Goblin Valley and BUGS!

We went camping with our good friends, the Hansens, to Goblin Valley and had so much fun! It is definitely a lot of work to get all the gear packed up and get there but so worth it! We love enjoying the outdoors and there is something fun about sleeping in a tent all together. We did a hike in one of the slot canyons, had fun riding around on the 4-wheelers, got to explore in the Valley of the Goblins and just enjoyed being with friends. Elle and Easton loved being with Ellie and Cooper and wandered around our campsite exploring everything. Easton was so excited to look for potato bugs and ants and dig in the dirt too!

The only downside was the BUGS!!! They were these little tiny bugs that would buzz in our ears and get all over us. We kept using bug spray but it didn't work. We figured they were annoying but weren't biting us, so we just dealt with it and spent as little time as possible at our actual campsite when they were at their peak, in the morning. They didn't seem to be in the Valley of Goblins or our hike. I think it was all the sagebrush in our campsite. It was pretty funny seeing all of us slap at our faces though. The poor kids had bug guts squashed on their faces. We ended up leaving a little bit early because of them. And on the way home, we all realized that they were biting us and we were covered in bug bites. Oh well! It makes for a funny memory!

Elle and Ellie posing in front of our campsite

The kids got so dirty but had a blast!

Jayne didn't want to go to sleep and kept standing in her crib smiling at us. Then she would smash her face against it and make the kids giggle. I think she liked being all together for bed. She is so cute!

Our family on the hike

Hansens

Little hikers--Elle, Ellie, Easton and Cooper

Jayne loved being in the backpack. The canyon was so pretty and got so narrow in parts.

Don and Cory

The kids absolutely loved riding in the ranger!

Don took the kids for a ride in the ranger and even though they were buckled and went slow, Don had his arm holding on to Jayne's leg the whole time. Cute Izzie (who is 4 months older) saw that and kept putting her arm on Jayne's other leg to keep her safe. It was really sweet! Jayne looked so cute holding on to Don's arm. She loves her Daddy!

Angie, Izzie and Cory

We all wanted to go for a ride at the same time so Don hooked Jayne's car seat up to the 4-wheeler. He loves a good challenge!

Valley of the Goblins

Easton loved climbing up on all the rocks so Don and I took turns taking him up them. Elle liked seeing them all but didn't want to climb on top of them.

Don and Easton on top of one we think looks like a camel

It was SO hot by the time we did our hike and came to Valley of the Goblins. The kids were exhausted and just wanted shade!

We packed up camp at night and promised the kids we would go back to see the goblins on our way back to Salt Lake when it was cooler. It was 9:30 pm and dark and so fun! The kids all had lightsticks and we had flashlights. It was really neat walking through at night! What a fun weekend!