Weekend Wrap Up part 3: Baby Got Back

Yes, I just brought Sir Mix a Lot into this.

Though more accurately that should say "Baby Got BAD Back".

Monday morning we woke to this view:

Awesome.

As you can imagine, it wasn't a particularly restful night with 9 kids in a different place, but oh well.
I crawled out of bed a little stiff, but didn't think much of it because of what I just mentioned.

Of course I brought running clothes along, and headed out for a few quick miles while the rest of the herd tackled breakfast.
Well, it was supposed to be a few quick miles.

I had the pleasure of running here two years ago for Red Rock Relay.

I was so excited to head off down this path again.

But that was not to be.

As I walked up to the road I loosened up a little, but just couldn't quite shake the tightest spot in my back.  I crossed the street and attempted to break into an easy run.  That's when it happened.
I felt my back go.

I hobbled along for a bit, hoping that moving would loosen things back up, stopping every few feet to stretch things out.
It wasn't happening.
So I hobbled back to the hotel.

As soon as I walked into the room Aaron could see it.  I looked like I did the day after Christmas 2011.
Not Awesome.

This was my shadow when I fought as hard as possible to stand straight on Monday morning.

Really.
If you've ever experienced this as your version of "stand up straight", you know how this feels.
And that killed half of the plans we had for hiking on Monday.  Dang back.

Oh well.  We made the most of what we could do!

We still managed to get a couple of short jaunts in, thanks to Malia's willingness to carry Emily in the pack so Aaron could wrangle Sam while I gimped along behind everyone.

We had to default to the lower view of Delicate Arch.  Totally bummed that we didn't get up there, but glad the kids got to see it, even if it was from a distance.

There is great irony in the fact that I had packed this shirt for Monday.  I got a lot of interesting looks as I limped along leaning sideways wearing a shirt that said "I Run This Body".  It was amusing.


We did get in to see Sand Dune Arch, which was definitely a favorite of the kids.

Lots of places to climb, plenty of soft red sand to play in.

Sam had so much fun trying to keep up with everyone.

And he was beyond thrilled when he found his very own rock, just his size, that he could climb up and slide down like the big kids had been doing on the bigger rocks.

It made me thrilled to see these little feet peppered with red sand.

Everyone ended up with plenty of sand in their shoes, which of course turned into a contest to see who actually had the most in their shoes.

Lincoln and Charlotte made pretty impressive piles of sand when they emptied theirs.

We hated to have to cut out earlier than planned, but with me not in a place where I could do any real hiking-or even long walks, and with desperate need to try and get in to my magic chiropractor before he left for the day, we had to wrap things up.

It was completely impractical to take off for 36 hours, but it was so great.  There is just something about a road trip with the fam.  Can't wait till we can do it again!