It was a lot of fun walking around the gardens in the sunshine and seeing everything in bloom. (We missed you, Spring!!) 
My favorite variety cool yellow thing combined with the pink tulips. 
Andy, if you are reading this, I would like the driveway lined with these next year. Thanks, honey! ;)
After that we headed to the condo we were staying at. All of the doors in it had lever handles so Brayden and Makenzie could both open them. We shouldn't have even bothered packing any toys. They just ran through the house opening and closing doors. There was a coat closet by the door that they loved to play in. For some reason, however, they couldn’t open that door from the inside. We frequently heard muffled whines and would have to go let them out of the closet.
After this cute photo op, we loaded the kids in their packs and hit the trail.
They were so excited. The chattered about everything they saw and greeted most everyone we passed with a smile. They especially liked it when we passed other hikers with baby carriers. The kids would say “hi” to each other and the adults would check out the features on one another’s packs. (The general consensus was that we had the Cadillac Escalade of child carriers. People especially liked the sunshades that ours had. Score!)
The Devil’s Garden hike is about a 7 mile hike that contains eight of the best known sandstone arches in the park, including Landscape Arch.
I really liked Partition Arch (directly below) and Navajo Arch (below) as well.
We stopped and had lunch near Navajo Arch and let the kids play in this little hollow. Do you think they were having a good time?
Most of the trail was wide and well groomed. There were a few scary parts where you had to scramble up rock ledges and walk on a somewhat narrow cliff like this.
I’m not afraid of heights at all. In fact I’ve hiked on much narrower and scarier trails without even a second thought. (See below pic from a hike in Oregon. . .the little dot behind the tree branch is me.) But for some reason hiking on the rock ledge freaked me out. I think it was because of the precious cargo I was carrying. It's funny how kids change your perspective on things.
One of the other views we enjoyed from this trail was of Klondike Bluffs from Dark Angel. I really liked the contrast of the desert against the snowy mountains.
Next, we headed to the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands. Most of our sightseeing in this park was from the car and viewpoints along the road. 
On the spur of the moment we decided to stop and check out the Mesa Arch trail. I am so glad we did! It offered great views and was sooo much fun.
We decided not to strap the twins on our backs for this trail. It was an easy hike—only about ½ mile—and we figured the kids could handle a good portion of it if we held their hands. As it turns out, they could handle every last step of the way and then some! The trail was basically a series of small rises and falls that resembled stairs. Makenzie had to jump off of every single one. No exageration. Every one! On the way back I tried to hold Brayden’s hand. He said, “No, mama! No no no no no NOOOOOOO!!!” And off he went. My little boy turned into a mighty hiker.
Andy has been preparing for the visit for a few weeks now, but had to sign a legal disclosure promising he wouldn't spill the beans. A lot of people put in a lot of work for an event that only lasted about an hour.
Sorry this picture is so crappy. The image processor in my camera was going bad. I discovered it cost less to buy a new camera than to fix the old one. How lame is that? I was awaiting the arrival of my new camera when I took this. But I digress. . .back to the swingset. Looks good, doesn't it?
