St. George

Our good friends, the Bennetts, have an airBNB down there that we stayed in. It was perfect! Spacious and comfortable and had a pool just feet away. As soon as we got down there we immediately headed to the pool. It felt amazing to swim!

The next morning Ben had to work. I took all four kids by myself and headed to Zion National Park! Hudson has his parks pass for another few months and I'd really wanted to see Zion with the kiddos. Last time I was there was in 3rd grade and I didn't remember it at all. 

The park totally lives up to the hype it was absolutely stunning. The shuttle bus hop on hop off system made it so smooth and easy to see everything and the boys loved all of it. 

We did two little hikes. The first one was to Emerald Pools. The waterfall was stunning- pictures don't do it justice. The sun was shining so we could see a rainbow at the bottom, which Lila loved. Then we headed on to the last stop in the park to the Narrows. We did the little riverside trail that leads to the entry to the Narrows and it was also so beautiful.

The boys loved all of Zion. They were great hikers and had such good attitudes. I love that they sincerely seem to appreciate the beauty of nature and the unique experiences they get living so close to these natural wonders. Lila on the other hand...took ZERO steps in Zion National Park. And by that I mean she made me carry her for 3.5 miles of hiking. Whenever I tried to set her down she would scream and refuse to even let her feet touch the ground!!!!! I have no idea what got into her, but it was hilarious and exhausting and I may have gotten a little frustrated with her. Also, I was glad I work out as much as I do so that I can carry a three year old while hiking all day!

 After a fun 6 hours in Zion we headed back to the airBNB for more swimming. It was fun to be on vacation to stay up late watching movies, finding fun restaurants for dinner, and just relaxing!

The next morning Ben was able to take a few hours off work to explore with us, so we headed to Snow Canyon State Park. It was also so beautiful and unique! We spent a good long while at the Sand Dunes, where Hudson directed several photo ops, and all the kids loved digging in the sand.

Then we headed over to the rocky part and the kids LOVED climbing all over these rock faces. Even our Hudson, who is typically quite scared of heights faced his fears and found a love for it!

After a stop for donuts at a local bakery and a little more pool time, the kids were getting restless. So I took them to Dixie rock to play around and climb on even more rocks while we waited for Ben to finish work and headed to get some pizza for dinner. 

Our last morning before driving home we headed to Thunder Junction park. It was super fun! Dinosaur themed and so many cool things to do. The kids had a blast there for a couple of hours before packing up to make the long drive back home. 

This trip was a lot of fun- and a lot of work. I had very realistic expectations of how Lila would do. And truth be told, she did a little worse. But I was still so glad we did it. These memories are the best!