Here is a recap of our St. George adventures. We left Monday morning and all the cars caravaned down.
Those that went on the trip were as follows...
My grandma Fry (my mom's mom)
My parents and my sister Mykelti
The newly weds, Corinne and Stu
The engaged couple, Bradley (my cousin) and his fiance Rebecca
My mom's brother Craig and his wife Libby (Adalyn's buddy for the trip) and my other cousin Jacob
Oh and us with our two adorable cuties who got spoiled rotten with all of the attention
We had already traveled down from Idaho to Salt Lake on Saturday June 28th after going to Bear Lake for the Pace Family reunion so it was nice to only have to drive 4ish hours from SLC to St. George instead of 8 hours from Idaho.
On our way down we stopped at a scenic point to see the Kolob Fingers in Kolob Canyon and to stretch our legs for a bit. Here are a few pictures from our stop (it was in a cemetery).
Once we got to St. George we hung out at a splash pad and went grocery shopping while we waited for our condos to become available. When our condos were ready we went and unpacked and set up our week long mini homes. The condos we stayed at were wonderful thanks to my grandma for sharing her time share with us. They were lovely and so nice with our little kids since all of them had 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, and living room. Much better then a 1 bedroom hotel! And since we had a full kitchen we were able to cook all but 2 of our meals the entire week. Definitely helped keep the food budget to a minimum!
Monday after unpacking we had pizza and cake with ice cream for Jacob's birthday which happened to be that day. After dinner we swam in the pool the rest of the night :)
Tuesday bright and early we headed to some pickle ball courts to learn how to play pickle ball. Pickle ball is a mix between tennis and ping pong. I loved it, which it is rare for me to enjoy a sport so I highly suggest it. After a few practice rounds we had a women's tournament and a men's tournament. McKay beat all the men except my dad and I didn't do so well, but I had fun!
The kids were great spectators and endured the intense morning St. George heat wave.
Tuesday night we had a special treat. All the adults went to an outdoor performance of The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. Like I mentioned before Rusty's parents, who live in St. George, watched the kids for us while we went to the play. I know Adalyn would have loved seeing the play, but it was a really late night (the play doesn't even start till after 8 and we didn't get back until after midnight) and I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had to deal with a cranky toddler. So maybe next time we will have to take her.
It rained during the last scenes of the play and while the rain kind of added to the water effects I wish it had held off a little longer since it was kind of distracting. But McKay loved the rain, so I guess it just depends on what you prefer. All in all the play was so fun and I really enjoyed hearing the familiar songs along with some new ones. Mine and McKay's favorite scene from the whole play was the "Under the Sea" song.
McKay and I with my parents
Mykelti and my mom
Everyone waiting for the play to begin
Wednesday morning, many of us chose to sleep in, but some crazy people chose to go hike Angels Landing in Zions. Angels Landing is not for those who are scared of heights since some of the trail is right next to very steep drop offs. I volunteered to watch the kids :) So just McKay ventured out with some of my cousins and sisters. Luckily they all seemed to have a good time and everyone made it back safely.
The engaged couple. You can tell they are engaged because they hold hands while hiking :)
Except for the steep parts :)
Just a little steep...
Wednesday afternoon the ladies and my dad all headed out shopping to the outlet mall and a consignment shop. This may or may not have been one of my favorite parts of the trip ;) Shopping without kids... heaven. Plus I found my new favorite store. The Gap Outlet. Ok so it isn't a new store, but I got some really cute clothes for some good deals so I was really happy.
Wednesday evening we ventured back to the Splash Pad on main Street with the kids, but I failed to take pictures... again. They really liked running through the water and loved the fountains a ton. Now we need to take them to the Gateway in Salt Lake and see what they think of those fountains since they are twice as big as the ones in St. George.
After the splash pad, Grandma and Grandpa babysat the kids while we headed out with the others for a round of mini golf. 2nd date night in one week, pretty amazing in my book!
And if you are pregnant, your belly is a great place to keep score... just sayin. haha
Thursday morning everyone ventured out for a group hike to the Emerald Pools in Zions. The hike was short and sweet, and since we kind of got a late start to the morning it was probably best that it was not longer then it was because it was getting pretty hot.
After the hike we make a quick decision to go to Sand Hollow Reservoir for some cliff jumping and wading. This was not the best stop on our trip (the kids were tired, the water wasn't the cleanest, and it was just SO dang hot by the afternoon everything you touched would burn you), but turned out ok in the end. Beautiful views, just wrong time of year to be there. Neither McKay nor I participated in the cliff jumping, but the kids loved being in the water.
McKay even took the kids on a ride down the river that flowed into the reservoir
After a very busy afternoon we took the night off from cooking and headed out Thursday evening to Iggy's for some yummy dinner.
Friday was the 4th and after a yummy breakfast McKay and I took the kids along with Mykelti to go hike around on the Dixie rock. Everyone else stayed back at the condos to watch a soccer game.
The Dixie rock is not the mountain with the "D" on it, but a red rock with the word "Dixie" on it. Near that rock there is a gap between two red rocks that is barely big enough for people to squeeze through (well if you are not big and pregnant like me, then you could squeeze through). It is kind a fun little adventure so we thought we would try it out with the kids. I did not think either of my kids would want to be confined to such a small space, but they both surprised me and went through. They even both walked on their own through it since you can't really carry them.
Oh and side note, this is the best family picture that we got of all of us in our matching clothes on the 4th. Always fun to dress up!
Here they are heading into the narrow slot
During their little climb through the rocks
All done!
After hiking through the rocks we just climbed around on top.
The rest of the 4th was spent playing, swimming, and ended with a family barbecue. The rest of the group went to fireworks that night, but our kids are still not quite old enough to handle staying up that late so we chose to stay home. Maybe next year...
Bradley and Adalyn
Saturday we just packed up and headed home. We drove all the way back to Idaho in one day this time and it took us about 8.5-9 hours driving although we did stop along the way to drop a few things off at my parents. The kids were SO done with the car by the end, but we survived and were so happy that we were able to go on this trip with my family.
This trip was a really special one for us and turned out to be SO fun! Really, if you are ever going to take a trip with toddlers we highly suggest going with lots of other adults who love your children also. Oh and staying in a condo with a kitchen is a huge must too. We were so grateful to the constant willing hands of those around us who helped babysit and care for our kids. Seriously the kids had a TON of fun playing with everyone and this pregnant mommy actually got a vacation instead of coming home more tired then when we left. 2014's family trip was a huge success!
No comments:
Post a Comment