Moab

We got to go camping in Moab along with about 90 other people from Alpine Academy last week. I was slightly stressed over how the whole camping bit was going to work with a toddler, since we're not really campers ourselves, but I'm happy to say that I worried for nothing. Payton did great - loved all the attention, and loved being outside all day getting dirty.

Here is our lovely camp site amongst the sand and rocks. Payton slept through the whole first night without one peep. Sweet! I love these pictures of her first thing in the morning. Camping pictures aren't complete without some "messy hair, early morning" pics.
She always snuggles with me in the morning to drink her bottle and I was happy to continue that tradition in our tent. It was DANG cold and she helped warm me up.
Here is a fun little game Payton made up. Let's just say that she REALLY earned a bath by the time we got home. Sand everywhere!
We borrowed this backpack from my brother and everyone was super jealous of Payton's little setup. If you're going to hike, this is the way to go.
Here is our caravan of hikers working our way through the terrain.

The only problem was that either Craig or I had to be on "Payton duty" pretty much 24/7. She won't sit still for anything! Oh well, I guess it's better to have an active kid instead of a couch potato.
Here's our family (plus Nikki) in front of Landscape Arch.

I was pretty proud of my find here. The absolute PERFECT spot for tanning. Legs in the sun and everything else in the shade. Jan couldn't resist and had to join me.



We hiked to Delicate Arch on our last day. Here is the final turn before you come around the corner and see.....
The famous Delicate Arch.


Here are a couple of the daring girls seeing how high they could climb. I was in charge of watching these two and making sure they didn't break their necks. I don't really know how I was supposed to prevent that from happening, so I'm glad they came back down just fine.
This was right as we were packing up to go home. I almost couldn't stand how Payton looked and smelled, but I guess that's the sign of a successful camping trip.

Alpine Academy goes on this same camping trip to Moab each spring. They also do a camping trip in the fall when they go river rafting in Jackson Hole. So I guess we'll be getting very good at this camping thing.