First Desert Trip of the Season

I am thankful for my husband's work hard--play hard philosophy. Because of him, we got to enjoy a gorgeous weekend at our home away from home.

Why are we excited about the first desert trip of the season?  Perhaps it's the fresh air, camping, a change of scenery, hanging out by the bonfire, or the adrenaline thrill of riding in the dunes. 

I'm sure Chris is happy that his girls caught on to his love of the desert. 

We all love going out in the sand dunes in the dune buggy.  I think we enjoy riding the balance between being wild and free and being fun and safe.  It takes skill and practice to safely navigate the soft terrain, but it is a satisfying free feeling to be rolling smoothly over fresh wind-blown virgin sand in any direction we choose, no painted line to follow.  I like the rush of acceleration pushing my back into the buggy seat.  I also like the lightweight feeling going down after cresting a hill when the suspension stretches open, like going down in an elevator.

Addisyn and Piper rode in the back seats, squealing with laughter and screaming in excitement on their first buggy ride of the season.  We have to decipher if the screams are happy or upset, but it's easy to tell when you hear Addisyn yell,  "I SCREAM when I'm HAPPY!!!  AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"  (*then coughing from sand in her open mouth*). 

We all know Chris is a great driver, but the girls were my cheerleaders when I drove too.  Just two minutes after "Mom you got sand in my eyes," I heard, "Mommy, you're a great driver." And heard over the roar of the engine climbing up a hill, "you can do it mommy!"

Piper & Addisyn in their buggy seats:

We took a break at Test Hill--
Going up....

 View from the top:

Climbing on the buggy is a good way to stretch our legs--

The kids and moms made it up Test Hill by our own foot power.  Addisyn and Piper joined friends Austin and Bryce in climbing each hill we take a break at.  The moms, Heather and I went with them--a nice gym alternative! 
Kids show victory over test hill--

Then after making sand angels, they enjoy sliding down.  They LOVE getting sandy!  Notice the buggies watching from the bottom?  Test Hill is very HIGH!

Back at camp, Marissa enjoyed playing in the dirt and eating rocks (I was too busy retrieving rocks from her mouth to get pictures).  We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa there to babysit in their motorhome too. 


It wasn't crowded this weekend, so Chris took the girls for a little spin around camp, letting them take a turn driving the buggy.  Addisyn seemed to understand steering; Piper needed help with that concept.

Then, the girls got a new experience, riding a quad.  (The toddler sized battery operated one on grandma's patio doesn't really count.)  They took a turn on the 50 our friend brought out for his kids, riding a big circle inside our camp where we can supervise them.  This is a time we can be thankful it didn't have too much "juice". 

Piper getting her helmet fastened:

Piper went first:

Then Addisyn:

They both had big smiles inside their helmet.  They haven't asked us to buy one yet, so we'll see if they bring it up next trip...




I just love seeing the kids entertain themselves with the simplest of toys.  A few buckets, shovels, and an infinite supply of sand keeps them busy for a while! 

Day (above) ...or night (below)