The new baby is set to arrive in just under 3 weeks now. Life as we know it is about to change dramatically. We are all very excited to meet our new little addition, but we are also going to miss our little family of 3. Before baby number 2 comes in and takes over everything, we decided it would be nice to take one last family trip with just us 3. So, we packed up the car with our bags, bikes, apple juice, and snacks and headed to Moab, Utah.
We stayed at the beautiful Red Cliffs Lodge in the middle of the canyon and the view was incredible.
We stayed at the beautiful Red Cliffs Lodge in the middle of the canyon and the view was incredible.
Our first day started with a hike through Arches National Park. At first Caleb wasn't all that excited about the hike and insisted that daddy carry him. As we hiked up the rocky path towards Balanced Rock with daddy carrying Caleb, Caleb yelled, "Hey daddy, daddy, why you whispering daddy?" He thought daddy was whispering something in his ear as he carried him, when in fact daddy just couldn't breathe and was gasping for air. It was hilarious, and it became our go to phrase for the rest of the trip.
After Balanced Rock, Caleb warmed up and decided to start walking on his own. Good for daddy, but bad for Caleb's shoes as we quickly realized that Caleb loves puddles. Every puddle we came across he made it his mission to jump in.
And then look back at us and laugh.
On our next hike to Double Arch, Caleb began his sand collection. A lady we met on our hike gave Caleb a plastic baggie so he could collect mementos in it from his vacation.* From that point on we stopped every 2 seconds to fill the bag, pick up and throw sand, build 'cupcakes', or make castles.
We stocked up on snacks before starting our hikes because we knew it was going to be a long day. We bought Odwalla Superfood juice for mommy and daddy and apple juice for Caleb. Turns out, Caleb LOVES Superfood. Baby boy will not touch any green food normally, but devoured this drink. He kept calling it "new juice." A name, and juice, that has stuck since our trip. New juice is now served at every meal and we are thrilled he is finally getting some much needed green in his diet.
The next place we went, Sand Dune Arch, was recommended as a favorite for kids and we quickly learned why. Picture a giant sand box. It took us an hour just to get into the dunes because Caleb kept stopping to play in the sand. We would finally convince him to move forward and play with the miles of additional sand in front of us, only to be stopped again two steps later. Caleb had SO much fun there. We wont even mention how long it took us to convince him to leave.
Caleb looks so tiny here compared to his surroundings.
The only thing Caleb insisted we do on our vacation was ride bicycles. So, we took the bikes to a nice path with a beautiful view. We were really amazed at how far Caleb made it. His little legs were working so hard. We had countless professional bikers pass us and compliment him on his cool bike or yell "good job." Eventually our ride led us to a tunnel and that is where we stopped, and stayed, FOREVER. When our little man likes something, he really likes it. We took turns riding through the tunnel over and over and over and over again while singing songs and listening to our voices echo. It really was a good time.
Can you believe at almost 8 months pregnant mommy can still ride a bicycle?**
After bikes we headed to Canyonlands National Park for some more hiking and sightseeing. Our first hike was up to Mesa Arch and the view was truly one of the most beautiful sights we've ever seen.
After a busy day of biking and hiking as soon as we got back to the car Caleb was knocked out. We decided we would make the 45 minute drive back to the hotel (the opposite direction of town) to let him sleep, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he woke up and announced he was starving.
We began our last day in Moab with a pretty long hike to the top of Whale Rock (the middle bump in the picture below) where Caleb found more puddles to jump and play in.
On the way back down Caleb wasn't feeling the hiking thing anymore (see face below) so we decided to take the car on some off road trails before we headed to our hummer tour.
See that silver speck on the corner of the cliff in the pictures above. That is our Infiniti, and yes it was as scary as it looked. Even daddy got a little freaked out when another car would pass us. Probably because the total width of the road was only about 6 feet and the cliff dropped straight down. After a couple loops around some deadly corners we all agreed we had lived dangerously enough and it was time to go to the Hummer tour.
Caleb was a little apprehensive at first about the hummer (also because we had to wake him up from a comatose sleep to put him on the hummer) but after a couple miles he was loving it. So glad he enjoyed it because mommy and the baby did not. Women who are almost 8 months pregnant should not ride in a hummer over the mountains of Utah. Yes it was safe, yes mommy was strapped in, but words cannot describe the discomfort of having a baby resting peacefully in your lap one minute, and in your throat the next. Not fun. Ever.
Caleb was a little apprehensive at first about the hummer (also because we had to wake him up from a comatose sleep to put him on the hummer) but after a couple miles he was loving it. So glad he enjoyed it because mommy and the baby did not. Women who are almost 8 months pregnant should not ride in a hummer over the mountains of Utah. Yes it was safe, yes mommy was strapped in, but words cannot describe the discomfort of having a baby resting peacefully in your lap one minute, and in your throat the next. Not fun. Ever.
Caleb really loved riding over all the big 'ol bumps in the hummer. He still talks about how his hummer va-va-voom went up the big 'ol bumps and asks at least once a week when we can go on vacation again.
We are so glad our little impromptu family trip was a success. Caleb's life is going to be SO different soon, he will no longer be the center of mommy and daddy's universe and get our undivided attention. We know he's going to be a great big brother, so we are not worried, but we hope our little man knows just how special he is to us. Hopefully he realizes that it was only because he was such a little blessing that we wanted to do it all over again.
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* Apparently these are the sorts of things that experienced vacationers with children think to bring. We are clearly not those parents, and felt pretty stupid when the lady whipped out her magical baggie and Caleb's face lit up.
** Professional bikers did not compliment mommy on her amazing ability to get all that belly up and moving on a bicycle nor yell "good job." Mommy did however receive a lot of looks of disbelief and some very concerned smiles.
We are so glad our little impromptu family trip was a success. Caleb's life is going to be SO different soon, he will no longer be the center of mommy and daddy's universe and get our undivided attention. We know he's going to be a great big brother, so we are not worried, but we hope our little man knows just how special he is to us. Hopefully he realizes that it was only because he was such a little blessing that we wanted to do it all over again.
______
* Apparently these are the sorts of things that experienced vacationers with children think to bring. We are clearly not those parents, and felt pretty stupid when the lady whipped out her magical baggie and Caleb's face lit up.
** Professional bikers did not compliment mommy on her amazing ability to get all that belly up and moving on a bicycle nor yell "good job." Mommy did however receive a lot of looks of disbelief and some very concerned smiles.
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