I can't believe we've never been here

I've lived in Utah for 35 years and have never been to Bryce Canyon. Embarrassing right? So we decided to go this year. We also did something else we've never done before. Dave and I took our four kids camping alone ... with no friends or other family with us. We LOVE camping with family and friends but just realized we had never gone with just our little family, and it turns out we LOVE that too.
We stopped by Gunnison for a quick look at Mater. Someone has done a great job recreating the old tow truck, and T.J. LOVED it.

This was Home Sweet Home for four days. I know, I know ... MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD right here. Who agrees to stay in a Tipi? I realize it doesn't sound like me at all, but the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever, and honestly it wasn't bad. Plenty of room, and it was actually nice and cool during the day and warm at night. Those Indians were on to something for sure.
We left on July 4th which was a bit of a sacrifice. I LOVE being around home for the 4th. We usually do the parade, fireworks, boating, barbeque ... the whole bit. But this was when we could get away, so that's what we did.
Turns out Ruby's Inn campground/resort puts on an AMAZING fireworks show. It was a lot of fun, and it made it seem like a regular old 4th of July ... which we love.

We've been practicing our arms-length self-photos, and it still took three tries to get this one (i.e. top of Dave's head included in the picture, no double chins, etc.)




We went on the COOLEST hike EVER down in Bryce Canyon. It is the Queens' Garden/Navajo Loop hike, and Dave and I both agreed it's the best hike we've ever been on. It's only about 3 miles, but the scenery was unbelievable. The kids did great. It wasn't too hard, so even T.J. walked the whole way. If we would have had time, we would have done this one again the next day. And honestly, it's not every day that I would even consider that for a hike. Check out these pics from our hike:


















Awesome ... right? I'd love to do that hike again sometime.

So this was after me saying, "Honey, can you start a fire?" a million times and Dave pretending not to hear me. NEVERMIND. I got it. And basically I started an amazing fire. Yep. That's right.

We went EASY with food on trip. We didn't even bring a dutch oven or camp stove. I actually purchased hot dogs and cooked them over the fire, and I actually ATE a hot dog. Amazing I know.

Six years old and he still falls asleep in my arms. Love it.

We hiked to a waterfall and wished we had our swimming stuff with us. Next time ...


There is really is a lot of cool stuff to see in Bryce Canyon. We took tons of pictures.

That's right.
They were all excited about their new sticks they found and wanted to keep them.
And then we told them the Feds frown on thievery from a National Park ... even of sticks.




London (an obsessive horse lover) had been begging since we got there to "Go see the horses" and we finally did. We considered going for a ride, but at $55 per rider for a two-hour ride, GIVE ME A BREAK.

So there is a funny story here. On our second day down there, getting ready for our hike, we discovered, much to my dismay, that I had not packed SHOES. Ugh. Seriously??? I drive myself CRAZY sometimes. Everyone else of course had everything they needed ... CAUSE I MADE SURE THEY DID. And I had a lousy pair of flip flops. I thought Dave was going to go INSANE. So he drove me over to the hotel gift shop and we picked out a nice pair of hiking shoes ... FOR $90!!! What in the world? If I was going to spend $90 on shoes, it sure as heck wasn't going to be freaking hiking shoes. I can get those at Big 5 for $25. Good grief. I was SO mad. Keep in mind this was one week after having my toenail removed, and then there's my whole ankle situation. So good shoes were a must. And it turns out the $90 was probably well-spent considering the shoes are unbelievably comfortable and never felt "new" at all. I actually was quite pleased with them ... but $90 in a hotel gift shop. WHO DOES THAT???

So we had a great trip, and we're glad to know we can survive in the wilderness on our own. Where to go next? Hmmmm ...