CANYONLANDS

Oohhh....CANYONLANDS! Bryan absolutely loves Canyonlands. His family frequented the amazing Needles District when he was a kid. Grandma and Grandpa decided it was time to get the grand kids there and experience it in a new way. In January, they reserved a group campsite which held many family memories. It was a wonderful 5 days full of family, scenery, reptiles, and everything dirty (May 13-17)!

They borrowed a motor home from Grandma's sister and we loaded up and headed out. Addison and Emian got to make the trip down with their cousins, Skylie and Wesley. They thought this was the most exciting thing, riding without seat belts and being able to move about with freedom (not to mention no potty breaks)!
The trip flew by as we colored, played card games and lounged on the bed in the back. I wish every trip we took went that easily!
Our first stop was Newspaper Rock. What an absolutely fascinating piece of history. My mind is constantly boggled as I think about the civilizations who called this land home. Survival seems impossible with what they were given.

For the kids, there were two highlights: scrambling the slick rock which encapsulated our private campground and the reptiles. The cousins were constantly climbing up this rock (Addison above). They would hang out under the ledge and play. Addison made a habit of sliding down on her behind. Thus, the great holes you can see in the seat of her carpi's. She wore straight through two pair of shorts before I realized we need to teach her to slide down on her feet. (Emian only wore through one pair of shorts!) Next time I will pack two outfits per day, as one extra did not come close to doing the trick.

Emian was determined to catch a lizard. Thankfully Uncle Mark caught a couple for her. All the cousins wanted turns holding the poor things. I didn't think one of them was going to make it after being manhandled by six kids. Emian actually came very close to catching one herself. Unfortunately for the lizard, it is now in the process of re-growing a tail. But catching only the tail caused great excitement for little Em.

You can't camp without the smores and the messes that come with them!

This is Bryan's family. Mark, his older brother, is taking this picture so he's the only one not in it. The Wheeler Bunch is growing by two because Jenny is going to have twins in October (if she can make it that long)!

We were able to obtain back country permits for driving down Salt Creek. Above is Paul Bunyan's Potty and below is ruins near the Potty. Again, I am amazed at the ingenuity and lifestyle lived thousands of years ago.

Driving down Salt Creek was a very fun trip. The kids loved it when we drove through water and it came splashing as high as the windows. At one point our Explorer got high centered on a sandy hill. We packed 12 people into Brad's vehicle at that point and went on to Tower Ruins.

For those who don't know, Bryan loves geology, paleontology and archeology (among many other great interests and hobbies). He has this knack for finding arrowheads, pottery, petrified wood, you name it. On the walk at Tower Ruins he found a pottery shard that was about two by three inches. We poured some water on it and cleaned it up. It was absolutely amazing. It was painted black and white on the outside. I'd never seen anything like it in person (museums, maybe). At Paul Bunyan's Potty he found a stone used for grinding. (I can't remember what they are called, but they are very smooth, bigger than your hand and the shape is like a rectangle with rounded edges. They would use them to grind their wheat, corn, etc., on a large rock to produce flour.) He is great to have along because you see great extras along the way.

At this point in the Salt Creek ride we stopped and caught tadpoles and hunted for frogs. Addison had been looking forward to this part of the trip since we arrived at Canyonlands. Again, Uncle Mark was the only one to catch a frog and all the kids couldn't get enough time holding it. It was my turn to shine as I found a great piece of petrified wood, Bryan was actually impressed with it!

Salt Creek really tired the kids out and Micheal and Emian couldn't quite make it back to the campsite!

Having time with cousins was an important part of this trip. They loved spending time together and got along very well. We were honored with nightly plays that the kids put together on their own. After the first one, predicting the outcome was a cinch as the plot didn't seem to change. They thoroughly enjoyed this time together without the distractions of TV, computers, toys, etc. and relying on their imaginations. It was wonderful!

Getting dirty was the name of the game. Emian and Sarah made sand angels, they all crawled around in the sand, rolled in the sand, threw the sand, made "poisonous" potions out of sand and the littlest even ate the sand! The joys of being young!

Emian loves to be superheros. She concocted her own out of what was available. She was a "Super Mouse". She used the portable shower as a cape and the tail was the nozzle (dragging on the ground). She used her long bubble wand as a sword and would wield it around as she saved the day. In the end, we had very tired children. It is a rare thing for our kids to sleep in the car. Emian chose to be with mom and dad while Addison wanted a little more time in the motor home as we headed out. We enjoyed making new memories with the Wheeler family. In fact, when we returned home, Emian cried because she wanted to be in Canyonlands. We look forward to knew traditions with this new generation of Wheelers!