Big photo update from Easter till Lake Powell

We had another great spring trip to Moab that included a Westwater day trip for Trevor and I and then a camping/boating weekend for the whole family. We searched for golden treasures and found wonderful mud to play in instead. Trevor takes his naptime whenever and where ever he can.

Super Dylan climbing big rocks to throw smaller rocks into the river while Colter washes off his mud costume.

There was, of course, lots of lizard hunting, rock sliding and crawdad chasing. We were camping with our friends John, Melissa, Brooke and Bryce. The boys are awesome hikers and cover twice as much ground as we do because they are always bolting off to explore something new or chase a treasure.

Colter is killing it in his kayak! He is so brave and loves to go through the wave trains, rapids and in and out of eddy lines.

We love being on the river, it is a happy place for all of us.

We found a nice campground close to Durango for the beginning of our Durango/Grand Canyon/Lake Powell road and boat trip. My boys do enjoy camping. Colter made a very comfortable bed out of pine needles, and then they would make "fire bombs" for some excitement. Colter loves to watch Survivorman and Man vs. Wild and he gets lots of good ideas to test out when we camp. I think he would be great to have along if we were ever in a survival type situation.

Rafting the Animas through town in Durango. Colter tried the duck under the wave method at Smelter, he got soaked. He came up so angry and ready to let us have it until he turned around and saw that Mom and Dylan took the wave in the face and were totally soaked as well. It was pretty funny for all of us.

Sweet Dylan picture. And this is where the boys went to warm up after the run while Mom and Dad derigged.

Before meeting up with the rest of the crew for Powell, we made a stopover at Lee's Ferry and Marble Canyon at the beginning of the Grand Canyon. It was tougher than I thought to visit this place without launching for a 21 day river trip- that is the only time we come here! It was very cool showing the boys around, getting some food at the Marble Canyon Lodge and going on a couple of hikes.

The boys totally got it. Colter even told the river ranger that we would be back in a few years to run the Grand! It is a very special place and so beautiful.

We hiked to the orchard and old homesteads nearby, the contrast of bright green in the desert is very striking to the eye. Colter found a heart rock for our friend Rosemerry who finds hearts everywhere.

And on to Lake Powell. What a fun 5 days that was. Most people would not consider a week stuck on a 48' houseboat with 12 of your relatives fun, but we had a great time. The kids love the sandy beaches at camp, driving the big boat, kayaking, SUPing and fishing around the coves. Also hiking up the rocks and making massive mud pits were part of the daily activities.

The big kids also had fun on the water and fishing.

Colter was not excited about the slide off into the water, he doesn't like to swim in lake water, but he did it and even smiled a little bit.

The little specks way up on the rocks are Eli and Colter.

Mud zombies are coming to get us.  One of  the camps had a slot canyon behind it. This is Colter and Eli kayaking up to the end of the slot.

Seriously Aunt Shawna the fish is this big!

Trevor and I took Eli, Colter, Gideon and Dylan on an all day adventure up to Rainbow Bridge. It was a very long but worthwhile trip. The boys met one of the coolest and most informative rangers we have ever come across. He loved this area and spent almost 45 minutes with the boys showing them around, finding dinosaur prints, teaching them about the Native Americans past and present. It was incredible. The boys loved it, asked tons of questions and talked about it again and again.

There was boat driving and boat admiring. Got to meet the guy that restored this and he told the boys lots of good stuff about it.

I don't care how old you are, bubbles are cool! Especially if the houseboat moving across the lake does all the work for you. We spent hours on the top deck watching bubbles.

And having dance parties......and net fishing......

Glow stick parties on the beach at night kept the kids busy and allowed us to follow their movements. Happy 60th Pappy! That was a fun party.

Ok, just downloaded the memory card from when we moved out of our house in April until our semi-settled in state at the new log cabin down valley. Wow, we've been busy and having a fantastic summer! Next installment to follow shortly. Sorry, this post is heavy on the pictures and light on the comments, wanted to get more out there. May need to come back and edit later.