Wednesday evening we left for St. George. It had been a couple of years since we were there last so James had never been and Erica didn't remember it. This was actually James's first night away from home! Sarah and Henry wanted to do exactly what we did a couple of years ago. Go to the same parks, do the same hikes, eat at the same restaurants, recreate the magic, I guess. We did some things the same and did some new things as well. The first thing they told Erica was about the walk-in closet at my parents' condo. Ha!
The kids finally got to put to use the wireless headphones they got for Christmas. James lasted about 10 seconds with them on and then wanted nothing to do with the DVD player again.
We arrived late Wednesday night so the real fun began Thursday morning. Our first outing was to Thunder Junction Park. This was new since our last trip.
It's an all-abilities park so some of the stuff is wheelchair accessible which was super fun for my kids too. Anything new at park is great!
James wanted to go down by himself.
But then he had second thoughts and wouldn't let go.
Thank goodness for a big sister to take him down.
I bough a humonguous cinnamon roll and orange roll at a bakery in Hurricane where we were staying. They were both so good. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect cinnamon roll. This is the orange roll. We had already eaten the cinnamon one before I realized I wanted a photo to treasure forever. Muddy Bees Bakery in Hurricane, if you're curious. If you like soft rolls with lots of cream cheese frosting (which I do) these are for you. $2.65 each and it's just around the corner from my parents' condo so this could be a regular purchase.
I tried to teetor totter with Henry.
James toddling around with a hunk of cinnamon roll.
James still meandering about. This time yelling. He really wanted to splash in the splash pad area but it was a cool day and the water was super cold so I didn't let him.
This is the zip line.
Then we rode the train. The whole park is dinosaur theme so we went on a dinosaur hunt.
Justin is very excited about dinosaurs. Not really but I don't remember what he's so stoked about.
We ate a picnic lunch then headed up to Pioneer Park, aka, "give mom a heart attack park."
James did no like riding in the backpack. He doesn't know how lucky he is.
Justin took the big kids to climb and shimmy up the crack so I took James back out. I got him out of the backpack and he spent the time dropping rocks into the backpack.
Then shoving rocks into this shrub.
Henry and Sarah made it out of the crack first then went back to look for Justin and Erica.
They made it!
Then the wind picked up so James and I waited in the car. We would have stayed longer but James was getting grumpy and Henry needed to use the bathroom.
On the way down the hill, we stopped at Brigham Young's summer home. I was super proud of my kids. They guessed right what all the old-fashioned stuff in the kitchen was (It's all the
Little House on the Praire they watch) and were good about not touching stuff. We got an abbreviated tour while Justin waited with James outside.
I wonder if these were the original paint colors.
We took James home for a nap and just relaxed for a couple of hours. We watched lots of HGTV while we were there. Erica and I did all the kid puzzles in the closet. We drove to Washington to have dinner at Bishop's Grill. It was okay.
Friday morning we visited Snow Canyon. I love Snow Canyon. It's a calmer, less busy alternative to Zion. This time we did Jenny's Canyon hike.
Sarah and Justin are discussing how to best scale this wall.
Jenny's Canyon!
The kids loved all these tiny pockets. If we had them at home, they'd fill them with their little treasures.
James was nervous on this ledge.
Kids can't resist climbing on stuff.
This kid cracks me up. Sometimes he asks to have his picture taken and does a pose.
It started to rain while we were in this canyon and by the time we visited the restroom, the wind and rain had really picked up. We drove to where I wanted to hike next but 2/4 kids were in shorts and it was pretty cold so we decide we'd maybe come back later that day but we didn't. Sad face.
That evening, after James's nap, we went to the Children's Museum. I would have been fine skipping it this year but after hearing "When are we going to the Children's Museum?" 30 times, I figured we'd better go or their little hearts would be crushed. Erica didn't remember it so that made it more fun. Sarah and Henry are growing out of it, I think.
Aw, 4th Dye baby to milk Maggie the fake cow.
This is the most favorite room for my kids. I think they could have spent hours in there. Hey kids, we have fake food, a cart, and a register at home.
Aw, little James looking in the deli case.
Seriously. They were in there forever. The only thing that moved them along was that it was closing in an hour and they may want to see other stuff. We had pretty much every room to ourselves so we were able to get through the rooms quicker.
This is the fake plane in the transportation room.
And the fake firehouse in the hall.
This was new to us: a dinosaur room. James did not like the roaring so we didn't stay long.
And the princess room for Erica. Sarah wasn't interested in dressing up or pretending at all.
Then we went to a crepe place that I wanted to try. It was good but overpriced. Then we went to Nielsen's for frozen custard. By then James was pretty cranky and sad so we took him home to go to bed.
James woke up with a fever Saturday morning and Justin woke up with a migraine. We had plans to go to Red Cliffs but instead we cleaned up the condo and stopped at Red Rock Roasting Company in La Verkin to try their cinnamon rolls (more gooey, more cinnamon flavor, more of a glazy icing, $3.95). I didn't get a picture of the cinnamon roll but I did snap this of the view from their back patio.
Then we drove to Leeds to hike to the kiln. I had found it on a website about easy hikes for kids. It was easy: a gravel path the entire time.
There were little signs along the way explaining the vegetation. And lots of lizards.
These tiny lizards freaked my kids out. I'm relieved to know that Henry won't be the kid that brings reptiles into my house.
And then suddenly we made it to the kiln. The plaque said it was built in 1885 by Italian artisans but it wasn't clear to me what it was used for or why it was so far up a canyon.
Sorry for the sun, kiddos.
Then we stopped for lunch in Cedar City at Hermes (so good) and drove the rest of the way home. James was sick and tired and out of his mind so we put him to bed at 6pm. He slept until 8 am Sunday and then took a 6 hour nap. It was a fun trip even though we didn't get to everything that we wanted to. But now that I know James does okay on the drive and even sleeps there like a champ, we can go more often. For the cinnamon rolls.
