Reunioning {Blanchards in Vernal}

We had a fun reunion with the Blanchard clan (minus Ryan and girls, though we saw them the next week, which was great) in early April in the ever popular vacation destination of Vernal, Utah.  Actually, despite Vernal not sounding that exciting just by its name, we had a fabulous time exploring, hiking, dinosauring, eating, swimming, playing and visiting with each other for a couple of days.  Fun times all around, just what we had in mind.

Our agenda for Day Uno (Monday, April 3rd): Meet at Red Canyon at (high) noon for lunch, site-seeing and general wandering, and then caravan into Vernal to settle into the hotel, eat dinner, and swim.

It was sunny, but a bit on the chilly side, hence the jackets and hats.
But that didn't stop these hooligans from exploring around the rocks
and logs with Grandpa after lunch.

Yes, there were picnic tables, but huddling on the asphalt with
a car for a wind break was a warmer lunch spot so we went with it.

Sittin' on the dock of the . . . lake . . . wastin' time . . .

A gaggle of grandkids.

This boy loves puddles and rocks.

And splashing.

Wildlife sighting on the drive to the overlook.

A view that will never get old.

A mighty fine herd of Blanches.

The two girl cousins of this trip.  Callie adores
Melia and Melia is so great to play with and talk
to her.

This is our happy place - and now a family pic with Sam included!

And as for boy cousins, Sam loves hangin' out
with the big guys.

No boating today at Green's Lake, but it was
beautiful to lounge on the shore and enjoy the
view for a minute.

We ate dinner at the 7-11 Ranch Restaurant
that evening.  Cal's burger was as big as her head!

Some happy diners here, in the oldest restaurant in Vernal.

Minnie claimed this bed as her own.  Little did
she know she'd be sharing it with Callie later
that night.

Swimming time!  A highlight of the trip for Callie.

Day Two (Tuesday, April 4th) looked like this: Continental breakfast (plus cartoons) in the hotel before visiting the quarry in Dinosaur National Monument in the morning and hiking to Moonshine Arch in the afternoon.  A soda tasting event and other hotel shenanigans filled in the gaps.

Sausage, eggs, and a banana.  He's set for the day.

Grandpa and Grandma's room was the hangout spot for the cousins.

A little hide and seek, anyone?

Group shot at the quarry.

Just a little rest on a dino bone bench.

As good as I could get of these two with a giant
fossil behind them.

What kind of deliciousness does Grandpa have in store for us now?

That's right.  NOT delicious.  Any of them!

Hikin' with Heather.

Always picking up a rock.

And then throwing it.

We're almost there!

Moonshine Arch, at last.
(It really wasn't far, actually.  And who knew there
was an Arch in Vernal? Great family-friendly hike
with an excellent payoff at the end.)

Note Sam with his backpack on - there are no
free rides when you're hiking with us! (Kidding!)

Cave exploring.

Scott and Kage braved the climb to the top of the
arch.

Mittens were, in fact, necessary as it snowed on us
for a few minutes.

Wally came along for the exercise.

Sandbox heaven.

Playing in the bushes.  Why not?

Views on the hike back to the car were lovely.

Good cloud day, too.  Nice bonus.

Lounging before dinner.  One of these doesn't belong with the others,
but he sure looks cozy and at home.

Happy bellies after dinner at the Woodfire Grill Buffet.

Day Three (Wednesday, April 5th) was our last. The kids woke up early (always) and we decided to use that to our advantage by hitting up the pool before anyone else was awake.  (Nothing like a 6 am splash in the pool to get you going in the morning!)  Sam was not a huge fan of the pool (or the bath in a strange tub afterward), poor guy.  After breakfast we visited the Utah Field House of Natural History to see the dinosaur bones and statues (and browse the gift shop, naturally).  We followed that up with a drive out to McConkie Ranch to go on a petroglyph-viewing hike.  (Sam and sat in the parking lot while he slept and I stood guard.)  One final lunch together at Wendy's before hitting the road, and then we were off to our homes with fabulous memories of our good times to take along.

Kage and Dray came down a little while after we got down there.
Cal was more than thrilled to have some kids to play with.

Digging for dino bones . . . 

Or flipping rubber "wood chips"?  You decide.

This little nook had a collection of puzzles and dino models to
play with.

This next series is definitely #overgramming,
but you tell me which one to leave out.

Cal said this dinosaur was her favorite because
it reminded her of  Zoomer from Sandra Boynton's
Dinos to Go book.

Here's Zoomer from the book - sorry it's sideways!

Stegosaurus Sam.  (And I'm leaving this plus the next even though
they look almost identical because the Callie part cracks me up.)

(Yes, we had a chat about what flowers are okay to pick
and which ones need to be left for others to enjoy after this incident.)

Petroglyph hikers.  (I don't think it was really that cold, but then
again, I was sitting in the car the whole time.)

After Sam woke up, and Kage and Dray got back
before the others on the hike, they discovered
a little shack that was full of balls.  Boy heaven!