Richard had work in St. George last week. So we joined him. His work pays for a rental car when he goes on trips, so he rented a van. We might be converted. it was so nice to have all that space and to be able to sleep well on the way down! Anna was great on the car ride. Being able to read to yourself really improves the way a car ride goes down.
Julia was not so good. She tried to "read" for a while. Then she resorted to screaming. She likes to yell a lot. It's not so good. But she's so cute we get over it and often laugh at her.
We spent the first day swimming in the hotel pool and watching cable TV (which we have at home, but Anna doesn't know that). We also enjoyed the fruit loops as part of the continental breakfast. Julia pooped in the hotel tub. No good. The next day we set out on an adventure. I walked all over St. George on a trail. We stopped at a park and played for a good while. The weather was nice, 60's. We ate lunch at the park then I pushed the girls in the strolled to the temple. We spent a long time at the visitor center reading and learning about Christ. Then we watched a movie in the visitor center theater about moses. Anna loved that (see picture above). Then we walked around the grounds - spring blooms were on the trees! But I didn't get a picture because I was enjoying it too much (and Julia was trying to pick flowers).
Julia fell asleep as we walked to the St. George library. Good thing too because we found a carousel and Julia hates them. so while she was asleep anna and I rode the carousel. Anna loved this horse with roses on it. Her name was "rosey." After that we went to the library.
Here's anna's heaven. The childrens section of the library. We spent a few hours here.
Then Julia woke up and we got out of there and back out into the sunshine.
They have a great water feature in St. George right next to the library. We played there a couple hours. Anna was in heaven. Julia was a chicken because it was kind of cold, but I think she had fun still.
I thought joy would like this statue of "book peddlers"
More of the water feature. I got bored and took a lot of pics.
anna's "best smile"
she found a cedar branch that she loved playing with. There were lots of kids that wanted it, so she thought it would be good to break it apart and share. what a nice girl.
They both loved to hug this fireman statue.
That night rich took the kids swimming (again) at the new hotel. I went to the temple. It was beautiful. Julia pooped in the tub again.
The next morning we woke up early and headed to Zion Natn'l Park. We set up camp in Watchman Campground and set off for hiking. First stop was the emerald pools. Anna hiked the whole way. I was really impressed with her desire to keep hiking on this trip!
Rich wanted a "lineup" picture against this wall.
The view looking out over the canyon.
Anna hiking.
This is at the upper emerald pool. She likes climbing over the big boulders.
I carried Julia in hopes of coaxing her into sleep - no luck.
Anna's "best smile"
That night we had the classic campout meal - hot dogs and marshmallows. But I bought peeps instead of marshmallows - they burn up real quick. anna didn't like her hot dog very hot and wanted to eat the mallows un-roasted. I decided we can appease her by avoiding the fire altogether and eating cold hot dogs and marshmallows out the bag. The stroller made a great seat for them since we forgot camping chairs (we are used to taking the corolla - so pack real minimist style).
the girls shared a sleeping bag. Unfortunately this didn't last long because they were on our sleeping mats and I couldn't sleep on the hard ground (but anna can - and does every night!). So we moved them and Julia woke up. She was up almost every 2 hours. it was a LONG night.
Of course anna woke up at 6 like she does every morning. she climbed in the car and read this huge book before Julia got up. we had oatmeal for bfast (made on the camping stove). We saw what looked to me like a western blue bird that morning.
We headed for angels landing trail. anna was excited to see the spot where the angels land. She hiked almost the entire trail. I am afraid of heights so I held onto her really tight. She told me that I would be alright and I didn't need to be scared. We saw 10 butterflies on this trial (we counted).
Here we are at the walter's wiggles. We did a wiggle at each corner. 21 wiggle sessions. It was a good time.
Here I am holding on to anna so she will keep me safe!
Richard looking up at us.
Richard looking down at us.
"it's okay mommy, don't be scared, you'll be alright" - look at me holding on to her! But we made it to the saddle where you go out to angel's landing. I had no intention of going out there. rich might have. But we didn't. (it's really steep with big drop offs). At this point Richard dropped the camera into the sand and we didn't dare try to turn it back on until we cleaned out the sand. I really like this camera, I hope it isn't ruined.
After that we went the museum at the park (to anna's delight they had a film about the park). Anna completed a junior ranger program and became a junior ranger. We lost the badge because she didn't want to wear it (she was really tired at this point from all the hiking). We then drove home and had a wonderful nights sleep in our own beds. It's fun to go and hike with kids, but we are dreaming of the day when they are old enough to allow us to hike as far as we really want to. I think if we keep taking them they will someday get there.
