Dinosaur National Monument

School got out for summer vacation and we decided to get right to work!  We packed up and headed to Vernal, Utah.  Wahoo!  It makes me laugh.  Most people go to Disneyland or Lake Powell.  We go to Redneckville! (No offense to anyone from Vernal or that area.  I really have nothing against it and actually quite like going to smaller towns.)  It was a quick trip, just overnight, but with a newborn we were kind of testing the waters of actual freedom from our house. The kids only asked if we were there a gazillion times and we had one diaper explosion, but other than that it was fairly uneventful and fun. In all actuality, the kids probably liked swimming at the hotel better than anything else. Figures!  But in addition to swimming and seeing fossils we stopped by to see the Vernal Temple and the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum to kill some time before we could check into our hotel, played a little baseball and Nate, Kaden and Tye went to see Avengers.  The dinosaur fossils at Dinosaur National Monument were interesting to see still stuck in the mountainside.  Nate and I hadn't been there in over 20 years so we thought why not go see the new and improved monument.... I can't remember a lot of details from 20 years ago so to me it seemed the same-ish.  The ranger lady didn't seem to like us much since Haley started to climb on the rock face and I didn't notice and stop her promptly enough.  I think our children decided once you see one fossil you've seen them all (I kind of agree).  They were ready to move on.  We decided to hike about a mile back to the visitor center from the quarry instead of waiting for the shuttle to take us back.  Nate in all his wisdom decided at the car to not use the hiking backpack to carry a small child and brought the stroller instead.  So we hiked (mostly down hill) with Eliza in the stroller.  I think everyone thought we were the strangest family... or they were wondering to their dismay why stupid people like us (because we didn't bring the right equipment) could be allowed to have six kids!  We made it back with minimal whining. We saw lizards and petroglyphs on the way so it was worth it.  I also had a lady ask me to take her family's picture as I was rushing Haley to the potty.  When I told her I couldn't right then or we'd have an "accident", but I could come back in a few minutes she acted like I was the rudest person on earth.  Haley making it to the potty was definitely more important than taking a picture for strangers.  We weren't very well received at the dinosaur monument but we were glad we went.  We can wait another 20 years to go again, though.  Well, at least 10 years so we don't have to worry about emergency potty breaks, children going rogue on the rock face and strollers!