St. George Road Trip

Our summer of fun was pretty successful!  No, we didn't get to go camping as much as we liked, but we had some good local fun.  We had some grand plans of camping in Grand Teton National Park, but with the season getting shorter and shorter (and snow in Wyoming!), we thought about turning our trip south-ward, like St. George!  Who doesn't love St. George at the end of September?  We secured a spot at our favorite RV park and drove down Friday afternoon.  For some reason, the trip down seemed extra long.  We thought that all 3 kids would sleep peacefully through the late afternoon, but it was FAR from that!  I felt like we never needed DVD players in the car before.  How long could we get by on "Just look out the window!"?  What was I thinking?  4 hours in a car seat?  We were THIS close to stopping at the walmart in Cedar City and splurging on dual players and headphones.  Dallin finally calmed down, but I know what we're getting the kids for Christmas!

We couldn't find Dallin's swimsuit before we left, so we spent Saturday morning scouring the clearance racks for one.  It's still hot down there, which doesn't explain why it took us over an hour to find a toddler swimsuit!  Sure, it was little big, but he'll grow into it.  The kids just wanted to swim all day!  I took the older kids to the town square and left Bevan and a napping Drew to watch the football game in the lobby.  Anna and Dallin had a blast at the splash pad and red rock ponds.  We killed some more time at the park and 7-Eleven.  Lots o' fun and lots o' sugar!

Bevan won a gift card to Texas Roadhouse right before we left and for SOME REASON we thought it was a good idea to take all 3 kids to said roadhouse.  Let's just say, it was the quickest I've ever eaten a steak!  Actually, the kids were alright, and sometimes their behaviour is just my perception and not reality.  We're all guilty of that, right?

On Sunday, we hit up our favorite church building, right by the temple.  We scored even more with their Primary program!  Dallin was thoroughly captivated, but Drew slept right through it.  We walked around the temple grounds afterward.  Oh, how I love that place!  It was so peaceful and there was such a wonderful spirit there!  We headed out to Pine Valley to see what that was all about.  Also, more amazing history! The original chapel is still standing and it holds weekly meetings too!  Dallin was a little upset when they told him they don't offer a nursery.  Good to know!

We saved Zion National Park for Monday because we THOUGHT there would be fewer people.  Holy cow it was crowded!  I'd hate to see it on a weekend.  The shuttle buses were jam-packed and I think I may have jammed a few people with my baby back pack (bahaha!)  Good thing Drew is cute.  Our one and only objective for the day was Emerald Pools.  Anything on top of that was a bonus with 3 small kids.  We did make it to the Narrows and the kids spent every minute throwing rocks into the river.  I was still amazed how many people were there!  I did hear English spoken a few times too!  It sure is different now.  Pretty soon the shuttle buses will run year-round!  Oh well, we soaked up the last of the warm sun and headed home.  I'm hoping it's not another year before we return to beautiful Southern Utah!

We love Dallin. Dallin loves to fish!

I just love this 3-year-old of mine!  Back in June, we bought him a Lightning McQueen kids fishing pole and he just loves it!  He's been several times and only keeps getting better and better at casting.  We started actually baiting his hook (since we lost his fake fish at the bottom of Mantua Reservoir) and he's been catching some too!  The state park heavily stocks the "duck pond" so that makes it easier.

On Labor Day, Lloyd, Bevan, and Dallin went up to Kamas Lake.  They weren't quite as successful as they hoped, but it was a good hike!  It was nice to have them off spending time together.  I guess Dallin was lacking motivation on the hike out.  Luckily the group in front of them had some dogs that remarkably got him going again!  He loves dogs like he loves fishing!  I hope this fishing thing stays with him forever.  It seems relatively safe with little chances of getting hurt.  Just what Dallin needs!

Swiss Craze 2016

Oh, Labor Day weekend, how do I love thee?!  For 2 whole days the town of Midway turns into a giant parking lot (at least in front of our house) and the townsfolk pull together to put on the largest "craft fair" in Utah.  There are booths, food, entertainment, a parade, bbq dinner, and the good ol' 10K and Kids Race.  This is our 3rd year now being in charge of the race.  It HAS gotten easier, but only if we have a lot of volunteers on race day.  This year we were able to offer tickets to the chuckwagon breakfast for those volunteers who didn't want to race.  It totally worked and we had several volunteers wanting to help again next year.  Score!  Nora, Kim, and all the cousins were there again.  So grateful for their help too!  We had fun eating breakfast and watching the parade together!  By that time, I'm pretty cloudy in the head... but the day is just beginning!

I wasn't able to help out in the taco booth with Bevan, but I did put in some time with snow cones for the elementary school (even though our kids had only been attending that school for 3 days, I felt it necessary to show my support).  After about 30 minutes of pouring heavily-colored syrups over rapidly-melting ice, I realized it was sooooo much better than the taco booth!  Sign me up for the PTA!

Beverly and Lloyd felt like braving the traffic for a visit.  It was fun wandering the square, eating pie and ice cream late in the afternoon.  There is such a great spirit there.  What is it about Swiss Days that keeps people coming back year after year?  The amazing 10K?  The crafts? The sauerkraut?  The spirit???