.reunion-ing.

We are back from our first trip of the summer, and I'm happy to say that a good time was had by all...even Roy who hates driving for any amount of time.  We left Thursday morning bright and early, and made our way to our half way point- a local swimming hole in Moab.  We had a nice lunch under the willows along the river and enjoyed the cool water in the extreme heat.

Meg loves watermelon

We spent our first night in Cortez, and played long and hard in the swimming pool because it was melt your face hot.  The only damper on the whole day was sleeping in the same room with a two year old...shoot me now!

The next day was spent roaming around the Anasazi ruins in  Mesa Verde.  It was Roy's first time seeing them, and I was excited to go back after 12 years.  Roy wanted to take both the kids on both guided tours that we took.  That meant a packer for the 2 year old on back and the Bjorn for the hefty 6 month old...no small feat, especially in the 100+ degree weather.

One of my favorite things about Finn on this trip is that he insisted on always having his hat on.  We started calling him the European tourist.  He usually put it on himself, which left his eyes almost completely hooded.  He would have to tilt his head WAY back just to see anything.

The Hoffman's four...the children are well covered by their hats.

Meg's sly smile

climbing out of cliff palace

looking back at cliff palace

Finn and Roy exploring the kiva's

completely wiped out from the long day in the sun

 I was dying without hauling around an additional 75lbs.  The second tour was at balcony house, and my fear of heights became pretty strong at some parts.  I was extremely happy that we had decided to leave Meg with grandma at several points, and glad that Roy had full responsibility of the crazy 2 year old.  It was a nice day, but extremely long and hot with little dudes.  They slept almost the entire way to our final destination of Pagosa Springs.
We stayed at a nice place that had tons of room for little Finn to run and be a boy with his cousins.  We enjoyed our family time and catching up with everyone.

Finn trying to get a good swing in at Sully's 5th birthday pinata...it's kind of hard to see with that hat over his eyes.

I love those baby blues!

the giant Jenga game that became a spectator sport.

Saturday we decided to have a picnic lunch at some nearby falls, however, we were surprised by a sudden down pour and had to quickly duck into cars and under back hatches.

The rain was a pleasant relief from the hot temps, and the rest of the night was spent just relaxing in the hot tubs, and a yummy dinner with family.
Sunday we had the longest day of travel...coming all eight hours back in one go.  There were a few episodes of crying and frustration with Finn, but overall the kids did really well.
It was a good trip, but it felt oh so good to sleep in our own beds.