Valley of Fire

I think I made Nate's week when I texted him a few days ago, "Let's go hiking this Saturday." 

He wrote back, "Atta girl!"

It's been a busy couple of weeks for him at work, so we weren't going to let his Saturday off slip by with just some grocery shopping and cleaning. The fighting and tears from the kids started before we had even pulled out of the neighborhood, but things improved from there. We went out to Valley of Fire State Park.

Emmy lasted a little while in the backpack, but all she really wanted was to explore and get dirty just like her brother and sister.

 I have not seen Jansen this happy in a long time. He was talking non-stop, very loudly most of the hike...he just kept expressing how much fun he was having and how we should do this every Saturday. Natalie loved finding small "caves" she could nestle herself in.

 Sometimes your church shoes are also your hiking shoes.

 Taking a break...

I think we ruined some pants. The mudroom is littered with sand. Backpacks, bags, and water bottles are piled in a corner of the house. But we had a great Saturday.