WEEKEND GETAWAY - JOSHUA TREE

last weekend we had planned a little trip with some friends to Mexico, but a couple of days before the trip we decided against it.  

we have not traveled to Mexico the last couple of years because, well, it just isn't safe right now.  

we will pretty much go anywhere with our kids but Mexico is still a little too scary.

so, with a wide open weekend and an extra day off of work, we decided to go to Joshua Tree.  

I am still so surprised that we had never been there before.  it's not too far away and it is so beautiful.  

the weather was perfect and there was hardly anyone there.  we were able to go on a few 1-2 mile hikes with the kids.  there were also plenty of little points of interest right off the road.

the kids loved running crazy.

rock jumping quickly became their favorite thing to do.  

Skull Rock is a stop right off of the road where there are huge round boulders stacked on top of each other for miles and miles.

the kids could have stayed there all day.  

it was a perfect place to go exploring.  

 we had stopped at the visitor center on the way in and the kids each got a booklet where if they filled out all of the pages, they could get a junior park ranger badge.  Julian would not put his booklet down.  he was so determined to earn his badge.  he worked very hard all day and he received his badge the very first day.  Ella was a little more motivated the second day after seeing Julian's badge and she earned hers also.  

the booklets were actually a great learning tool for the kids and it made the hikes fun for them as they tried to find the different items on the scavenger hunt page.  

we will definitely be going back, hopefully sooner than later.

next time we want to camp.

for this trip we stayed in a hotel right outside of the park and it worked.  the hotel was nice and we found a great little restaurant called Crossroads Cafe.  the food was super yummy and it had a great atmosphere.  

it was a perfect little weekend getaway!