Chasing Bluebirds

moab

we had to get our trailer from colorado to california so a trip to moab in utah was the plan. my inlaws towed the trailer to red cliffs lodge and we made the 13 hour trip to meet them. i highly recommend if you live in california that you skip the vegas trip and go through southern utah to some of the amazing national parks they have to offer. being spring, which has unpredictable weather in the high desert meant we couldn't risk seeing zion or bryce in a tent trailer (our first choice since we have never been). red cliffs lodge is next to arches national park (which we have visited before but never camped at) it was the best choice under the circumstances. i had thought canyonlands might be cool (we just watched 127 hours which was filmed there) but it has numerous entrances with very few campsites, too risky for us. so arches it was and boy did it deliver!

arches is organized in a way that is really spectacular, you see the high red rock mountains when you enter and drive a steep road up to the top where the plateau opens up to these amazing formations and colorful soil, plants and rocks. all that with snow capped mountains far off in the distance. it is truly breathtaking and the park roads take you on a winding picturesque route to see everything from different angles.

the weather was in constant motion, hot then cold then sunny then rain with the kind of clouds you can truly spend hours watching. our last afternoon there, emily and i took a two mile hike around the campgrounds and just giggled at how neat it was to be out in the middle of nowhere. it got cloudy and drizzly but we kept on going and were so proud to just muscle through even though we were exhausted. back at camp the fire was started and immediately it started to rain. sue and i decided to try and keep it going and it became quite a scene as the rain started and stopped and then began to hail with thunder and lightning flashing. the kids screamed for us to come in but we just couldnt let that fire go out. it was FREEZING and standing near that blazing fire felt fantastic.

(lizzie is crying because the thunder scares her) we used a tarp (got totally smoked out) and then an umbrella (probably not the smartest thing to use in a lightning storm) but we laughed and laughed and just had a BLAST!! that fire roared and we watched the storm blow by with a very unexpected surprise:

just like that, the brightest rainbow ever
some dirty happy kids for sure! here is a few pics from the road, check out the change in scenery and weather. this is all in one day:



and here is a shot from the red cliffs lodge museum, lots of movies have been filmed on the ranch (like thelma and louise) the museum does a great job displaying posters and artifacts from the shoots. i will try and post a few more pics once i get a chance to download, more of the red cliffs lodge, love that place! hope i have inspired you to check out utah, we are hoping to see zion and/or bryce this summer!

oh my!

what a month! i decided to go crazy with work this month, breaking all records for no days off. really proud of myself for still being able to get the home and kid stuff done more or less. so lucky to have family that helps out in so many ways. really lucky. so what else is going on? the girls were asked to be in a photo shoot for our favorite punk rock kid band's first ever album cover. we were told to get gaudy prom/pageant show dresses and showed up at the shoot. it was so fun, the girls really enjoyed themselves and all the attention. everyone was amazed at the transformation these young "girls" went through and many of us commented on it being somewhat uncomfortable. it was a good exercise for me who goes out of my way to keep my kids naive and innocent, no small task!! here's some photos:

of special note: our dresses came from the thrift shop (which i have been avoiding for years now, too much stuff!!) and we had so much fun looking through the dresses and shoes. i found a dynasty era silver jumpsuit, something i would have DIED for in the 80's with poofy sleeves and a zipper front, so easy to just put it on and be completely dressed and ready to go. of course i passed but it sure was cool. the dress liz is wearing felt so well made, it looked like something modeled after princess diana's dress with droopy poofy sleeves. i didn't notice until we were at the shoot that it was a jessica mcclintock dress!! oh my!! what a score for 6 bucks!! not sure if we can ever use it again, but it sure is a gorgeous piece of clothing. i am sure the girls will be talking about this fun day for a long long time. can't wait for spring break, one week away! we are off to utah to pick up our trailer, can't wait!!

uh oh!

we are having some serious fighting around here, things got a little outa hand today.... teachers and principals calling and lots of hysterics. what are we going to do with these two?
april fools!