Arches

So there are these things called "slot canyons" and we saw a couple...here's one at Arches, big view where kids are little, closer view where kids are seeable

We did a rather long hike at Arches (though not as long as it could have been...we turned around at the split of the trail where it got "hard"...ha!  The last stretch we did I sent the kids on ahead so I could take pictures; or maybe so I could rest.  :  )  Let me just say trying to keep up with three very much in shape teenagers at 7k + elevation is no easy task.  On this particular hike Macey turned back before the rest of us so she got some quite time at the trailhead reading her book...which sounds nicer than it was because her story was that we left her behind...

see the arch in the background?  pretty cool

bottom looking up and top looking down...this was not a stretch for those afraid of heights!

 josh going up...

 Daniel at the top...and Maddie at the top...I would not let Josh go all the way up there...there was no net!!

coming back down

Macey "patiently" waiting for us at the end of the trail.

On the way down the kids decided to take an alternative path (that was slightly more challenging and slightly off the beaten path)...they had fun.

Miscellaneous

 Josh got in a number of dips over spring break...at the hotel in Vegas, at our cabin near Zion (twice) at the hotel in Moab...Macey ventured in once but mostly it was josh having fun in the sun!

 our crew loading up the mini-van...we loved this car!!

 some fun on the bus to the Grand Canyon trailhead

Ooh Aah Point

 starting off it ...  let there be no question, if you tumbled off the side of trail, it was a long, long, long way down...

 switchback after switch back...ok going down, really quite difficult coming back up!!

 the views were magnificent!!!  its hard to take it all in when you are there...and hard to convey in pictures too!

 this is looking up at the trail we had just come down....back and forth and back and forth...

 and there is our destination - Ooh Aah Point!

 taking a break at the point to take in the views and take a breather

switchback again from lower down

 Josh and Cindy on the way up

picturesque

after... We Made It!!

Grand Canyon

The next morning (Monday) we went back to the Grand Canyon, this time entering from the South Entrance just up the street from our hotel.  

from the South Kaibab Trailhead we headed down below the rim to Ooh Aah Point

 the before picture:

We drove around for a bit and then headed to the trailhead where we intended to take a hike down into the canyon.  Its stunning the number of people who come to the Grand Canyon but never venture even a little bit below the rim.  We found a hike we thought we could handle, confirmed the how-and-where-tos with a ranger and set off for "Ooh Aah Point", theoretically named because once you get there you want to say "Oh!" and "Ah!".  At the end of the day we were ready to rename it "hike if you dare" point or maybe the "trail of tourist tears" point because though it was supposed to be a "moderate" hike it had all the hallmarks of a much, much harder one...super steep inclines, sheer cliffs with no railings, switchbacks over and over, crying people wondering how they were going to make it up, and of course, us...we might have had a crier in our midst and we might have despaired of making it back to the top in one piece...to be clear, the three teenagers seemed to have no problems, it was the mom (me) and the youngest (Josh) who thought it was a slight bit challenging...