moab-- day 3: balanced rock, north+south windows, turret, and double arches

(the girls' 1st time and our 3rd time at arches)

(balanced rock)

(north and south windows and turret arch. amelia was worried she would get tired from the hiking, and we had to reassure her that these hikes were easy peasy compared the delicate arch hike. scarlett and jer both appreciated the lack of backpack riding/wearing on these mini-hikes, too!)

 (double arch)

(the girls each got to roll their own penny into a moab design... we've tried to collect these cute souvenirs from our adventures, but i honestly have no idea where any of their pennies are.)

we had so much fun on our trip to moab-- seriously, i love traveling with and finding adventure with my family. this trip also put me a peace with only having three children-- we're just at a sweet spot with our kids! we love our annual family trips with them; newborns and infants just make it so very difficult and stressful. (this is in no way an announcement that our family is complete with evelyn's arrival, just a nod to us taking our babies as they come and not rushing or planning too far ahead anymore.)

i'm feeling like our 2018 trip be in utah, with hopefully only a short road trip (unsure of how evelyn will tolerate her carseat and sleeping in a foreign place). any suggestions for us?

moab-- day 2: delicate arch

we knew the 3 mile delicate arch hike would be the toughest on the girls, so we got that over with first thing in the morning. i was so proud of both girls-- scarlett hiked for about 1 mile and amelia did the entire hike to and back from the arch. toward the end of the hike, we started finding miniature balancing rocks and amelia loved them and loved making her own! we were all excited when we arrived at the arch and relieved for a break! amelia loved making an arch with her own body and playing too close to the edge of the mountain. we kept scarlett in her backpack to avoid the stress of two little girls running around up there. i actually rolled my ankle and fell on both knees on the way back from the arch, poor me. i'm so glad we were able to do this hike as a family and have so much fun together-- it wasn't an easy feat being 25 weeks pregnant with two young children, but we did it!

road trip to south dakota: day 2, cluster state park

not sure that these pictures are chronologically correct, but oh well...

cluster was beautiful and so amazing to see wildlife to close.

amelia freaked and wanted her window rolled up when this donkey put his head in our window. then he proceeded to poop right next to our car.

see my car door at the bottom of this picture? that's how close this guy was!

 causing traffic.

 one of the massive herds... j guessed there were about 300+ total

 I loved seeing him so excited-- I just adore him.

 me, with a mama and baby

 a picture to show how these guys literally stuck their heads in cars!

I love these girls!