hike.

Zeke following his beloved cousin, Arden, along the Negro Bill trail.

Is that not incredibly gorgeous?  The weather was PERFECT!!  Autumn in Southern Utah is supreme.

Zeke, staging to throw in another rock.

Mom passes Mae Mae to Karen over one of the many stream crossings.  Often we'd miss a stream crossing and dead end on the trail, forcing us to back-track to find the right way.  (I enjoyed it.)

Zeke, riding atop a giant boulder under Morning Glory Arch.  The arch is the sixth longest in the country, spanning a whopping 243 feet.

More sciencing.  We'd been properly warned about poison ivy in the environs under the arch, so we kept careful watch.

H.B. (Uncle Beezer), showed the kids how to drink right form the spring, "Kelsey-style."  Of course they all followed.

Zeke wanted to play a game of hide and seek all along the trail, so hiking was lots of fun.  He'd instruct me to wait then he'd run ahead and hide behind a bush, laying in wait to jump out and scare me.  Then we did a lot of trail tag, chasing mostly Mae Mae and Karen.  It was a way to move the littler hikers along the trail in a feeble effort to keep pace with the bigger kids.  I didn't see much of Sophie and Hallee on this hike or the others that we did because they were up in the front of the pack, delighting in the company of their cousins.  When we exited Negro Bill Canyon and found ourselves back where we'd parked the van, Zeke started to CRY.  He said, "I don't WANT to leave the canyon.  Can we go and hike another one momma?"  He is my son.

Wednesday afternoon, we took the  kids to the infamous giant sand dune across the street from Arches National Park.  They were in HEAVEN.  After a strenuous hike to the top of the dune, the kids rolled, ran, and belly slid down.  They did not want to leave to go to Arches.  Who needs arches when you have the giant dune and the biggest sand box in the world.

Hallee at the epic dune

Sophie, sliding down the sand hill

Little buddy, going in for round #2

The kids had fun using each other as sleds.  Their laughter echoed down the dune, where the mothers awaited, dreading the piles of sand that would soon fill the vehicles.  After we did the dune, we went to the visitor center at Arches proper to get permits for  the Fiery Furnace.  We had to watch an instructional video in order to get the permits.  Arden noted proudly that you could SEE all three of the places that he sat in the small auditorium.  (He'd left his print in red sand.)

Hal at the dune

Zeke, sliding down.  I love the sand flume that is trailing from his little foot in this picture.

Newel had booked us into the Ramada in downtown Moab, so we spent considerable time each night swimming in the pool and hot tub.  Zeke, seeing his older cousins swim, wanted so badly to learn how to swim too.  He kept me watching him closely because he'd wade into the pool, down the steps, then jump into water that was deep enough that he had to be on his toes and tilt his head back to keep his mouth high enough to breathe.  Brave little guy.  He was intrepid and did  this over and over.  He'd alternate that with his hot tub routine.  In the hot tub, he'd dive under the water, trying to glide across to the other side.  At one point, he proudly said, "I don't give up," then went under the water for yet another attempt.  He was doing quite a bit of legitimate arm paddling and leg kicking and with his tenacious approach I think he WILL learn to swim soon.  Pretty impressive for a three-year-old.

Each morning, we'd saunter over to the Pancake Haus next to the Ramada for breakfast.  They put us in our own banquet room, since our group was so large (and unruly--we had 8 kids with us).  Our waiter, "Ool," earned the title "best waiter ever" by squirting whip cream into all of the kids mouths the second morning that we were there.

Thursday morning we'd slated for a hike through the Fiery Furnace.  Newel was to be our guide.  We were informed the day before at the visitor's center that they no longer allow kids younger than 5 into the Furnace.  (A regulation they imposed two years ago.)  We planned to leave all of the younger kids with Newel's Karen and take the older ones.  At the last minute, however, Hallee was begging to stay with Karen (she heard they'd be eating treats and watching movies while we were gone) and Zeke REALLY wanted to go. I will admit, I brazenly violated regulation.  I justified by thinking, "Hey, Heavenly Father made that place and Zeke wants to go see it.  Heavenly Father would let him and so I will to."  Zeke did just fine with all of the climbing, scrambling, and stemming over the crevices but he did need extra help and he was slower than everyone else, but he did LOVE being there.     

Sophie by the spooky "Skeletor" arches

Mr. Zeke in the Fiery Furnace, going commando.

Our tour guide in the Furnace, Uncle Noodle-Tron, also known as the cruise ship planner for our Moab trip.

Maya in the Furnace during our feeding frenzy.  Corn Nuts, beef jerky, chocolate-covered granola bars, and Pringles were consumed in frightening volumes in this very location.

Arden, Maya, Sophie, and Zeke,, making themselves into a series of human arches.

Cousin Mia in the Furnace

Zeke, wandering through the red rock fins in the Fiery Furnace, totally against park regulation.  Fortunately he made it back out alive and intact to tell about it.

Sophie and her cousin Maya, descending out of the Furnace.

H.B.'s Karen (hiking in style with a scarf) with Mia

So, as the story goes, we exited the Fiery Furnace and started to trek toward the parking area, and there, standing with a large group of people is a park ranger.  I had to walk right past him to get to the van.  As I passed him, he looked at Zeke skeptically, and said sternly, "Is he five?"  Of course I told the truth and explained that he wasn't but and we'd left his five-year-old sister at the last minute and brought him.  A stern rebuke ensued, but no fine, thankfully.

That afternoon, we took the kids (all of them) to the Windows section of Arches National Park and hiked up into several smaller arches.

H.B., Maddie, Mia, and Zeke

Zeke!

Zeke was making his Uncle B (an emergency room doctor) nervous with his cavalier behavior near "the edges."

We couldn't help ourselves.  (Me with two Karens.)

Zeke, trying to get some air.

Zeke and Sophie

We drove home on Friday morning, taking the scenic route through Salina and Axtel, then immediately up to Kaysville for a cousin camp-out at Mary's house.  Mary and her family didn't make it to Moab, so we needed to rendezvous with them before B and Karen headed back to Tampa.  We were all pretty much exhausted after the week's activities but we had a load of fun and it will go down in the family books as an epic trip.

Hanging out at Mary's house in Kaysville