Day 2 of 17 (Utah)

From: Washington, UT
To: Orem, UT
Miles Driven: 303 Today / 697 Total
Miles Hiked: 3.8 Today / 3.8 Total

If you know me well, you know I NEED a plan. Justin is much more relaxed when going with the flow. To balance that out I've had to let some things go. One way I control my over-control and stressing about leaving "on time" we spend the extra $10 per hotel to make sure we go to one with Breakfast included.  Since Jordan is the 2nd most efficient and organized of the family, she head down as soon as she was ready and I joined her shortly after. So, I'm stopping there. That's boring information nobody cares about. We ate. We drove. We arrived in Zion.

Wow.

It was incredible. A stop at the visitor center to collect our National Park collectibles (coins, magnets, and stamps) then onto the Shuttle to begin our hiking adventures.

Pictures never do these places justice. They are just seriously stunning views.  We started with the longest hike along the river. The river was really high so we couldn't get to the narrows (which sounded amazing), but we still enjoyed the hike (which was heavily shaded).  

Our next hike was much shorter to the Weeping Rocks which was a nice refreshing place to cool off and pretty fantastic to just see.

I told the kids early on that we won't hike more than like 2 miles (3 tops) in a day, but there was 1 more hike that sounded pretty awesome so we gave it shot. It was actually pretty disappointing, but still an amazing site.

I'm running out of adjectives.

We finally got back to the visitor center and as we were walking back to our car it began to rain. Not like a trickle, but heavy drops. Pretty much a repeat of Bryce Canyon (also in Utah) last year, so we decided Utah just likes to surprise us with rain. It's our thing.

We got to our hotel with 30 minutes left of our audio book taunting us to finish.  A swim in the pool (which means staying up way to late) and now I can't wait to go to bed.

My favorite part though? Taylor leaning over to me as we drove through the canyon and saying, "I can't believe God created all of this. And we get to see it."

Day 1 of 17 (California to Utah)

From: Anaheim, CA
To: Washington, UT
Miles Driven: 394 Today / 394 Total

Today's main goal was to cover ground. We've been through Nevada and Utah, but since we are heading to Wyoming it made sense to stop in Utah so we can see Zion (which we missed last year).  But that is a story for tomorrow.

One of the kids' favorite stops last year was Little Jamaica so we made that our main stop for today.  It's in that little corner of Arizona you drive through when heading up the 15.  We got there at lunch and made some sandwiches in and ate them at the car while we changed into bathing suits.  Then a short hike down a sometimes questionable hill and we were there.

The girls were instantly swimming, but it took Eli some persuasion. And by persuasion I mean I had to push him up the waterfalls with some shrieks and tears. Which made no sense because last year he was jumping from these same falls.  BUT once he was at the top he got his confidence back and was jumping and climbing in no time.

It amazes me that such a beautiful little gem can be sitting literally under the freeway.

We headed to the hotel in Utah and were surprised to find out that we had "the best room in the hotel". It is at least as big as our apartment with 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, and a full kitchen/dining room. It's crazy.  We haven't hit the pool yet, but I know that is in the near future.

Normal Conversations 10th Edition

So we do monthly date nights with the kids (swapping months). This month was mommy date nights so for 3 Fridays in the month one of the kids gets a one-on-one date night with me.  Tonight was Eli's date night.

Here are just a few of the fantastic conversations we had in the car.

Elijah: Oooh! Flame Broiler. Wait, I don't know why I said "oooh", I don't even like Flame Broiler.
Me: It's delicious
Elijah: Mom, I'm older and wiser now. I can have my own perspections now.

Elijah: Mom, who was smarter in 3rd grade? Me or Jordan?
Me: I don't know, you both have things you are good at.
Elijah: It's ok, I know it is Joran. She actually pays attention to things.

Elijah: I wish I was a plant so I could eat air and make everyone be able to breath. That'd be cool.

Normal Conversations 9th Edition

This one is all about Jordan:

The Home Folder
::Kids doing homework in the car on the way to worship practice. Eli rummaging through his backpack searching for his math sheet pulling out wads of paper::
Eli: I can't find it
Jordan: Is it in your homework folder?
Eli: No, I just shove it in here ::indicating his backpack::
Jordan: Why don't you put it in the homework folder?
Eli: I just put it in here
Jordan: But if it was in the homework folder you could find it
Eli: Here it is!
::Eli finishes homework and shoves it in backpack::
Jordan: Why don't you put it in your homework folder?
::Eli doesn't respond and throws his backpack on the floor. Jordan picks up his backpack and takes out his homework and puts it in the homework folder::

At least one of the kids got my over-organizational skills.

Reading
Jordan: I'm reading a book at school right now called Friendsle (no idea how to spell it). Daddy, can I borrow your Friendsle?
Justin: That's not a real thing
Jordan: You need to read more books

Tooth Fairy (Thief)
So we've never done the tooth fairy with my kids so they know it isn't a thing...
Me: (to another adult) So I realized, my dad saved all my baby teeth so I kept all my kids' baby teeth. I have no idea why. So when I was cleaning yesterday I realized there was no reason to keep them and threw them out.
Jordan: WHAT?! You threw away my teeth?
Me: I don't know, maybe. To be honest I'm not even sure if they were yours or not. I never labeled the bag.
::Now at home Jordan rushes out of my room with a wad in her pocket::
Me: What are you doing?
::Jordan whips out a wad of plastic bags::
Jordan: They're my teeth! You can't throw them away.
Me: You're weird.
Jordan: I'm never going to let them out of my sight!
Me: Are you getting in the shower now? Are you taking them with you?
Jordan: No, I'm going to...wait! You're going to go in there and throw them away aren't you? I'm going to hide them where you'll never find them!
::later after the shower she comes into my room and starts going through my drawers::
Jordan: Where are the rest of them?
::I find the container of teeth and hand them to her. She squeals with eery delight::
Jordan: YAY teeth!
Me: I don't even know if those are yours.
Jordan: They're MINE you can't have them!
Justin: ...serial killer...
Jordan: No, they aren't YOUR teeth