Hole in The Rock

On the road again.  I just can't wait to be on the road again. If your ever on a road trip in Southern Utah- a really fun place to stop is Hole in The Rock.  It's about 30 minutes south of Moab.  It's a fun little artsy place.  It's got all sorts of fun metal sculptures, a petting zoo, and delicious ice cream.  The thing my kids love the most however, is the gumball machine.  We have made it a tradition to stop.  My kids always look forward to it.   Oh, and I can't forget the lizard catching!

Dove Creek Spring Break 2016

Typically when we go to Utah we take a trip to Dove Creek to visit Darren's grandma and family members. Dove Creek is a tiny little town of 703 people.  There is no stop sign, or stop light, so if you don't know it's there- you might just drive right through it.   It's always special when we go there. Darren's biological dad died when he was 2 years old.  His brother Corey was 4 and his mom was pregnant with Erica.  His dad was riding his motorcycle and was hit by a drunk driver of a semi truck.  So, when we go to Dove Creek we usually visit his dad's grave.  Everyone down there loves Darren so much because he reminds them of his dad that they all loved and miss so much.  I can still see the sadness in Grans eyes when she talks about loosing her son, Ronald Dean.  They called him Ronnie.  They say Darren has the same movements, body gestures, and mannerisms as his dad that he doesn't even remember. One time, sitting at the kitchen table, Darren paced back and forth between the counter and wall a few times.  Uncle Rick watched quietly and then said, "I've seen Ronnie make those exact footsteps and movements a hundred times.  In that exact place.  Just like Darren did." It's sad to think of the lose.  But usually we don't.  Usually we go down there and visit, and relax, and eat, and play cards, and marbles and have a great time.  They treat us like royalty!

 

One fun activity to do in Dove Creek is go to the river.  The kids caught crawdads, and a snake, and looked for arrowheads. It's always fun,

 If you want to know what Darren is going to look like in 20 years just take at look at this picture  of him with his uncle Mike.  I have to say- he's going to be handsome!

 Ok, in the next set of pictures you are going to see a cliff with a overhanging ledge at the top of it.  Well, we crossed the river, hiked up behind it, and Darren and Ellie went out to the edge for a picture  I was too scared.  I'm getting to be a scardy cat in my old age.  I don't think the pictures do it justice of how scary it was.

 

The last couple pictures are of me with Dixie,  Ronnie's sister.  And the last one is Gran.  We love them all so much! Oh, if you look in this picture right behind Darren's head that's a picture of his dad in the Navy.

Thanksgiving Point Children's Discovery Center

We spent a day at the Thanksgiving point museum, since we had never been there.  Athena came too and it was super fun.  Ellie and Kyle wanted to do the Canopy Tour.  You get tied in and do a bunch of obstacles 40 feet above the museum.  They loved it. Well, Ellie did.