Zions

Our first vacation of the summer was taking the kids to Zions National Park. We've been talking lately about all the places we want to go with the kids and how many great places there are around us, so it motivated us to start some new adventures.
First we stopped in St. George and walked through the temple visitors center.
Then on to Zion!

After checking into our hotel, we changed into our grubby gear and headed for the Narrows.
I was a little nervous about the late start we got, but it was actually perfect. The whole hike was shaded and warm and much less crowded than earlier in the day.

 

We had to look at this nasty stitched hand on the shuttle all the way up. Kinda gnarly.

But it did prove useful when my kids would squeal at the cuteness of the squirrels and how unafraid they were of us. Taking advantage of this teaching moment, I told them life's not a Disney movie and reminded them of said stitched hand and they'd back off. They're growing up so fast, right? :)

I was so proud of them! Thank goodness the water levels were low. Scott was commenting throughout the hike on how high the water usually is when he comes with the scouts. He's lucky we weren't taking our kids on this adventure with conditions like that. I would have killed him! I want to hike the narrows, not swim them up river. Already did that in the Subway a couple years ago. Check.
The kids enjoyed scaling the rocks and walking in the water. I was proud of their positive attitudes and courage.

Wee Sadie!

 After Zion, we headed back to Cedar City and went to the Shakespeare Festival with the kids. Saw Les Miserables and To Kill A Mockingbird. We even watched our Stake Conference online Sunday so it was like we were never gone. :)  It was a great family trip.

Sometime in... June

 Scott's brother Todd and his wife Kelsey welcomed the healthy arrival of their new TRIPLET (!!!) girls.
Elliet wanted to help me with our gift for them so she got her first sewing machine lesson. Some mothers get teary when they send their kids to Kindergarten, I had a moment witnessing this. Backwards, I know.

 And now that school is out, all kinds of rambunctious ideas develop. This particular night it was the game "Lava". They've done this before but I thought the route was inventive. It went way back from the playroom, which you had to start from the corner and climb over items before hopping onto your "safe" floor items to avoid the lava floor.
All the way down the hall and up the stairs to the top. Eavesdropping to the sound of planning and strategizing was so fun.  Kids are the best!

And below is a piece of Sea art that Luke brought home from school that I can't wait to hang.
Such great color composition and creativity! I love this stuff. Oh, the big red octopus on the right is supposed to be the Kraken.