Camp Moab

To kick summer off, the kids, the dogs, and I packed the mini van to the brim and headed south!!!  After a million potty stops, lunch, a visit with Grandpa Liddell, and half of Kingdom Keepers, we made it to the Moab KOA.  


KOA camping wasn't to shabby here.  With clean bathrooms and showers, a pool, and a bunch of spunky retierees  running the place, we were happy to call this place home for the next 4 nights.  The only down fall was the interesting neighbors we had!!


Check out our adventures:

The Sand Dune

 And they are off!!!

 Ash was  determined to run to the top

 Taking a little break

 Maddie on her way down

 Snacks are needed after all that uphill running

 Duke got SOOOOOO DIRTY

 Ash made it to the top!!!

Canyonlands National Park: Island In The Sky

 Beautiful Catus Flowers

 Maddie & Ryan always find caves to hide in!!

 Monkeys in front of Mesa Arch

 Still couldn't get a good pose after 3 shots!!  The boy must be 7 or something!!

This tree reminded Maddie of Harry Potter!!!  

Canyonlands National Park: Needles

 Maddie & Ryan in front of an old Indian Grainery

 A fresh water spring coming out of the side of the mountain

 Look Mom!!  I am going to fall!!

 A old cowboy camp

Mesa Verde National Park:

After seeing Needles, I asked the kids if they wanted to go the extra 150 miles to Mesa Verde and all of them very enthusiastically agreed, so we set off to Colorado.  We were all glad we did!!  This was the best part of our trip!!!  I love the adventurous kiddos in my life!!!

 Cliff Palace

 Does this guy look familar?  His name in Kokopelli.  He is Known as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller.  There is a myth that this was his cliff house!! (below)

 The only way to see Cliff Palace is with a Ranger.  This is Beth!!!  It was very worth taking a tour!!!  Maddie had learned about Cliff Palace last year in Social Studies.  She kept telling me how being at the real thing was so much better than reading about it!!  I aggree!!

 The round circle are test strips for different types of bounding agents to help restore Cliff Palace.  If you look at the bottom of the one on the left, you will see a corn cob.  The Indians would "cement" in cork cobs in the wall.  

 Here is a Kiva.  I found a way to embarrass myself in front of the whole tour group with one of these.  If you want to hear the story, you have to ask!!

 This is the route up and down the Indians took!!!

Citizenship Of The Year

A few weeks before school got out Maddie was telling me that she couldn't understand why her teacher didn't pick her for Student Of The Month all year long.  This is Maddie we are talking about!!  The sweetest, most caring, 10 year old around!!!  Honestly, I couldn't figure it out either, but some how life went on!!!  

During the last week of school, Mrs. Lawerance, Maddie's teacher, told me to make sure I was at the school's award assembly.  MYSTERY SOLVED!!!  Maddie put Student Of The Month to shame and got the Citizenship Of The Year Award.  Only one child from each class got the award!!

GREAT JOB MADDIE!!!

Mrs. Lawerance & Maddie

NAT-SOO-PAH

For Memorial Day we met the Kishiyama's in Idaho at NAT-SOO-PAH Hot Springs.

Nat-Soo-Pah is an Indian name meaning “Magic Mineral Water.” About a hundred years ago the Shoshone Indians lived in the nearby foothills and used this spring for baths. Some of the earlier settlers built bath houses for men and women, and in approximately 1926 the pool was built.

It was a great place to camp!!!  It had full hook ups and the pool was a lot of fun!!!  It was in the 90's and the hot tubs were a little over 100 degrees.  This was perfect since Memorial Day is still chilly in Idaho.  The kids loved jumping off the diving board and sliding down the slide.

Since we were in the middle of the desert, we were able to sneak away for some 4 wheeler rides and shooting.  When it rained, the kids caught up on some movie watching and the adults played cards.  

What a nice relaxing weekend!!!

 The boys accidentally fell in the creek!!!

 Ashley pushed the dogs in too!!