Hike to Devil's Head Fire Tower

 This was our second time hiking to this fabulous destination.  It was much easier with all three boys on foot:-)  There were so many scenic spots on the hike up that it was easy to distract the boys.  We call the really big boulders "Tranformers Rocks".  Of course dum dum suckers and fruit snacks are the bribe of choice.

 The boys walked up all 143 steps by themselves.....with just a few heart palpitations on my part!

 The fire lookout station is boarded up for the year.  During the summer season, a forest ranger lives in a cabin at the base of the steps and spends days in the lookout station, welcoming visitors and answering questions about this 100 year old forest fire lookout. 

 The boys didn't seem to mind, and raced around the lookout station's catwalk (more heart palpitations for me!).  We put the J's in the backpacks to descend the steps.  Kenny would have ridden in a pack if he could too--it's a scary walk back down!

Jacob's BIG Bed!

 We are proud owners of BUNK BEDS!  Jacob has been doing such a great job staying dry at night, we decided it was time to switch out his toddler bed for bunk beds.  He loves his new bed, and kept giving me kisses yesterday and thanking me for "fixing his bed":-)  Kenny thinks he should have a hand in any new thing, and tried to claim the top bunk.  I quickly explained that both beds were in Jacob's room, so Jacob is in charge.  You should have seen the look on Kenny's face!!

Utah Videos

Corona Arch Hike

Landscape Arch in Arches National Park

Fisher Tower

Our last Utah stop....Fisher Tower

 We left Moab at 9am and decided to take the scenic drive on Hwy 218 back to the interstate.  The highway travels along the Colorado River through canyons.  The views are magnificent!  We didn't have it in us to do another big hike, so we stopped off at Fisher Tower instead.  It was a 10 minute walk (with 2-yr-olds) to get to the top. 

 Some pretty cool formations!

So long Utah!  We had fun, but we're ready to have our granite Rocky Mountains back!  (Much less messy than all this red dirt:-).

Devil's Garden in the evening...

 We again waited until evening to hike in Arches Park (we did the Corona Arch early morning, then lunched, napped and swam).  We started our hike through Devil's Garden at 6:30, with flashlights packed:-)

 Jacob was a little pokey, but had a movie moment when he saw John at the top of a hill.  They started calling each other's names and Jacob took off running.  It was so sweet:-)

 John and Kenny doing a little dance while they waited for their pokey brother.

 The boys were pretty much over hiking on this day.  We reached a part of the trail that was sand, and they decided that having a sand fight would be much better than hiking.  I couldn't believe the amount of sand we dumped out of their shoes when we got home!

 Sarah and Jacob, pulling up the rear (Jacob was taking a "2-yr-old" break:-)

 Ahhh....what a magnificent way to spend the evening.

 We hiked one mile to Landscape Arch.  The nice lady that took our family picture didn't quite capture Kenny:-(

 We busted out the flashlights and hiked on to Pine Tree Arch.  We were the only ones on this trail--it was so fun!  Darin thought up the flashlight hike.  It was such a fun idea and the boys loved it!  We got back to the car at 9, and everyone managed to sleep like logs.  Jacob and I walked ahead a couple of times and jumped out in the dark to scare the other three.  I was worried we might have some nightmares as a result!?:-0

Corona Arch Hike: West of MOAB on 179

 This hike was AWESOME!  We had our first clue how much we would love it when we got to cross a rail road track in the first 1/4 mile.  The boys were in heaven:-)

 The thrill of the tracks quickly faded.  After another 1/8 of a mile we were taking our first snack break. 

 Darin and I didn't mind the break in such a picturesque spot!

 Poptarts....the snack of champion hikers!?

It seemed to take the boys forever to finish....so Darin and I took a couples picture:-)

 Onward hikers!  We were shocked when we got to a technical spot in the hike that had a metal cable and footholes chiseled into the rock.  The boys were thrilled to rock climb up!  (Not so much on the way down).  A metal ladder followed the rock climbing.  Darin was the last one up.

 We had the arch within view and decided to take a break on this big boulder.

 Just before the arch was this skylight.  Jacob was pretty thrilled!

 Kenny was just silly:-)  And John was too busy throwing rocks to worry it!

 All three boys did think this little cave was worthy of their attention.  Perfect spot for naptime!

 Sarah, Jacob & John were taking their time on this tricky terrain.  It was solid rock.

 We finally arrived at the Corona Arch!  Darin didn't waste any time taking a selfie:-)

This hike was absolutely incredible!  Our favorite hike of the trip.  We'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Arches National Park: Balanced Rock at Sunset

 It was HOT when we arrived in Moab, so we waited until sunset to venture into Arches National Park.  We didn't have time for much of a hike, so ended up walking a 1/4 mile loop around Balanced Rock.  Darin couldn't resist the chance for a selfie:-)

 Beautiful formations.  There were people with BIG cameras and tripods all over.  I'm sure their pictures would shame ours!

 The boys were so funny....they were disappointed by the short, paved sidewalk that was our "hike".  They didn't think that was much of a hike at all!  (Especially after hiking to Hanging Lake that morning!)

 So the big thing for people to do in Moab is to stack rocks to make rock towers.  There were little towers everywhere around Balanced Rock, so Jacob & Kenny decided to build some too.  John was more into the destruction of towers!?

Hanging Lake Video

Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon

 We started our Labor Day weekend with some HEAVY labor.  The Hanging Lake trail was pretty intense, uphill and rocky the entire way.  The boys rocked it though!  Kenny walked the entire mile up, and Jacob and John last 3/4 mile before needing to be carried in the backpacks. 

The end of the hike was scary!  Way up high with huge rock steps and a railing to cling to.  The boys were a little scared to take this picture :-)

 The hard work paid off--we made it to this beautiful lake.  Amazing!

 We walked around the back of the lake to the waterfall to cool off and take a family pic.

 The hike down was a bit easier (other than Darin and I discouraging jumping from rocks!).  The boys loved playing in this little log cabin along the trail.

The last 1/4 mile to the parking lot was in full sun on this sidewalk.  It was a killer!  And Jacob decided he needed my sunglasses.  What a fabulous way to start our 24 hours in Glenwood Springs.  The rest of the time was spent in our fabulous hotel pool (Hotel Glenwood Springs).  The indoor waterslide was everyone's favorite!