I've broken our two-week vacation into what feels like a million manageable posts because had I not I'm pretty sure that one mega-post would have crashed the internet...or at the very least this little blog! I've been known to take a pic or three thousand in my day, haha!
We started our trek during rush hour on a Friday heading the same direction as every other adventure-seeking soul in the city: East. No, it was not what we had envisioned and our little five-hour drive took almost eight hours but we were all in such good, excited, hopeful moods that we didn't really mind. Plus, we started listening to the Percy Jackson audiobook that the boys especially were so excited to share with us so the time passed rather quickly. During our two week trip we finished the Lightning Thief, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Land of Stories on audio, plus a little bit of a few others that we decided were not for us. That's a whole lotta listening (like, 25 hours worth at least) and our family LOVED it. My new plan is to always have an audiobook in the car. For starters, the second Land of Stories--we're all hooked!
Our first vacation stop was Washington, Utah for a long weekend spent with Carolyn, Bryce and their kids. We spent a full day exploring Zion, went to church and visited the temple in Saint George, played Minute to Win It games, the girls got massages, the boys went golfing, we celebrated Care's birthday and swam until we were perfectly wrinkled. T and Spenc were constantly playing a game, Lacey and my girls saved a birds nest in the backyard, Ever got in a few movie nights and little Blakey-boo let me cuddle the heck out of him! Both Carolyn and Bryce are so interesting, thoughtful, loving and fun people and spending real quality time with them was such a treat. It was such a relaxing, easy and wonderful weekend spent with family that we adore and ended up being the greatest way to start our vacation.
I mean, sure, my credit card number was stolen from a gas pump in LaVerkin, Utah (like, where?!) which ended up being a pretty huge logistical nightmare and was cause for a few tired tears one evening but you know what, all things considered it was handled pretty easily and painlessly. And luckily the $4,600 that was charged to my card within an hour of them swiping the number was covered by our bank.
On the way from Southern Utah to Northern Utah on Monday we stopped for ice cream, visited Honey and Grandpa at their new retirement home and visited some dear New York friends who now live in Provo. We made the most of those first four days (and the 12 after that!) On Monday night James and I looked at each other and agreed that if the whole vacation were just those few days it would have felt complete. We are the luckiest to have so many people to love.
Our first of many big animal sightings came on our very first morning. A deer--a real, wild deer in Zion! We were all pretty pumped. By the end of our vacation we had seen bunnies and buffalo, bald eagles and river beavers, a peregrine falcon and elk. We saw a bear, an owl, lizards and fire ants, bucks and goats and so many horses and cows. We were spoiled by seeing so many of God's creations on this earth and were excited every. single. time.
James may have been a liiiiiiiiitle obsessed with his binoculars and kept asking if other people wanted a turn looking at the surroundings. Uncle Bryce finally took him up on the offer, haha!
My hiking crew!
City-kid faces when they touch slimy moss for the first time. EWWWWW!
The hike was hard and it was hot, but getting to the waterfall at the end made it all worth it. We used this story as an analogy on life the whole way back down the mountain. Keep going, kids, even when things are hard, or ugly, or not like you expected, just keep going!
My baby with her baby binoculars was almost too much for me to handle this whole trip. I don't know that she could see a darn things through those lenses but she loved to try!
What at first started as a "let's dip our feet in the Virgin River" kind of experience, ended with all of us being soaked from head to toe...so yeah, there was that! We played for a couple of hours and I really believe our family splashing around in the river will be the memory the kids will always have of Zion, even if there was a scary near-miss involving Ever and some rapids in the middle.
Coco was a trouper extraordinaire and went from playing to snoring within minutes of sitting down for the ranger meeting. I love holding a sleeping baby. And yes, she's still and will forever be my baby.
Seven National Parks/Monuments meant seven Junior Ranger badges. All the kids got into it, but no one more than Quinn. She was giddy with excitement and pride every last time!
Park by day, pool by night. All day, e'ryday!
Could these temple cuzzies be any cuter because I think not!
I really wanted a family picture outside of the temple but 100% of my children wanted air conditioning instead. Soooo...here's a picture of me at the St. George temple. I love this place!
We spent so much time at this pool, and I don't regret a second of it. Oh my goodness was it refreshing in that 100 degree heat. In all our family went through nine bottles of sunscreen during our trip, so yeah, we saw a lot of sunshine! Also, Quinn is a legit swimmer now...even in the deepest of ends, and I'm so proud of her. She's the definition of grit and fearlessness.
Carolyn is even more beautiful on the inside than she is lovely on the outside, which is hard to believe from this supermodel. She's classy and kind and celebrating her birthday with that delicious pie was perfect.
Uncle Bryce taught the kids a lesson or two about oreo-ing, and they were enthralled! What a fun night for one and all.
We fed these ducks a whole loaf of bread. They were hungry and our babes were eager to please.
Huckleberry for the win!
Always playing a game, these two!
Not only did we get to surprise Honey and Grandpa for a visit, but we were able to celebrate Grandpa's 90th birthday (a little early). We loved their new place and really liked seeing them happy and healthy.
Quinn and I hit up the BYU bookstore minutes before it was going to close so that we could buy grapefruit wedges and chocolate-covered cinnamon bears. Will this girl be a cougar someday? If that's what she wants I have no doubt!
Pizza and s'mores at the Shobes was the only way we could imagine spending our ten hours in Provo. The view from their home on Y Mountain was one of the more beautiful we saw during our vacation.
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