This is going to be a long post.
For some reason I just want to cram it all into one, so here we go!
This year the extended Bryan family went to Capitol Reef for vacation.
Ben fell asleep on the way down and the kids accessorized him.
As we drove through some pretty remote, tiny communities out in the middle of the desert, Andy said, "What would you do if you lived here?" I replied, "Move!"
I much prefer cool, green climates to that of hot and dry so it was very exciting to see some dark storm clouds in the distance as we were approaching our destination. I kept hoping we were headed in the direction of the clouds and sure enough, in about 15 minutes, we dropped 40+ degrees and got dumped on! It was a pounding rain and it lasted for a good 15 minutes or so.
It was so refreshing!
Merill had made reservations at the Capitol Reef Resort for us in their covered wagons!
There was one wagon per family. It worked out perfectly...although Jenny's family spilled over into Grandpa and Grandma's wagon :) It's hard to fit 8 people into one of those.
They were pretty nifty though!
(I pulled this picture off their website because I never got a good shot of ours)
Ben enjoyed relaxing on the king size bed with his iPad
The whole crew...
We are missing a couple of missionaries, and three other adult grandchildren...and Jake (15).
That first evening we went on a short, little jaunt into the park...The Goosenecks Overlook...
The kids had fun climbing all over on the rocks.
Ben was kind of in a grumpy mood.
He sat down on the rocks and didn't want to move...
We eventually got a bit of a smile out of him though.
We saw a few little lizards scurrying around...
The next morning I cranked up the little AC unit in the wagon and Ben and I hunkered down for a few hours while everyone went on a hike.
We lasted for quite a while but eventually it got too warm so I put Ben in the stroller and we went out in the heat (but at least there was a bit of a breeze) for a walk.
Here are the hikers...
About the point where I didn't know what I was going to do to entertain Ben and keep cool, the van arrived with my family (I was very happy to see them) and we drove back into the park for "lunch" which consisted of pies purchased from the Gifford Homestead in Fruita :)
Ben played ball with his cousins.
They are always so good to him.
Grandpa got in on the action too.
Storm clouds eventually rolled in and so we drove back to camp.
Here are the boys playing ball...
It started to rain and it was glorious!
We enjoyed it for a few minutes before heading into the wagons.
Ben and Andy fell asleep on the bed and the other three kids went to keep cousin Aubrey company in her wagon since she was all alone.
It really came down!
At one point I even got a few raindrops on my pants through the canvas roof.
It was so awesome! I just sat there relaxing and reading.
After the storm some of the group headed out for another hike...
It stayed nice and cool in the wagon this time so I didn't mind staying behind with Ben.
After they were done we all had dinner across the street at a fun pizza place.
The next morning all the kids went swimming. Andy was so good to take Ben in the pool for about an hour.
Apparently the pool was rather chilly. Ben was shivering the whole time but was loving it!
Once again, his cousins indulged him with playing ball
Josh hung out in the hot tub, every now and then taking a dip in the icy pool.
That day we drove over to Boulder.
The drive took us up into the mountains and it was quite beautiful.
We stopped at several outlooks along the way.
Once down in Boulder we ate at a little restaurant named Hell's Backbone Grill (You can almost see the name in the background. It was interesting food ;) Ben fell asleep in my lap and didn't eat at all.
Then we went to an Anasazi museum.
My family knows that this is usually not my favorite past time, but hey, I was happy to enjoy the air conditioned building for a while :)
Ben was surprisingly content in his stroller for the whole time we walked around...bless his heart!
Then we took quite a drive through some fun areas to the Singing Canyon (a small slot canyon).
It was quite a beautiful little area!...not very deep and about 20 degrees cooler than outside of the canyon.
Again, lots of opportunities to climb
While in the canyon we heard thunder...another storm coming! I loved it!
We didn't get as much rain out of this one as we were driving but it was still a welcome respite from the heat.
That night we all ended up eating at a little burger/shake joint in Torrey.
Even though our campfire in the middle of our circle of wagons was not working :(it was a gas fire pit and something inside was broken) every evening most of the family hung out and talked in the dark until late...the kids played night games and talked...Ben and I hung out in the wagon :) It was just easier to keep him contained and happy that way.
The next morning we packed up and went home.
We tried to make it to Provo to get tickets to a dress rehearsal for Studio C but by the time we got there they were all gone. We were all disappointed but anxious to get home so it worked out okay.
It was a successful trip...Ben only had one seizure and 2 out of the 3 nights he slept in his own lower bunk. The last night he fell out as he slept even though we had put pillows between the bed frame and the mattress to try and keep him from doing so.
All the kids agreed that it was a fun trip and Matt kept saying "We should come here more often" :)
I just kept warning Andy he better not burry me in one of the few cemeteries we saw...that it would be like dying a second death :) Can you tell I don't like heat?
