Day 3-Adrift and Davis Gulch

Monday morning we woke up adrift.  The house boat had come untied and we were floating in the middle of our canyon.  The boys quickly jumped on the boat and jetskiis to prevent them from getting smashed into the rocks.  It was a very crazy morning trying to get re-anchored and we almost lost my little Allie in the process. So thankful for the protection over her this morning.  

Wee hours of the early morning as people woke up realized we were adrift; the boys got right to work

Once we were back into shape with the house boat we took off to go on another hike up Davis Gulch.  Blake carrying Allie across the deep water

Sophie had found her own snake for the hike.  She loves her snake her cousin Adam gave her

Such awesome scenery

A crawdad that was found along the way

Sophie so happy to be out of her pack

The fam

The kids had a great time along the way finding tad-a-poles, frogs, lizardss

The girls 

Don't know how this happened, but I had to take a picture of Sophie sucking a bink

The boys trying hard to pull the boat in during the wind storm

We spent the afternoon inside doing indoor activities since it was so windy.... painting nails

Play dough creation's...a cinnamon roll

The kids having a great time with the play dough

Some of the older generations masterpieces....a self portrait from Papa and Cory with his crown

The boys wanted to make sure we were anchored well so we wouldn't wake up in the morning and run into the same problem

Tough Boys

We had a family meeting at night to discuss "worst case" as Blake always puts it.  Worst case was the boat getting blown over in the wind storm.  We created a disaster plan of what to do.  Needless to stay, I slept with life jackets at my side that night.

Day 2- Swimming and Indian Ruins

Sunday we had a great day; a lot of relaxing and a little bit of hiking.

The girls rafted around in the morning

We brought a little blow up pool for Sophie to put up on top of the boat.  Sophie LOVES the water and LOVES splashing.  

Sophie drying off with daddy

 I was surprised to find this little fish swimming in the water

Allie, Lil, and Cam worked for hours building their own rendition of Lake Powell in the sand

Lake Powell



Hanging out in the water with daddy.  The lake water was cooler than in years past, but the weather was perfect so the water felt great after your body was finally submerged in

Sunday evening we headed over to the Indian Ruins.  We seem to hike these every year we come

You can't tell from the picture but there is just a little trail up the side of the mountain to the top.



Kind of freaky for me this year.  I was nervous that Allie didn't quite understand that if she stepped to far in one direction she would go plummeting into the water.  I hung onto the strap of her life vest for extra comfort

Pictures from the boat of everyone hiking up.  I can't believe the Indians really enjoyed living up on the cliffs and the trek it would take them to get home

The kids in one of the Indian homes

Sophie wasn't enjoying her ride inside the life vest.  We had forgotten the backpack back on the house boat.

Everyone coming back down.... sliding forward down the mountain

Blake and Allie riding back on the boat

Hanging on the boat with Mama

Love this picture of Blake smiling at Soph

Sophie eventually learned it wasn't going to get her anything to scream in her life vest

A few things that were collected throughout the day-a baby frog

Love this pic of the kids checking out the frog inside the bin

Allie holding a frog

Day 1- Departure

Another 2 years has arrived again....time for the biennial Lake Powell Trip.  We headed down on a Friday after Sophie got her 6 month shots; which ended up being a smart move.  We made the drive in 10 1/2 hours and Sophie took 2 GREAT naps for us on the way.  Saturday morning we got up early to load the boat.

Bullfrog....the start of our vacation

Some of the crew before we boarded the boat

Allie and me as we were heading upstream to find a spot to doc the boat

The kiddos all hanging out on the front of the boat

Cam and Allie

Sophie enjoying the ride.  We made our 4 hour boat trek up to the Escalante, the same spot we had been 2 years previously.  I was so excited no one was there because there is a great beach for the kids to play on and a fire pit for s'mores



Picture of the boat docked on our beach

The first night Monica helped the kids whip up some homemade Root-bear

Taking off to explore

Our little family headed out on the jet ski to explore Davis Gulch.  It's an adventure every time we come because the water level is so different we never know how far we are going to be able to drive into each canyon. 

Blake and the girls

Me and the girls

Finding "tad-a-poles" as Allie started to call them

Following daddy on a hike

Footprints in the sand

Awesome hole in the rock that we always look forward to checking out in Davis.  Great start to such a fun vacation

Off To NEVERLAND!

Allie was privileged to attend a Peter Pan Birthday Party today.  All the kids were supposed to dress up.  Since Allie was Tinker Bell for Halloween, we busted out the old costume and used it once again.  

Our family is also off to Neverland at Lake Powell, hence Allie with her braided hair.  It makes for the easiest hair maintenance for the week.  We are leaving in the morning and will return in 10 days.  Hopefully we won't run into Captain Hook or Croc while we are down there :)  Happy Vacationing!!!!