Arches and more Arches

We went over to Moab and Arches National Park the other day. It was such a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, and no wind! It was a great time other than having to pack the kids on many hikes because we wore them out. Collin was quite difficult at times, refusing to walk, refusing to be packed, refusing to be good...you get the idea! We even ended up packing Mackenzie quite a bit because she REFUSED to walk after a while. She was so tired. It was quite hard at times, but really worth it. We really did enjoy it. We also noticed that we were the only one in the entire park with two toddlers!

The North Window

Pinetree Arch

Broken Arch

On our way to Sand Dune Arch

Off the beaten path

Delicate Arch

We would have loved to be on the other side of the canyon under the arch, but it was a 4 mile round trip hike...no way said Collin and Mackenzie. So instead we took the 1 mile round trip hike to look across the canyon at it...

and to stop and smell the flowers...

and to throw some rocks...

and to play with more rocks...

and of course to take some family pics.

The Three Gossips

Sheep Rock

Balance Rock

Going to Balance Rock

Parade of Elephants

Turret Arch at the Windows

Double ArchWe wanted to take this short hike over there, but after 6 hours in the park, the kids had had it and both of our arms were soooo sore from packing them.

Love of Photography

Or should I say Love of Taking Pictures, since I really don't know much about photography. I do love to take pictures, a lot of them. I can really appreciate some quality photographs. Photography is one thing that I really want to learn more about...take some classes, want to read books about, etc. I just never seem to find the time. When I pull out the camera to try new stuff at home, the kids get all excited because they want to play with the buttons and lenses instead of sit cute and smile. :) Well, I LOVE my new camera, so I really am going to try to get the most out of it. Today I played around with some different buttons, having no clue what I was doing, but I could definitely see the effects in the different pictures I took. It got me excited so I'm really going to try to learn how to utilize some of the advanced options on my camera. Here are 2 pics that I took, and hopefully there will be more to come as a result of me using some settings rather than Auto.

My sweet boy Collin. I love this picture.

This picture is junk, but it got me excited about some cool things I could do with my camera. If you look closely, there is a shadow of Mackenzie in front of the dresser. She moved so quickly, otherwise it would have been more prominent.

Rockin' buddies!

These two are the best of friends (even though they do fight sometimes). They would be lost without each other. They love to climb up into my great-grandmother's chair and rock away together and giggle at each other.