San Juan River, Utah

Paddling through the canyon corridor -- that's our raft. There were three rafts-- all part of our party and river permit

Me paddling one of the class II rapids in the mini raft

The whole gang! 

Cath showin' us how it's done

Bighorn sighting!! There were TONS!

Spencer, Brian and Jacob all in the mini raft . . . this photo cracks me up

Mom & Hannah. 

Paddling around with Liesel. She was ALWAYS game for this little raft.

MUD! This child loves it. 

And so do we! All of us are laughing at Spencer who completely dunked in the mud (head under). 

Lots of lizzards

It was so great to have Catherine along! The kids loved having their auntie. Liesel even got to share her tent with her. I loved having her to talk to and play with!

Beach relaxing. Yes, Lindsey, I'm wearing your capris. sorry. 

Killer. :) This little one surprised me by loving river life as well! She was pretty darn go with the flow for missing naps and later bedtimes. 

Cath and Liesel setting up camp for the night.

Me jumping into a pothole

Cath and I painting the canyon one morning

Mudfest-- check out Allison! If you can find her. . . :)

Bottom of the boat and toddler legs. 

Hide and seek with Cath! 

We are looking at the boat stuck on the rock. The cooler sitting in the eddy we had just fished out of the current along with a bunch of other gear.

B cooking breakfast and Catherine winning over Liesel through a sugar high . . . who doesn't love M&Ms in the morning?

Hannah doesn't mess around. 

So if I could pick my most favorite vacation ever, this just might be it. I loved EVERYTHING about the San Juan River. Sometimes as a parent, I ache for that carefree feeling-- where nothing feels heavy or overly complicated-- where nothing feels adult. 

And I especially love the feeling in love with my children. Where I don't need to tell we are almost there, or beg them to hush for a flight, or feel frustrated and overwhelmed because traveling is stressful and vacations are supposed to be fun and I'm just tired. On the river, kids can be kids. There is no rushing. There are no phones, computers or excess noise. There's the rush of water, the squish of mud and a quick dip to make the heat disappear. I came home feeling so on cloud 9 that it was almost bizarre to return to normal life. I am completely convinced that rafting is the best way for our family to recreate/vacation. Everyone is happy. There are dozens of rivers/stretches of river to explore and navigate within a days drive of Moab. Everyone feels fulfilled. Everyone returns refreshed. 

Now all we need is a raft. ;)

Some of my favorite moments:

Catherine and I decided to take the mini Army survival raft right after launching since the first rapid was right around the corner. We had no idea what we were in for (ok, so some idea-- we knew it was a class II and how hard can that be?) and although Cath took some convincing, it was a total blast to ride the waves with only our shoulders and heads above water. That rapid turned out to have the biggest waves of any the whole time. The San Juan is an awesome river because it is swift enough and with enough fun little rapids and riffles to keep adults interested, but shallow and mellow enough for even the babies. 

I loved paddling around with Liesel all to myself. I loved hearing her say the cutest things and watching her try to paddle us in the mini raft all by herself. It was one of those times when I felt like my heart could explode because I loved her so much. It was amazing to watch her soak up the outdoors and love it as much as we do. 

Date night with Brian. There was a pothole that required a few climbing moves to get up on a cliff and then back down to the pothole. No one else felt comfortable trying it (or really, B didnt feel comfortable with anyone else trying it so it was just us). It was filled with water and very deep. It was so fun to jump off over and over. 

Waking up to Hannah's face every morning. She was in the tent with Brian and I and Liesel was in with Catherine. The joy of the raft is that you don't have to pack light, but can still be completely surrounded by wilderness. . .like backpacking. So we brought Hannah's pack-n-play. Both girls slept through the night every night we were out. Hannah would pop her little face over the side of her crib and start, "mama! mama! dada! dada!" until we rescued her. 

The giant mud puddle. The photos are pretty self explanatory, but it was awesome. And I took particular pride in the fact that my girls were less afraid (by far) of getting dirty than any of the other three toddlers (all boys). And Allison earned some pretty cool grandma points by covering herself head to toe. ;)

Watercoloring plein air. . . feels neat to get a "snapshot" just like John Wesley Powell used to. 

The food! It was delicious dutch oven fare. Food always tastes better in the backcountry.

Hiking with Catherine at night up a canyon. 

All the bighorn sheep!

On the last day, you start to enter part of the canyon with really steep walls. The river is much wider and more shallow at this point. After lunch, Catherine and I decided to biathlon it and run/swim for a few miles through the canyon ahead of the boats. I LOVED sprinting through ankle deep water and then swimming as it got deeper, then jumping out and running again across the mudflats. . .repeat. And so much better to share is with Cath than alone. We were surrounded by stunning scenery and it just felt good to play. This moment is probably a list topper. 

Getting the boat unstuck! In the only class III rapid on the river, one of our friends managed to get his boat stuck. It took 2.5hrs and a lot of rigging to get it off the rock. We were jumping in downstream to rescue gear and trying to keep the littles happy. There was a bit of tension for a while, but a few prayers and Brian's expertise (I'm biased ;) ) and we were on our way. 

Hanging out on the beach playing morning and night followed by relaxing and swimming in the river during the day. Nothing beats it.