Bryce Canyon

Our first attempt at a first-come, first-serve campground: success!! Got our spot, Josh even backed the camper into it (!!), set up home for the next two nights and then went out to enjoy the scenery :) We took a shuttle bus to the main viewpoint...and although it was really windy and Naomi was quite grumpy, we were still in awe of the beauty and uniqueness of this place!

The Grotto

A Canyon of HooDoo's

 

 Then we decided to take the scenic drive through the park to see if Naomi would take a nap...and this is proof that this technique did in fact work one time on our trip!

 The next day we went on the most popular hike in the park: a loop that goes down into the canyon on the Navajo Trail, across the bottom, and back up through an area called the Queen's Garden. Daddy and Naomi geared up to protect themselves from the sun and to have FUN on this hike!

On our way down into the canyon we walked by the rock formation called Thor's Hammer, and then down into this canyon via crazy switchbacks that had random pine trees growing in it...such stark contrasts!

A Double Bridge at the bottom of the canyon

 When we got to the flat part in the middle of the hike we let Naomi out of the backpack so she could hike too...she loved the freedom!

We came across this area where everyone stops to make their own HooDoo's out of rocks, and Josh showed Naomi how to make her own...and as the video shows, she enjoyed 'looking' at other ones people had made :)

Queen's Garden was INCREDIBLE. It was so fun to be down amongst all the rock formation, walking around them and through them. This pic on the left shows the Queen looking over her garden from the rock mound furthest on the left, and we just enjoyed the formation in the pic on the right:

After the hike we went back 'home' to eat lunch and relax for a bit. Naomi loved playing with her babies, and even shared one with Daddy for awhile :)

 Then we headed out to a little town to play at a park we had seen on the drive in (o how the landmarks you look for change once you have children!). Naomi had a blast here and we made it through the normal meltdown time of the afternoon with mostly smiles...mission accomplished!

 

Then we stopped for ice cream on the way back into the park...Naomi dropped a good portion of hers on the ground and on herself while eating it, but that's probably for the best considering the lessened sugar intake :)

The weirdest part of our time at Bryce? It was FREEZING at night. We thankfully packed a few warm clothes and a couple extra blankets...but I ended up sleeping with Naomi both of these nights to keep her warm because it got so cold at night! We are vacationing in the desert in the summer....who'd thunk it?? ;-)