Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell

On our last day we went home by way of Lake Powell and met Mike there who took his boat. We stopped for a "short" hike to Horseshoe Bend, which is just outside of Page, Arizona. Yes, it is as hot as it looks. I think it was 105 degrees that day.

The kids complained a lot on the way there. Both of them thought they were going to melt. (I thought the same thing!) But, we tried to teach them the lesson that good things come after hard work and perseverance. There would be a pay-off for all they were doing to get there.

Sophia was a good sport... she got carried, of course. We plastered her fair little head and body with sunscreen... we still couldn't get her to keep her hat on.

Isn't it cool? I think so.  I thought it was amazing... the kids were underwhelmed. Coleman said, "That wasn't really worth it." Bah!

Olivia kept pausing on the way back and acting like she was going to die. My patience was running thin... but we finally made it back to our (hot) car.

The best part of Page was finding Sonic for some cool drinks!

When we got to Lake Powell we met up with Mike.  Ryan, Liv, and Coleman went for a boat ride with Lindsey and her boys. Coleman did some tubing...

...and he  even got to drive the boat. They all went for a swim in the lake and had fun!

While they were out on the boat Sophia and I went to the "swim beach" a ways down the shore. It was so hot... we couldn't stay on the towel or play in the sand... and going in the water (also hot!) was a joke. There were prickly things and floating things and rocks that hurt our feet, so we lasted there for only a short while. I tried to call Ryan and got this message when I tried to turn on my phone:

The only thing it would let me do is call 911 to ask for assistance! I'm no dummy... it didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that if it was too hot for my phone to work, it was too hot for a one year old and her mama to sit out in the sun. We promptly high-tailed it to the car and sat with the air conditioner on full blast until Ryan and the kids were done.

Overall it was a fun and exhausting trip... I'm not sure if you can call five days, four national parks (and recreation area), and 1,000 miles in the car a vacation, but we did have good times and saw lots and lots of beautiful sites. We especially loved being together and being with our extended family!

Mammoth Cave

The next day we tried to go on a hike, but were informed that most of the trailheads required a four-wheel drive vehicle to get to. We drove along a windy road for a long, long time and still couldn't find the trail we were looking for, so we finally gave up and headed back to the house, where we met up with a couple of my sisters and their families who were going to go to Mammoth Cave. It looked like a relatively short drive and an exciting thing, so we decided to go along.

It turned out to be about an hour and half away! So much for a quick trip. With a name like Mammoth Cave, we figured it would be gigantic and huge... and it was really a hole in the ground that went on for a long, long time. It was pretty cool though.

There were a few entrances and several different passage ways. We took flashlights and head lamps with us because it got dark really, really fast.

Aren't we cute? (my sister Erin and me)

The ceiling got lower and lower... there were some spots that I had to crawl on all fours, but it was the perfect height for Sophia! She cruised right along. In the photo above are Andrew, Nathan, Coleman, Josh, Tayden, Olivia, Emma, and Sophia.

The Loutzenhiser boys

Erin and Tayden

Overall, it was fun... just a lot of driving to get there! (We were glad it was free!)

Donut Falls

For our day off from school today (Ry had to work) we went on a winter hike with my mom, my brother-in-law Slade (Erin's husband) and his three boys, and my sister Lindsey and her son Jonah. The weather in the valleys has been cold and smoggy (gotta love that inversion!) and it was so nice to be above it all--it was sunny, warm, and the air was clean. It was a great way to spend the day! The path was pretty well groomed by previous snow-shoers and cross country skiiers.

We made it all the way to the falls (it's only about a mile hike to the falls, but there were times that the kids weren't sure they wanted to keep going). We talked about finishing what you started, pushing on just a little bit more, even when it's hard and all of that... and we were glad we did. I'm not sure the kids got the deeper meaning of it all, but it got me thinking about pressing on, pushing forward, etc.

Most of the falls were frozen over, but we still got a glimpse of the water.

Crazy cousins: Tayden, Liv, Coleman, Evan, and Brady. You can tell it's warm--Liv shed her coat. I wished I had dressed with fewer and thinner layers too.

I had to include this shot of Brady (2 years old)... he had his finger up his nose for a good few minutes while he got a ride on the sled.

We finished off by sledding for awhile and going back to my mom's for hot chocolate and lunch--a great way to spend the day!

**Do you enjoy winter hiking?
**Have you been sledding yet this year?