Cactus Love...or not!

We're back from a week's visit to the great state of Utah.  B's family has been skiing there for decades and his parents now have a home in Park City and his brother lives in Salt Lake City.  So it's an amazing opportunity to spend time with family and also see a beautiful part of the country.

The week zoomed by and it was time to pack.  Trying to get some wiggles out, B took Ellie behind the houses for a hike in the hills above.  A game of hide and seek ensued.  Ellie dashed behind some bushes and proceeded to sit down...on a cactus!  Realizing the pain of the little prickers on her butt, she put her hands down to lift her body.  Only to cover her hands in more prickers!!

It was a painful 2 hours for all of us.  Poor Ellie cried in frustration as each little pricker had to be removed with tweezers (they were small, fiberglass like prickers that just so happened to blend with her skin hairs...super fun).  She just kept saying "Bad Cactus!", "Mean Cactus!" because there was nothing else for her to do.

And we were left pinning her little body still so the prickers (trying to miss hair and skin) could be removed.  I don't know who wanted to cry more.

Fortunately, we all survived and were treated to cookies and ice cream afterwards.

The best part was the picture Ellie drew that night.  It depicts the hill they played on and the many cactus that live there.  I bet she always looks where she sits from now on!