Our latest canyon hike

It was definitely filled with excitement! And I must praise the Lord! We had an absolutely gorgeous day! The temperature was perfect, the sky gloriously blue, and no wind!
Look at that blue sky!!

We went down a trail we'd never been to before. The creek was running along it and the kids found a small log lying over the trail and they went over it, well the older ones did. Gilbert had a time getting across it. I had to help him back over and he slipped off then and almost went in the water. I had him though so he made it safely.

Then Cora climbed up a hill and couldn't figure out how to get down so I left the baby and the other kids with Kyla and went up after Cora. Well, Emma, Ellis, Gilbert, and Fuzz followed me. We got down another way than we went up. We saw a cave from the top, but it was too far to trek in the limited time we had so we'll be going there next time. Exploring is so much fun!

On our way back to the van we stopped because everyone was hot and sweaty and they wanted to wade in the water to cool off. The water was only ankle deep in this one spot so I let the kids take off their shoes and roll up their pants and wade. Well Wes found a deep hole and got dunked. Thankfully Kyla can be very brave when need be and she went after him and got him before the current swept him away. Wes is fine, he was a little scared naturally, but he recovered quickly.

Wes after his dunk

When we got back to the van there were a couple of bees inside. I had left the windows cracked, not such a good idea. Emma was near hysterics! LOL I got two bees waved out and then hurried the kids in. Then Fuzz would not jump in the van so I had to pick her up and get her in. there were bees everywhere! Finally Kyla and I both got in, two bees snuck in with us. I got one waved out and Cora smashed the other. While everyone was getting buckled in their seats there were bees buzzing all around the outside of the van. I won't be leaving the windows down again! No one got stung, thankfully.

We were all worn out, but a good worn out feeling.

I'll have to add pics later...

Cool rock!

Canyon trip

We go to Palo Duro Canyon several times a year. Usually it is just me and the kids. We went yesterday and had loads of fun. We went to a different part of the park than we usually do. And we found caves!

There were some other people out there too and we must thank them for showing us some of the caves and for escorting some of the kids through the first time. The one was very narrow in the opening and was very dark for a short period, that made it exciting!

Kyla did not go. She held the baby so Mom could come back with the other kids. Ellis did not go the first time but he did go on the return route with Mom. Mom did not let Wes go, he stayed with Kyla. Next time he'll go though. I hope we have some more nice weather soon so we can do some more exploring!

Here are some pics:

Mom and Wes and Sara

Cora the Brave (the first one to go through one of the tunnel caves)
Entrance to the dark tunnel cave


Opening (the strangers who showed us the cave and helped the kids)
The 'out' side of the cave

You can read my eldest daughter's account of our trip here