Loma to Westwater on the Colorado River

 So for Leslie and I (and our men) life is about to get a little more difficult. . . adding another one to our brood will make overnights trickier (but not impossible. . . I've been trying to convince Brian). We figured with the addition of their new awesome boat, our days off lining up on Mon/Tues and a 30 mile section of river neither of us had ever done, it was a given that we pull an overnight river trip with the kiddos. 

It is SOOOO great to have the river do all the work. You can pile your gear as high as you want (debating on those massive thermarests with 3 in' memory foam? bring it. Liesel's mini tent? bring it. Steak? Cinnamon rolls? True Moo chocolate milk? bring it all.) and live in style. As Brian appropriately stated upon arriving at our killer campsite: "Backpacking is stupid." And after being on the river, it kinda feels that way. . . :)

Brian and Clay paddled the majority of the way to get us to our campsite in Black Rocks. I have to say that the geology and scenery of this area was more spectacular than I was picturing. Almost the entire route was in western Colorado except for the last few miles when we entered Utah. 

Both Owen and Liesel are really great about wearing their lifejackets. They both jumped in the water (which was pretty darn cold) several times and both took naps (and both preferred napping on papa not mama). 

Our hoagies & Leslie's killer biceps rowing us down the river. 

My two kids. One massive bump and a ball of energy. 

Our campsite was prime. You can barely see Brian on the cliff across from the boat in the photo on the left (below). We played around the rocks, all of took a swim and O and L spent some quality time getting sand up noses, in eyes and pretty much everywhere. 

 I can't get enough photos of this little one and her antics. Check out her dunking her head in and digging the sand. So cute!

The only really difficult part of the whole trip was keeping these two in check while trying to make dinner. Quite a feat. But they were both in bed by 7:15 and we stayed up eating cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk for another 3+ hours. After 5 days of isolation, being with friends was SOOO great.

Our camp the next morning. Clay even packed a pirate flag that he and B hoisted on a pole and up the rock the night before. 

 apple appetizers for breakfast . . . both of these kids were up way too early. 

 future river guide? 

 I would love to repeat this trip. 1000x. Huge props to the Allred's for letting us crash at their place the night before we launched, buying all the food,  having the gear and inviting us along on one of the coolest adventures of the year. I think all of us were smiling like this by the end.