Big D.E.A.L. and Little Max: The First of a Two Legged Trip

We had been looking forward to our Easter trip to St. George for months, Dan especially. He had long ago planned our route, our hikes, ordered and had installed a DVD player for the car, and picked out small surprises for the kids. All I had to do was drive. And pack. Yeah, and pack, which has got to count for something. I always underestimate it until its upon me and I'm like, woah, this is a big deal.

Call us crazy but we really love taking the family on road trips. Seriously. Of course it's not always pleasant or easy, and I can't speak for Dan, but for me, I love it because we are all together, seeing new things, and even if someone's having a meltdown, when we're in the car I don't worry that we're contaminating someone else's experience. There is a lot of crying in our family.

It was Spring Break for the big kids. We left early Wednesday morning heading for our first stop, Moab. Dan's plans included an overnight stop, hiking at Arches and Dead Horse Point before making the other half of our drive to St. George.

We stopped at Arches last summer, just for a couple of hours on our way home from Utah and decided it deserved another trip.

The DVD player worked beautifully. It's exclusively for road trips, but it served it's purpose well.

By that afternoon, we were there. The excitement for the new Camelbacks spanned the spectrum. Dan and I were excited not to have to hike with everybody's water on our backs. Luke and Max were just excited. Ava wasn't excited because she thought drinking from "the straw" was gross and opted to take out the bladder and put a water bottle inside. And nobody anticipated the excitement Finn was feeling. The backpack was the highlight. Of his life, probably. We had to pry it off him to get back in the car each time. He would have slept with it if we'd let him. Still daily, as we drive in the car he points to the mountains, and says, "Mountains. Hike. Pack-pack".

First up was a hike to Landscape Arch, the longest arch in the world.

The red rock was perfect for climbing,

and turning our pictures orange.

Jack got used to spending alternating hours in his car seat and the Ergo.

Sometimes, I think that Max is over his picture participation refusal, but he's not. Landscape Arch is behind us here, but it's hard to see for the angle.

The dead trees were some of my favorite parts.

Jack discovered his tongue on this trip. 75% of the time, he'd stick out his tongue when I tried to take his picture.

Next up was Double Arch, a now favorite. Ava had reached her stimulation point by then and opted to stay in the car. As sad as I was for her to miss Double Arch, I was really proud of her for recognizing her limit. Shortly after taking this picture Max fell and skinned his knee. Barely.

And then he cried his big boy, loud, screaming, cry. And he wouldn't quit.

We threatened to go back to the car, but neither Dan nor I had the heart to follow through because neither of us wanted to miss this.

We tried offering condolences, candy, even to carry him. We lied that crying was against National Park rules.

Nothing worked.

So we carried on. And for the next 30 minutes so did Max.

Yes, it was embarrassing, but I have taken notes on his last five years and I will pay him back accordingly, when he's 14 and very easily embarrassed.

Luke was a little mountain goat. He's that tiny blue thing.

He scared me a bit with his fearlessness and my inability to stay with him very well with Jack strapped to me. The thing about climbing here is that going up is so much easier than getting down. And the last thing I wanted to do was slip with Jack on me. And Dan was stuck at the bottom with Finn and of course, a screaming Max.

But Luke was happy.

Like any national park there are a plethora of toursist, many from Asia. Two such men were finding their zen on top of a huge boulder under the arch. Max was a distraction of huge proportions. They ignored for a long time, until their curiosity got the best of them and they sat up, sought out the source, and then left.

Whether it was explaining that people had traveled from very far away to see this place and he was ruining it for them, or he was just worn out, Max finally stopped.

Once he did, he managed to climb up with Luke and not smile for this picture, but at least he didn't refuse it all together.

That night we stayed in our dream hotel. The room was massive and had two queen beds, a pull out sofa, and a huge bathroom. Ava and I were in one bed, Dan and Finn in the other, the big boys were on the sofa bed, and Jack was in the bathroom.

Finn's never not slept in a pack and play when we've traveled so there was some apprehension as to how the night would go, but aside from him turning sideways and kicking Dan in the back all night, it went well. At least he slept.

And Jack did too.

As I said, Dan really planned this whole thing and I felt like I was just along for the ride. So in the morning when he said we would go to Dead Horse Point I was in total agreement but hadn't put much thought into what we'd see when we got there. And in some ways that was really great because, when we pulled up to this, I nearly wet my pants. Not that it's great to wet your pants, but it's great to be so unexpectedly amazed.