Zion National Park

Originally, my plan Sunday was to get going early enough to catch a shuttle and do a couple of hikes in Zion National Park.  With everyone feeling a little lousy, we scrapped that idea and only headed out after lunch.  We took the scenic drive only, and couldn't find a place to park until the very end of the road!  

It was getting cold, and Parker was quite grouchy from not feeling well, so we only walked around for a short bit.

Cameron giving a thumbs up - he was feeling better after passing his cold to everyone else!

Hamming it up, as always!

We made one last stop on the way back out of the park, and Cameron and Parker decided to stay put in the van.

We definitely didn't see much of anything, but at least we tried!  We drove through the really long tunnel and still could admire the views.  Then we drove back to the hotel, made dinner, and let the kiddos watch a movie and get to bed! 

Pioneer Park & Red Hills Desert Garden

Saturday morning we just lounged around and let the kids sleep in a bit after our late night.  Kenzie said her head felt much better, but the rest of us were starting to catch Cameron's cold, so we didn't do too much.  We did spend a little bit of time wandering around the Red Hills Desert Garden to view all the desert plants.

We knew a cold front was moving in, so we all had sweaters with us... it had not arrived yet.  It was quite toasty out there!

Tried to take a picture with the kiddos... Cameron would not cooperate whatsoever!

I had to amend my bucket list after this trip.  I had written, "See a saguaro cactus" so technically here was one, but it's about 75 years too young!  Chris laughed and took this picture for me.  I now have "See a saguaro cactus with arms" on my bucket list instead - I want to see one of the big, tall ones with giant arms!

There were some Halloween decorations around, and this one was funny.  It's a weeping angel from Doctor Who (that episode was scary!).  They move when you turn your back, so here's Kenzie keeping us safe by keeping an eye on this one.

The kids had fun walking around reading all the little signs identifying the plants.  (The next day, Cameron walked past a cactus on our little jaunt in Zion and exclaimed, "Look, it's a wild cactus!"  He was used to a cultivated setting, I guess!)

Just outside the garden area was Pioneer Park, a popular place for just exploring about on the rocks.  Parker suddenly decided climbing to the top of rocks was the most amazing thing in the world, which was cute.

Cameron enjoyed exploring and looking for "caves" in any shadowy spot.

When we were ready to head back, Kenzie humored Parker, who really wanted to climb one last trail.  Cameron had no interest and marched back to the van to wait in the air conditioning with his old parents, but I thought it was cute that Kenzie sent me the selfie they took up top.

And here's the one Kenzie took of Parker atop the rock.  He was very pleased.

I don't know I would like to look at the red rock all the time, but for short trips it's pretty.

We'll end with this one of Cameron!  Needs no explanation!

 

St. George

On the road again!  We were all pretty excited to finally go somewhere last Friday, even if it was only down to St. George, which is about four hours away.  The kids just watched movies and we also listened to the next audio book in the series we started last Fall Break.

We have liked staying in the long term hotels that, while not fancy, have a kitchen area and separate bedrooms, so that's what we went with again this trip.  The boys were up early most mornings watching TV so it was nice that their door was shut and the rest of us could sleep for a bit longer.  Cameron's bed was full of legos and snack crumbs by the end!

Kenzers would rather sleep on the pull out sofa than share a room with either of her brothers, so she gladly slept in the middle area.

Putting together tacos for dinner.

Then it was off to Tuacahn, a pretty outdoor amphitheater set against the red rocks, to see Brian Regan.  That shadowy figure up ahead is Cameron.  You may notice no crowds entering with us.  The tickets only said 7:30, but Brian Regan's website said "Doors 7:30, show at 8:30."  Kenzie had a horrible headache, so we were trying to mitigate that and also figured we didn't want to arrive too early to just sit around and wait, so we arrived about 7:50.  Turns out 7:30 was the start time after all, but in some ways that was nice.  We did not wait in any line, the ushers personally guided us to our seats, and we only missed most of the opening act by some other comedian.  Then the "real" show began a few minutes after we took our seats.

Here's a quick picture I took of Kenzie and Parker as we were getting up to leave, but otherwise it was too dark and the show was going, so it wasn't possible to get other pictures.  Even despite her headache, Kenzie said she really enjoyed it.  She was really laughing, especially when Brian Regan brought up marching bands.  Parker also was really laughing down there.  Cameron was on my right, and then Chris was on the end.  Cameron had come down with a stuffy nose the day before, plus it was about his bedtime, so he was exhausted.  I think some of the jokes went right over his head, too, so he sat there quietly for a lot of it.  Then suddenly a joke would be about animals or something he obviously understood, because he would crack up laughing, hug my arm, and say, "Thanks for taking us to this, Mom!"  

Cameron all bundled up with his pandas, ready for bed.  He has been quoting the jokes he enjoyed pretty much nonstop, so I'm glad we were able to take him to see one of his favorite comedians. 

Happenings Lately

Not much going on lately, as usual.  We're trying to take advantage of the reduced school hours on Fridays by having picnics or going for hikes.  

I thought this was pretty adorable - Cameron sitting there with his shoes and sunglasses on, ready to read scriptures.  He is so proud of his new scriptures that he got for his birthday, and is the first to run around the house gathering everyone after dinner.

Conference weekend, we always set up the air mattress and everyone lounges around.  Cameron had a few moments of rolling around with his feet up, obviously bored, but for the most part he colored a very elaborate picture of a Transformer and was pretty good.

Kenzie is always so pleased when the cat sits on her.  Duchess usually prefers to be near, but not too close, so it's still a big deal when the cat decides to use Kenzie as a cushion.

Late one night, I wondered what in the world the sound was coming from the garage - just these two, cracking open geodes!

This past Friday we went to the local pumpkin patch to snag up our future jack-o-lanterns.  They had some emus, some goats, and a few little things for the kids to do.

Kenzie kept watch over the wheelbarrow...

... because Cameron was busy throwing apples at a target!  He thought it was hilarious.  Parker threw a couple, too, but I think Parker was feeling out of place being three times taller than the other kids.

It's fall!  Still not quite sure where spring and summer went, but here we are!

Kenzers drove us to the pumpkin patch and back.  When Cameron got out of the car (only the second time Kenzie had driven him someplace) he exclaimed, "Wow!  That was intense!" 

Parker randomly decided he wanted to make cookies today.  He picked a rather time-intensive chocolate marshmallow cookie, so he made cookies, then made homemade marshmallow creme, and then made chocolate frosting and assembled them.  He looked at the clock and said, "That took longer than I expected, but it was worth it!"  

Not to be outdone, Kenzers was in the kitchen a few hours later dipping pretzel rods.  We don't go hungry around here!