Toes in the water

Contemplating the muddy river.  Mary and I did go for a refreshingly bracing swim, but Miles wasn't interested in getting more than his feet wet.  Completely understandable! 

Muscle Man

 

This took place on our last morning in Moab, on our last trip down to the river.  In this sequence, Miles is showing us his muscles.  Which, if you're going to be throwing rocks around, you definitely need!

Negro Bill Canyon hike

Throwing rocks in the water.  A favorite activity this trip.

We met up with Archie, Penny and Mary on Sunday and they camped with us the rest of the time.

Camp life

Things to bring camping: a can opener!  Craig had to improvise to open this can and I thought "Fun at your fingertips!" said it all!

Enjoying the fire.

Shades

Giving sunglasses a shot

Camping in Moab

On the way to our first arch, I believe it was Landscape Arch.  Miles wasn't too keen to walk on the sand, so there was a fair bit of carrying that happened too.

Climbing rocks!

We went on our first family camping trip May 12-15th in Moab, UT.  I broke it down into a few posts to make it more manageable.We arrived in town late afternoon on a Saturday and were greeted with no open campsites and an entirely booked town.  sigh.  There was some race taking place, so all the hotels were to vacancy or charging exorbitant rates.  double sigh.  We were tired, hungry and wanting to get out of the car.  We did finally find a reasonably priced hotel, got some food and stretched our legs.  The good news?  Having visited every freaking campsite in Moab, we knew exactly where we were headed the next day.  But, alas, those campers weren't leaving.  So, we moved on to site B and thankfully nabbed one of the only sites available with shade.  This is key when camping in the desert.  So, when all was said and done, we ended up in a pretty good spot and were finally able to break out the tent!  

A Conversation

The timer rang indicating it was time for teeth brushing and bed.  We have a new routine here where I do bedtime on the weekend and Craig takes the weeknights.  There is always an adjustment period on Monday because Miles still wants me to part of the equation.  So, the timer rings and this is what follows:

me and craig "there's the timer, it's time to get ready for bed"

M: "tonight's mommy's turn"  (this had been an ongoing topic all day)

me: "no, tonight's daddy's night"

a little bit of whimpering and fussing ensues

me: suggesting a quick snuggle, which was promptly rejected.  I followed this with two choices

"Miles, do you want a snuggle first or to go and brush your teeth first?"

M:  "no, nothing"

me:  "Well, that wasn't a choice, you need to pick snuggle or brushing teeth"

M: again...."no, nothing"

me:  "you need to pick one, nothing isn't a choice"

M:  "I don't like choices"

ha!  Well, there you have it.  That put a quick end to the negotiations for sure!  This was then followed by lots of bargaining.  He didn't want to sleep in his room, it's too scary, he wants to go in mommy/daddy's room, etc.  Thankfully, Craig has gotten quite adept at working through this transition, so he managed to get him into to his own bed with no further fussing or tears.  whew.