Little Sahara

I wish I had done this earlier, while the trip was more fresh in my mind. Let's see how much I can remember.

Right after Zac's last soccer game where he got his trophy we packed up the car and headed to the Sand Dunes. My Parent's family did the annual family weekender there this year. It was a lot of fun. We camped, and Jeremy (BIL) brought his family's Ranger.

We got there about lunch time. When we arrived Lexie was getting cleaned up after a run-in with the dashboard. Poor thing. She thought she had broken her nose (and probably did since it was still hurting a week later), and she had a small gash on her nose and eye brow. But she was in good spirits and didn't seem in too much pain.

It was sure hot. I was so surprised how warm it was since it was the end of September. It was hot during the day and nice at night.


Then the boys started a game of horseshoes. To be honest I didn't pay attention at all to the score. I don't even know the rules or how to get points. All I know is "all that matters is where the shoe ends up" . . .


Max loved that Rachel shared her gushers with him. I think ever since then he always wants to be with her when she is around.


Rachel also shared her water with him, which then became his water :)


Lexie and Zac having an etch e sketch competition.


Lexie and Ben (yes, her BF came) making lunch.


Our first family ride on the Ranger.



The boys jostled around the whole time. It seemed pretty hectic. I tried to keep Max's head somewhat supported so he wasn't leaning forward all the time. He had a bike helmet on and it was so heavy for him. Zac loved and I think Max liked it ok. He wasn't mad that we took him off, but he didn't want to climb back on right away.

Max thought it was cool to sit on the 4-wheeler all by himself.


He also LOVED playing in the dirt. There wasn't much sand right at the campsite but that didn't stop him. Just like at the beach he loves to put it i and dump it out, over and over.






We use a sunscreen stick for faces, and the dirt stuck to the grease so bad. This is Max after his face was wiped. We was eating Halloween Oreos, not dirt :)


I just thought this picture was funny with his finger right in front of his face


Oh yeah, and reader beware . . . spiders! Yes, black widows to be precise!! The rest of my family went up a day earlier and discovered the many black widows in the bathroom. Luckily, my mom was able to get a hold of me and tell me to grab some spider killer. It was so comforting to have.

I actually think this one was killed with the spray before the picture. Before we left, I counted 14 black widows, 2 of which were the only ones still alive. They were on the ceiling not reachable. But they appeared to have NOT moved the entire time-going in the bathroom was VERY eerie!


The boys would have been ok wearing bike helmets, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone to be sure. So we rented a couple for them at Toy it up, just in case a Park Ranger stopped us. Zac's was so big and heavy, but he still liked it.


After we went out a couple times with the boys, Max started to make this funny humming sound. At first we thought it was whining because he wanted to get off. But in the end it seemed like he was mimicking the sound of the Ranger's motor. And he liked it, even though he could barely keep his posture. It was pretty funny.

Zac's sweaty head taking a rest from the helmet.


On Saturday Night one of Jeremy's friends, whose dad co-owns Polaris or something like that, brought 2 more Rangers. It was so fun to ride around with everyone, even though having kids aboard was limiting. We all went out to get a family picture.


It was a fun trip and I am glad we got to go. This totally makes me want a Ranger. So much smoother and capable than 4-wheelers!