Spring break '10-- Moab

Sean had spring break this week so we decided to take a little family vacation to Moab. I had never been, and Sean has only been to go off-roading. We both really wanted to visit Arches National Park. After we found a deal too good to pass up for lodging, we decided to head South!


Red Cliffs Lodge was awesome! This was the view from our patio. So pretty! It's a little ranch about 15 miles outside of Moab. They have a really good restaurant, horses, pool area, horseshoes, tennis, etc. Anywhere that gives you a warm cookie when you check in is a winner in my eyes! We hit Moab literally a few days before the busy season and all of the rates doubled. Score.

Playing horseshoes

Love this little dude.

Ready to go hiking!

My sister and her husband let us borrow their awesome hiking backpack. We used it a ton and are going to have to buy our own now because we liked it so much. We took the "Negro Bill" hike one morning and loved it! The scenery was gorgeous.

Sean and I named this hole in the rock the "pig snout" because that is exactly what it looks like!

Jackson loved hiking. I was worried he was going to hate the backpack, but he had a great time. Sean made it fun by jumping off of rocks with him and running up hills, etc.

At the end of the hike you come to one of the largest natural bridges in the United States. Jackson and I are standing under it in this picture.

Someone got a little tuckered out on the way down the trail...

Arches National Park

If you look hard, you can see the moon in this picture:

Hike to Delicate Arch:

We didn't realize you actually have to hike in to Delicate Arch until we got there. It's like a 3-mile hike and the last mile or so is up slick rock. After we got back and looked in our brochure, it ranked the hike as "strenuous." lol I don't know if I'd call it strenuous, but we were feeling the burn since we'd already hiked earlier. Anyway, it was well worth it. The arch is SO much cooler in person than in all of the pictures I've seen. The view is incredible!

I didn't realize just how big Delicate Arch is. Look how tiny Sean and Jackson look next to it!

Checking out the petroglyphs on the way back (back right).

We concluded the trip with a drive through Onion Creek. Again, amazing scenery and Sean was happy because it is considered off-roading and he got to drive through the creek a bunch of times.

A great family vacation. We will definitely be back!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

For some reason I am excited about St. Patrick's Day this year. Usually we just eat the traditional corned beef and cabbage and call it good. I think it's partly because I came across some cute ideas on a couple of blogs that I decided to try.

Lucky Charms cupcakes:

Lucky shirt:

I thought this was such a cute idea and since we always joke that Jackson is our good luck charm, I thought he needed one. The shirt was really easy to make and instructions are found here if you are interested in trying it. My friend Heidi also made some for her kids that turned out really cute:

We belong to a little playgroup in our neighborhood and today we had a St. Patrick's Day potluck. The weather rocked and we had a great time! My friend Sandra's son has this cool push toy that all of the kids LOVED.
Some of Jackson's buddies:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A new favorite

While I cook dinner most week nights and Sundays, I usually take Friday and Saturday nights off. We love to go out but sometimes have a hard time choosing where to go. A few weeks ago we weren't feeling up for a chain and wanted to try something new. We decided to try a place called Blue Lemon in Highland. Their motto is "pure clean food with a twist."

We loved it. We went back this weekend and still love it. Sean ordered "skirts on fire" both times and I have tried both the vegetable lasagna and the lemon grilled chicken B.L.T. Also, the tomato bisque is AWESOME.

Here's what their Web site says about their food: "Our clean food is all-natural, prepared in a manner designed to maintain and maximize nutrients. Never fried or microwaved, and absolutely never weighed down with anything artificial."

Isn't that great? Don't get me wrong, I love fried food too, but I feel good eating here. I heard somewhere that almost all of the entrees from Applebee's (which I do not enjoy) are pre-made and frozen. I don't know if that is true, but the food at Blue Lemon really does taste fresh.

One more thing: the kids menu is awesome. Jackson has had both the grilled chicken skewers and the baked mac and cheese. Both were good enough to be on the adult menu in my opinion. And I liked that the kids menu isn't comprised of chicken nuggets, corn dogs or something else that gets thrown in the microwave or I could make at home for 50 cents.

Anyway, try it if you are looking for something new!