Last Hurrah!

Carlton had a work trip in Louisville, CO last week, so we all tagged along for a road trip and one last trip before school starts. On our way to CO, we stopped in Vernal, UT for a one day rafting trip on the Green River! Our first rafting trip as a family started with a short hike to see petroglyphs.

There were six of us on our raft with a guide at the back. All six of us (kids included) rowed the raft. A couple were in front (pace setters) and we had kids behind them, with Carlton and I at the back. I sat behind Gavin while Carlton sat behind Avery. We were all supposed to row in a synchronized fashion, which the kids struggled to do. Gavin especially was more interested in asking a bunch of questions and looking around while smacking his oar against mine or the lady in front of him. Needless to say it was a bit frustrating for me since I had to keep telling him to watch the lady in front and match her oar.

The kids got a chance to swim in the river when it was calm and deep enough. The water was a bit cold! At lunchtime we pulled the rafts into shore and enjoyed some caesar salad with other goodies while the kids played in the water more. Then after lunch, we switched places on the raft so that Gavin and Carlton were on the same side.

While at lunch, we saw some carp in the water and also this crawfish. Then when we got back onto the river, we saw some bighorn sheep on the shore.

Since Gavin was still struggling to row at the right time, the guide came up to his part of the boat pretending to listen for a leak in the raft and pushed Gavin out of the raft!! LOL He was given plenty of warnings.

Carlton pulled Gavin back in the raft. Then Gavin and Avery each took turns helping the guide at the back of the raft.

Here is Avery pushing the guide into the river (left) and Gavin decided he wanted back in the water too (below).

Avery had to join in for one last swim along with everyone on our raft except me. I was not eager to be wet and cold!

Over the next few days I kept kids entertained while Carlton was at work. We visited the Butterfly Pavilion.

Avery's favorite bug in the exhibit was this Derby's Flower Beetle. Gavin's favorite was this Metallic Stag Beetle.

Then we enjoyed walking amongst the butterflies. I don't have a picture, but one of the larger butterflies landed on my hand and proceeded to lick my hand! It's tongue was about an inch long! Here's a video of some flying around and then one landed on Gavin: Gavin

The kids and I checked out this public pool with two slides.

They explored a couple playgrounds including the one to the right but it was a bit warm (mid-90's). So we found an indoor play place called Kids Empire where they played for a couple hours.

On our last day we ventured to Boulder where Avery found climbing rocks on Pearl Street (pedestrian mall).

The kids quickly grew bored of Pearl Street, so we went to the Museum of Boulder where they had a playzeum for the kids to explore. Here is a video of a music room.

Music room

One last picture of the view from the rooftop patio of the museum in Boulder. 

Summer Synopsis

Summer has been busy with kids doing summer camps, art classes, swim lessons, gymnastics, playdates, etc. Here are some videos of swim lessons:

Gavin

Avery

Avery going off the high dive at the pool:

Avery high dive

Gavin going off regular diving board:

Gavin diving

Harry Potter Potion making art class:

They both enjoyed a summer camp where they got to try aerial silks.

Gavin silks

Avery silks

Aunt Carol came for a visit as well and we enjoyed a few fun filled days with her, including doing an escape room!

Now we are gearing up for the beginning of school! Kids have a couple more days of freedom before school starts. We did a quick trip to CO last week but I will put that in another post.

Annual Camping Trip

For our annual Brinda/Slay camping trip we chose Flagstaff this year! We also decided to try dispersed camping instead of looking for a campground. Dispersed camping is basically finding a forest service road that allows free camping. Christine went up early and located a great spot for us that had room for both trailers, some shade and plenty of sunny spots for our solar panels!

Our first exploration was to check out the Lava River Cave which was not far from our campsite. It's a cave that was formed about 700,000 years ago, is about 3/4 mile long and stays about 40 degrees year round. Also, once you are out of sight of the entrance, it is pitch black inside, so you have to have flashlights or headlamps to hike it. This is the only picture I have:

The next day we checked out Walnut Canyon National Monument. This Canyon has cliff dwellings that date back to the 12th century. We did the Island Trail which goes down partially into the canyon and passes about 25 different cliff dwellings.

We visited Lowell Observatory where the kids got to play with different science experiments. We saw the telescope that was used to discover Pluto in 1930. We were also able to look through a few different telescopes set up outside to see Venus, the middle star of the handle of the Big Dipper, and M13 (the Great Hercules Cluster) which is a globular cluster containing several hundred thousand stars that are about 25,000 light years from Earth.

Each of the kids also built a model rocket and used the rocket launcher to test it. Carlton took video:

Brenden rocket

Avery rocket 

Gavin rocket

Our next destinations included Wupatki (also Lomaki and Wukoki) and the Sunset Crater. Wupatki Basin saw indigenous people in the area around the year 500 mostly passing through. After the eruption of Sunset Crater in 1085, the cinders helped the soil hold more moisture for crops. After the eruption, people farmed the land in the Wupatki Basin and built the pueblos Lomaki, Wukoki and Wupatki.

These first pictures show Lomaki.

There were collared lizards running around the area too and Carlton got a couple good pics!

Next stop was Wupatki Pueblo, the largest of the remaining pueblos. This one was 3 stories tall and had 104 rooms. It included a community room, Hohokam style ball court and a blowhole.

Here is Avery posing by the blowhole. It's a rare geological feature that acts as a natural vent to the vast tunnel system underground. The vent equalizes atmospheric pressure in the underground caverns, so depending on the weather you will either feel air being blown out or air being sucked in. The underground fractures extend 25 miles away.

Brenden, Gavin and I also explored Wukoki a bit. It was getting warm outside, so not everyone was excited about getting out of the car again.

There is a 35 mile scenic drive that takes you through the Wupatki National Monument and into Sunset Crater.

The volcano at Sunset Crater erupted in 1085 and scattered ash and cinder for miles.

Lots of vegetation growing in the cinders.

Avery thought this rock looked like a giant frog.

This is a lava lake that we took a walk through.

Our last day in camp we hiked Red Mountain Trail which takes you to a large cinder cone with a large amphitheater and hoodoos. 

There were two options on the trail, either use the ladder (like Christine to the left) or climb the gravelly cinder cone to get to the other side. Christine and I chose the ladder, everyone else did the cinder cone.

Cinder cone

The trail was pretty warm with very little shade, so we were ready to cool off! The next hike we did was near Snowbowl ski resort. It was about 1000 feet higher in elevation and in the forest, so much cooler!! The trail was Veit Springs Loop.

Our campsite and group selfies with the trailers.

We left Flagstaff and headed to Phoenix to visit with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days. We didn't stay too long - it was around 75 degrees in Flagstaff but about 105 in Phoenix! Ugh.

We enjoyed our time with Grandma, Grandpa and the kids got to play with their cousins.

That is all for now!!