Labor Day

I still have much to "back-blog" about, but I thought I'd share our labor day adventures with you all while it's still fresh in my mind.  Steve had labor day off from teaching school, so we took the opportunity to get out and ran with it.  We decided to pass off a few more "see and do" activities (it's all a part of a contest that we are entering).

In the morning, Lily, Amara, and I went to a homeschool group that I signed us up for called "Princess Academy."  We are reading the Little House on the Prairie series together and then doing activities to go along with it.  Our activity this past time was learning to sew a pioneer doll.  It was fantastic.  The girls were so excited to learn to hand sew and they loved it.  We got back home and ate lunch with Steve, then we were off for some adventures.

First we found the Buckskin Hills Complex just outside of Vernal.

That place is pretty barren, and it is used as a recreation area for shooting guns and riding ATVs (but not at the same time).  We didn't do any of those activities, but we still enjoyed the scenery.

The scenery by Buckskin Hills Complex

Although the land is barren, it is untouched, and the beauty of creation showed through in the blue sky, the clouds, and the distant red hills.  It was pretty.

Then we went to hit some golf balls at the Dinoland Golf Course driving range. 

At the Dinoland Golf Course parking lot.  I wish I was smiling in this picture.  Just know I was smiling in my heart because I had my cute girls holding my hands.

We had a lot of fun!  And for only $3.00 for a small bucket (about 35 golf balls).

We brought 3 golf clubs, and we all took turns driving golf balls down the range. 

Steve, Amara, and Lily lined up to drive the golf balls.

And they all swung at the same time!

We'll have to do that again sometime.

After that, we drove to Dinosaur National Monument, about 15 minutes away.  By that time, it was probably 4:30pm.  The girls really wanted to ride the shuttle bus up the mountain to the quarry, so we did that, and spent about 15 minutes at the quarry and then rode the shuttle back down.

Then, we drove to Josie's cabin, one of my favorite places in the Uinta Basin.  It was beautiful weather, and our nature walk afforded us some awesome sights.   

Amara found a worm.  Which is nothing new to us, but wait til you see what else we saw.

The scenery, flora and fauna were literally jumping out at us and begging to be photographed.  So, lucky for you that Steve is handy with our new camera and got some really amazing shots.  Take a look and share in the spendor that was in abundance that day!

See the dino skull?

The green river winds through the monument.

Mr. Chipmunk we aptly named, "Mr. Chips" or "Chunky" depending on which of the girls you ask.

The mountains were all kinds of colors.

The lizards were fast!

This tiny tunnel was only big enough for small animals to fit through.  We found it by the first pull off for petroglyphs.

I love clouds on warm days.

wildflowers make me smile.

At Josie's cabin

There were rabbits everywhere!

This is my favorite picture of what I nicknamed "the Easter Bunny."

Water is so fun to watch.

We never had hiked this trail by Josie's cabin, and it was AWESOME.

See if you can spot the woodpecker.

I like his red mohawk.

More rabbits abound.

I love this picture.  It looks like a postcard.

I wish you could've seen the sun catch the wings of this butterfly and make it glow.  So pretty!

Look carefully on the trunk of this tree.  There is a very well camoflaged bird there.

The lowering sun was casting gorgeous glows on the landscape.

Young bucks were grazing in the fields of Chew's Ranch.

Chew's Ranch is found within the Dinosaur National Monument.  It is really striking to see the green fields against the mountain backdrops.

And apparently it's a great time to see ducks and geese migrating.

This land is serene, and I feel so blessed that my family could take a moment to see some of the majesty that God has created for us.  Doesn't it make you feel special?

So, we were all hungry, and it the sun was setting, so we drove back to Vernal, ate at Burger King, stopped for a few groceries at Walmart, Amara ran a much needed errand to the dollar store (she wanted to buy a pack of plastic baby rats, but she settled on a pack of plastic baby bats instead), and we were headed back home just as it was getting dark. 

Another full and fun day with my family with memories we will cherish.  Yay for Labor Day!