Day 14

Today began bright and early.  I'd been trying to convince the clock to read 3:00am instead of 5:25am, but it didn't work too well.  We dragged the kids out of bed and into the car for the one thing the girls have been talking about every single day since they found out we'd be doing it - horseback riding.  They were so happy the day was finally here!  We had to enter a new state to being our next adventure isn Monument Valley.

The kids were happy to be moving on after almost a week in Arizona.  They loved the state, but I guess like their mom they also like progress and change.


I'd been curious how all the kids would do horseback riding as they had never actually ridden by themselves except at little fairs in a ring.  I was happily surprised they were very brave and had a bunch of fun! 

The tour guide picked the perfect horse for each person.  Ryan's horse was named Browney:

Laney's horse was named Charlie:

And Brayden's horse was named Ice:.

Grammie's horse was named Stefan and Mom's horse was named Romey, but who cares about us, right?  Within a few minutes we were headed off on the trail.  Look at those naturals!

We went up and down around the rocks and were able to enjoy the views along the way.  We stopped at a couple different views of the famous "Mittens" monuments and were able to get a few  rare family photos.

Then we headed back to the stable with a little more confidence and big smiles.  Notice Laney up there taking the lead!

The kids were so very sad to leave their horses.  Ryan actually didn't want to get down off her horse so we let her stay on until the other horses had been put away.  She's now decided she wants to be a "horse police officer".

Laney really didn't want to leave.  Love the boots.

After a quick rest, photo, and snack at the visitor's center we were on our way to Arches National Park.

I was thrilled to see I could snap this shot on the way out of town:

I was also very happy with our choice of campground as it was 102 when we pulled into town and we had a nice and chilly pool for the kids to swim in.  While I set up camp, Grammie took the kids to the pool and started going through the lists of things to do while we were in town.  We decided this night we would take the kids to a gunfight dinner show just down the street.

After the gunfight, they took us inside and fed us real cowboy food.  I'm not sure real cowboys eat veggie burgers, but maybe!  The cast of the whole show seemed to be having a great time and we all did too!

By the time it was over, we were all exhausted and ready for some sleep.

Day 14 - brave, new experiences!