We took a long overdue family getaway to Joshua Tree National Park this weekend!

Originally my husband wanted us to camp but all the sites were already booked so we made a reservation at the Holiday Inn Express instead. Great spot as it’s not far at all from the park entrance. Being the rockstar parents that we are, once we checked in we decided to take a break for an hour. The girls were basically on their own in the room while we slept. They even set up a password for the safe, where they of course placed some of their most valuables – like face masks and markers etc.

When we woke up I was so tempted to tell my husband to just go exploring on his own with the girls because I still had a headache. But then I figured if my head was still going to be hurting while alone in the bedroom, I may as well deal with the headache while enjoying some fresh air and watching my girls run around.

I’m so glad I went with that second option.

You guys, if you’re ever visiting CA or you live close enough to (or live in) Southern California, you need to visit this park. It’s gorgeous. Whether you have kids or not, to be able to see these trees and boulders is something else.

I kid you not when I say the girls literally ran ahead of us when we got on the trail towards the boulders.

Right now it’s still early in the year where the weather wasn’t too hot. We ended up here on the first day at about 4:45pm and it was maybe in the low 70s and a wind was building up. By the time we left, just past 7pm, our hair was flipping all over the place.

I just love this photo of them.

We were trying to find Arch Rock (never found it) but did manage to make it to Heart Rock and I loved when my husband said “get one of mama and I kissing.”

Then the girls starting climbing up and over boulders and we were deep inside this massive pile up. Not gonna lie it’s kind of intimidating!

My husband said it best when he said this is such a confidence builder for kids. It really is!!

There’s so many more photos I want to share so I figure I’ll create my very first Story post later to share the rest. We had one of our friends who have one daughter of their own join us on Friday, which was super nice for us to have adults to share the experience with and for our girls to have their friend to explore with. And on our last day we had breakfast with another friend of mine and her daughter. They currently live in Joshua Tree and after breakfast and checking out from our room she asked us to meet at her home for some tea. It was a great way to end the trip before heading back home.

You’ve got to put this place on your list of spots to visit. Even if it’s just for a day trip! Get there early and have a plan and enjoy the beauty of the Joshua Trees and the boulders. It’s truly a masterpiece of God.