Call us Crazy!

Today we rented a sod cutter and took out all of the sod in the backyard so we wouldn't have partially nice grass and really old stuff.  We rented the machine for a few hours and got everything cut and rolled up.  Not sure what we are going to do with all of the piles of grass, but maybe a dump run tomorrow.  Grass and dirt is a heavy combination.  Tomorrow we will remove the last few things and work on leveling and sprinklers.  Sadly they don't deliver sod on Sundays so I guess we will have to wait until next Saturday to put the new stuff in.  One week of lots of dirt coming inside.

The old grass before removal

Katie's job was to roll the grass

This thing makes great strips

I had to harvest all of the carrots before we decimated the garden area

Making progress

lots and lots of dirt

Katie loved climbing on the dirt piles

and done with that part!

 

Let the projects begin

Getting ready for a new baby is a lot of work again.  It seems like we have an unlimited amount of things to do around the house these days, and if that's not enough, Katie decided to rip down the wall paper in the nursery so now we get to redo that before Levi comes.  We have also decided that our backyard is not very kid friendly.  When you walk out past the patio area there is a big landscaped area with pavers and random plants.  It looks okay, but really blocks access to the grass area and needs a lot of upkeep and we don't have the time.  Dan and I have been discussing ripping it all out since we first saw our house.  Well, yesterday I decided to rip our all the petunias and lavender!  When Dan got home he helped me rip some more stuff out to make room for some new sod in the back.

These are the before pictures when everything was looking nice

This is what we have done so far.   And the plan is to fill it up with grass.  Our yard has sooooo much landscaping already we really don't need this stuff!

Hopefully we can finish clearing it out this week and maybe put in sod over the weekend.... I know I am optimistic.

The Grand Canyon

We drove to the Grand Canyon from Arches. We got to go through Monument Valley on the way.  Since it was a long day already we decided not to make an extra stop and just enjoy it from the road as the last thing Utah had to offer.

 

Monument Valley from the Car

Katie's self portraits

 I hate to generalize a whole state, but Arizona, you were the ugliest state in our adventure!  Without the Grand Canyon I'm not sure what you have to offer.  Anyways we entered the Grand Canyon from the East Gate for the dessert views from the Watchman Tower

After setting up camp we headed down to the rim for some sunset views of the Canyon.  Dan and Katie went ahead of me to make the sunset on time and when I was almost to the rim I walked up on a huge elk.  I was about 8 feet from her.  It was shocking.  I could hear the elk calls but didn't know what animal was making them.  Dan and Katie came back to see them and we saw the sunset.

The next morning we went on a Junior Ranger hike about photography for Katie.  Katie learned lots of great tips and took some cute pictures on the hike.

A picture of Daddy using the one third rule

new perspective rule

make it fun

okay I got one of her too

 After the hike, Katie had completed all of the activities required to become a Junior Ranger at Grand Canyon!  She said her pledge and got a certificate and a badge.  She loves the rangers.

A Jr. Ranger at her 3rd park

Katie and her badge

 Once the hike was over we decided to hike some more along the rim on the Trail of Time.  It had great views even though I was getting really hungry and hot.  Do pregnant women not get these urges?

That is Dan and Katie on the right side of the picture on the white rocks

We ended our hike with a fabulous lunch at one of the nice hotels and Katie went to a story time with another ranger.

That evening we went to the IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon.  It was awesome.  Katie never sits through movies and she had her eyes wide the entire time and was so excited!   A great end to an awesome vacation!

The Delicate Arch and Canyonlands

We wanted to do the Delicate Arch hike so badly, but it was rated strenuous- a 3 mile round trip with elevation gain, no shade, and steep drop-offs.  We decided to wake up at 5:30 this morning to do the hike- Dan woke up a half hour earlier to make breakfast.  It was a lovely 68 when we started the hike and it was tough but slowly we made it all the way up.  We had to follow these little piles of rocks as trail markers.  Some people got very lost.  There was this boy who went the wrong way.  He came up on the bottom of the arch and yelled out to all of us, "Excuse me, Does anyone know where the Arch is?  I am utterly lost."  He was literally sitting on the base of the arch in its shade but couldn't tell because of his angle.  It seemed like something from a TV show.  Eventually his family found him.

Early on our trail- about 6:30 am

hiking up the slickrock

getting closer

a small arch along the way

We made it!

The Delicate Arch

That's Dan and Katie under there

so spectacular and worth the crazy hike for me

Dan was still feeling spunky and went to see the petroglyphs too

When we were walking back down it was up to 88, which felt very hot for me.  I felt bad for the throngs of people trying to make the hike at this point in the day. 

After some trendy $40 brunch/ snacks we decided to head over to Canyonlands National Park Island in the Sky to do the Grand View hike.  When we got here Katie had fallen asleep and Dan joined her, so I guess I will wait for them to wake up. 

 When my loves woke up we went on the "easy" hike.  After doing the "strenuous" hike this morning, I thought I could easily handle this one.  Boy was I wrong.  It was way too hot.  I couldn't make it to the end and had to sit and rest for a long time to cool down.  Still great views. 

That top layer below me is 1,300 feet down

stunning views

my hikers

Katie and her car

My camera can not do this place justice

Katie's motorcycle

They made it to the end