St. George Vacation

Our first family vacation is now over and was a grand success for the most part. We left Tuesday morning and traveled to Nephi where we stopped for lunch and to play at the city park. The kids napped from Nephi to Cedar City where we got out and played around and did some grocery shopping before making the last leg of the trip to St. George. We were very surprised that the kids handled the long road trip so well.

At SUU campus playing around.

Day 1

On Wednesday, we went to Snow Canyon state park and hiked around the petrified sand dunes. The kids had a great time and the landscape was a lot of fun for them.

Max showing his enthusiasm for his limited-terain vehicle.

It was a beautiful day for a hike.

Sam loved rock climbing.

The trail wasn't as stroller friendly as we had hoped, but it worked.

We then went to the sand dunes in Snow Canyon park and had lunch. There were two ladies water coloring while we were there. One of the women painted a water color of a chipmunk called a pica for Mabel. She absolutely loved it.

Mabel enjoyed the sand in her feet, but Sam was too busy having a tired-"I can't believe I just tripped on the last rock of the hike" tantrum.

We then went back to the condo for a nice afternoon nap and then went to the Sand Hollow Aquactic center in the afternoon. They had a large water slide, but we only got to play for about 40 minutes before they closed for swimming lessons. Back at the condo, everytime Grandma went in the bathroom, the kids would call her name, peek under the door, and try to break in.

That evening after dinner, we went to Pioneer park. That was a very fun place where you could climb all sorts of red rock and overlook the city.

Day 2

On Thursday morning we went to the St. George temple visitor's center. Then Grandma did a session at the temple while Nick and I took the kids to Jumpin' Jacks. This was our favorite part of the trip. They had huge blow up slides and bounce houses that the both the kids and us loved. It was a great workout and a lot of fun.

Sam especially liked the giant dinosaur.

Mabel loved feeling the wind in her hair as she zoomed down the big slide.

Practicing advanced gymnastic moves in the castle bounce-house.

Even Max enjoyed the slides.

Dinner at the condo - hamburgers and hotdogs of course. We had to put a towel under Max to try to protect the carpet (he makes quite a mess).

Day 3

Friday morning we drove to Kanab to see Grandpa Burst. He had remodeled the house since we were there last so we were excited to see the new look.

Eating lunch picnic-style in the front room.

Playing at the Kanab city park fountain.

After lunch we went to Zion national park. We tried a hike, but it wasn't stroller or even kid friendly so we turned back. It was stressful watching the kids run and jump on slick rocks right next to a 100 ft. cliff.

So we rode the shuttle instead.

We went to the river to let Max eat some rocks,

and Mabel and Sam throw rocks into the water. Notice that the terrain is very flat - no large cliffs to worry about!

After a long afternoon of hiking, stressing and playing we had dinner at Zions. Max showed a total disregard for the law by throwing lots of food on the ground even though there were many signs that warned not to feed the wildlife - or else.

Day 4

Saturday we checked out of the condo and headed north. We made a stop at the west side of Zions to see the Kolob canyons.

We did a short (and flat) hike. You could say we did our best to "hie to Kolob". It definitely wasn't in the twinkling of an eye. Sam typically moves at a snail's pace. He's too busy jumping over rocks, playing in the sand, and looking at the wildlife (mainly ants).

Sam also has an affection for botany (aka ripping off leaves and destroying flowers).

To speed things up we carried Sam part of the way.

We stopped in Salina to stay Saturday night with Grandpa and Grandma Anderson. The kids enjoyed playing on the trampoline, riding 4-wheelers and they even got a ride in Grandpa's airplane.

It was a really fun family vacation. Maybe we'll do it again sometime.