Goblin Valley

The beautiful landscape of Utah combined with the Jones' "burb" can only mean one thing...CAMPING TRIP!  Sarah and Brett kindly invited our family to join them on an adventure in Goblin Valley over Memorial Day Weekend.  I'm so glad we were able to go.  Camping is so much work but so worth it, especially when you are traveling with 5 little boys.  Just watching them enjoy nature, get dirty, and do boy things was good for my soul.  It is such a spectacular place.  Between Sarah and I, I think we took nearly 500 pictures so sit back and enjoy!

Once we set up camp, the boys started digging with shovels, playing baseball and exploring.

Randy, Hank, and Max took off up the mountain so Sam and I opted to take a less strenuous hike with Sarah and Brett.

What a darling family my little sis has.

Speaking of darling...

The boys, and the adults were fascinated by the different types of rocks and sand.

They played for a long while and then we decided to head back to camp and fix some dinner.

Sarah made this beautiful bouquet with flowers we found on our hike.

Boys and fire are a match made in heaven...or hell!

It's a miracle one of these crazy boys didn't end up in the fire.  Sarah and I made some pretty tasty tinfoil dinners and then it was time for s'mores!

Sam was pumped!

Max was mesmerized by the fire, but what 6 year old boy isn't?  Everyone settled into our tent at a reasonable hour and we made it through the night without much of a problem.  Sam woke up in the middle of the night a little scared, so he slept next to me on my comfy cot.

This is the perfect thing to wake up to in the morning.  Everyone slept pretty good so we were ready to head to the Goblins.

This is what it's all about.  Quality time with the family is the best time.  I've never been to Goblin Valley and it didn't disappoint.  It is a haven for little boys.  They ran around for 2 solid hours and climbed every rock they found.  We had so much fun which is why I took about 1000 pictures!  

Sam was a little hesitant at first but by the time we left, he was a climbing fool.

Randy, Sam and I followed Max through this narrow little canyon.  It proved to be a little treacherous for a 2 year old but Max had no problem climbing his way to the top.

My kids are little rock climbers.

Hank was always 100 yards ahead of me but I managed to snap a few pics of him.

Hank is such a sweet older cousin to Jack.  It's so cute to see Jack follow him around.  It wasn't that long ago that Hank was following his older cousins around.

Max was killing me!  He would climb to the top of a rock formation and then patiently wait for me to take a picture of him.  He is the posing master. 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Exhibit E

Exhibit F

Exhibit G

You get the idea. This one might be my favorite, hand on the hip.

He even agreed to pose with me for a few pictures.

Such a cute kid.

Cutest cousins.

Tucker was running around like a mad man, hence his absence in most of the pictures.

Sure do love my sis.

The Griffin family gives Goblin Valley their stamp of approval!

We went back to camp and Sam crashed for over 2 hours.  Randy and I also took a little catnap.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  Our other children however, kept themselves occupied.  Hank was smashing every rock in site with a hammer.

Max dug a hole and he had a blast climbing out of it and sliding back in.

Pleased as punch.

Brett hit a lizard with his sling shot and Max was amazed.  Here they are trying to determine if it was dead.

Sure enough, dead.  Max was pretty happy about it.  Brett also taught Hank how to burn holes in wood with a magnifying glass.  It pays to have a scoutmaster on hand.  I think a few camp outs a year with Uncle Brett should be an adequate substitute for the scouting program.

When everyone woke up from naps, we decided to embark on another hike through the slot canyons.  It was a little ambitious with our young crew but surprisingly enough, they did great.

My boys sure love their cousins.  It's so cute to see.

Around this point in the hike, I decided I would turn around with Sam.  He was exhausted and I knew I would end up carrying him the entire way back.  Brett was unsure how far the slot canyons were and as luck would have it, they were just around the next bend.  Hank, Randy, and Max joined everyone else and had a fabulous time hiking through the narrows. I'm sad I missed it so I will have to go back.  Sarah took some great pictures for me.

Everyone was in great spirits as we returned to camp for our final night.

The little ones took a break in the burb and watched 101 Dalmatians while we made dinner.

The sunset was spectacular.

The tunes were blaring, the quesadillas were flowing, and the fire was blazing.

That is until the weather decided to turn on us.  From out of nowhere, gusty wind and rain surrounded our campsite.  Our tent was caving in on one side and the babies were freaking out.  We had to make a call, stay or go.  No one wanted to leave but we weren't sure how bad the storm would get.  At 10:30 when it showed no signs of stopping, we threw our gear in the truck and got out of there.  I cringed at the site of our wet, muddy camping stuff piled on top of our food, luggage, and garbage.  It was disgusting but we didn't have the luxury of packing everything up nicely.  The kids slept the entire way home and we rolled in around 2 in the morning.  It was a brutal end to a fabulous trip.  Although Randy and I spend the next day cleaning up all our stuff, I have to say the trip was 100% worth it.  It was just the break we needed and we managed to make some amazing memories with the Jones Family.  This won't be our last camping trip of the summer.  I can't wait to go again.