Ok – so I managed to convince my husband to drive an extra 3 hours so that I can do something that I have wanted to do for a very long time! I love camping – I mean down and dirty – pop-a-tent, sleeping on the ground – campfire hotdogs – real honest to god camping. However, with that said – I am also a total and complete hotel snob – White sheets, comfortable beds, pool service … you know all the perks that should come with hotels. So when I found Moab Under Canvas. I was so excited I couldn’t stand it. I mean … the luxury of a bed while sleeping under the stars. Sounded like heaven to me. Throw on that I love documenting my family and I just knew I would also be in photographer heaven. I warned my kids with excitement dancing in my eyes… I will be talking a lot of photos – They looked at me as if I wasn’t telling them something they already knew. Here’s the thing… I didn’t take into consideration -The desert (plus) the summer … apparently was not a great combination. We watched the weather carefully – and it was like someone was watching out for us – See that first photo of Sutton and Dan watching me through the window as I ran in from the storm – the storm lasted 30 minutes and brought with it 20 degree cooler temperatures for the day we were camping – Talk about lucking out.
I also didn’t take in consideration the exhaustion we would all be feeling … we were dirty and tired since we literally woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to Moab. So I just went with the whole “embrace the real” – and when I wasn’t just taking in the incredible view – I was watching the kids just be kids. Watching as they explored their new environment. Playing in the dirt, chasing rabbits (after I made sure there weren’t any rattle snakes, of course ) . Or watching their creative mind explode when they stumbled upon “ancient engravings “. The day ending with a hike under the Arches and Smores under the Stars. I even managed to wake up with my husband at 2 AM and tried to capture a shot the Milky Way – But what I have loved the most – in the last 2 days of our trip – is how incredible my children are to each other. All I ever wanted was to raise children with love and kindness in their heart. This isn’t a “oh my kids are perfect” post – they absolutely have their days…. but as a parent one of my goals was to raise sibling to like each other – respect one another. It was one of my parenting goals probably because when I was growing up my siblings couldn’t stand me… I mean literally despised me and that was a very lonely existence as the youngest one of the family. I am so grateful that my sister and I have developed such an incredible close friendship now – but for me – I never wanted my children to know that type of loneliness that I had when I was younger. So its been cool to see how patient and kind they have been. With that said – we are 16 hours into our road trip and we have already had the best summer ever – I just can’t imagine it getting any better then this.
Pictures from our week in Colorado coming soon!!
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Adriana De La Cruz - amazing Liz!
susan keller - WOWZERS, Liz! What an amazing place to stop and stay on your roadtrip!!! And your older kiddos’ hiking shoes are cracking me up!! All these family-on-epic-roadtrip images make my heart happy for you.