The time of our life...

What a wonderful gift this week has been!  We escaped the awful smoky air we've been breathing at home since August.  We got to stay in a big, beautiful, clean home with all the comfort amenities.  The kids swam every day.  The kids also all got their own rooms (a luxury they do not have at home)!  We ate lots of yummy food.  We all "went" to school with our laptops and Wifi.  Best of all, we got to see our family and feel loved by them.  Thank you, thank you Uncle Chris for the gift of this week in your house.  

Will is still on his wrestling trip.  I get to drive all five kids back home by myself.  Actually, I have two teen age drivers and they can help.  We stopped at 7 Magic Mountains just outside Las Vegas for fun.  Totally worth it!

I did let Wyatt and Lorien drive the last four hours home.  It was awful.  I hate being a passenger when teens are driving.  We made it home safely...I just have more gray hairs.  No big deal.  

Lone Mom Making Life Fun...

We were in search of adventure on our last full day in Hurricane, Utah.  Will left earlier in the week so he could attend some wrestling tournament, not as a participant but as an official from the Olympic Training Center here.  The night before, Uncle Chris took Clare, Me, Adell, and Colter out on his boat.  All the kids got a turn to drive the boat and I got a turn to get motion sick.

Saturday we made our way into Zions National Park for an adventure with the big kids.  Originally, we were going to hike the Kanaraville Falls hike.  However, Kanaraville changed their admission process.  It used to be pay to park open to hike, now you have to register and pay for a ticket to hike (150/day) and parking is free.  The hiking tickets were sold out until October 19 (thanks COVID).  

Plan B was to head to Zions and try a hike there.  Zions was really full...lots of traffic...lots of people.  We got into the park and drove through a tunnel carved through one of the mountains.  It was cool!  Traffic was backed up because they were only letting cars go through the tunnel one way at a time (social distancing, I guess?).  While Uncle Chris stayed in the car, Lorien, Wyatt, and I got out and walked along the road to take in the majesty a little closer.  

Home from the big kid's adventure it was the little kid's turn.  Clare (the middle kid) decided to stay home and chill out with her cousin, Clara.  Colter really wanted to go water skiing but we couldn't find a place to  rent easy-up skis and his feet didn't fit the adult skis Uncle Chris had in his boat.  We went down to the reservoir to have boat rides.  The cancelation prize for not skiing was driving the boat as many times as possible in the waining light.  Adell and Colter were satisfied with their fun.  

I was satisfied with the adventures I had provided and really thankful for Uncle Chris driving, boating, and taking us all around.  It was a really, really, really good day.

Oh!

I did a crazy thing.  Our little hike in Zions took us through a river bed up to some water falls.  On the way, there was one point where the little river narrowed and a deep pool was created between large stone walls.  Chris told us we could jump off the rocks into the pool on our way back.  I decided I would do a scary thing and jump.  While we were at the falls, Lorien and Wyatt slid down the rocks under the falls and into the very shallow pool there.  They told me I should do it too but I declined, knowing my adventure waited at the pool.

Once we got to the pool, Wyatt scrambled up and jumped off the rocks right away.  Lorien also got to the edge, counted to three and jumped!  I was next...and last.  I crept to the edge of the rock and down as close to the water as I could get.  I hate, hate, hate the sensation of falling.  It is the worst.  As as I perched on the edge all those fears of falling came rocketing up.  I knew I had to jump fast or I'd throw up.  The fall was terrible (milliseconds but terrible).  I hit the water and came up just fine.  I didn't feel how cold the water was because I was so fixated on the fall.  As I swam over to Lorien who was waiting to catch me I started to feel the cold.  That took my breath away.  So I started panicking and the most effective swimming stroke when you are panicking is the dog paddle...at least it is the stroke I always revert to when I am panicked.  This was no different.  I started panicking, not breathing, and hoping Lorien would save me.  I made it to Lorien and she pulled me to safety.  Ugh.  I was so proud of myself for doing a scary thing!

The Road Less Traveled...

Yesterday, Will headed out to find a trail from Chris's house out into the wilderness nearby.  In the process he got our van stuck in sand and had to be bailed out but he did find a way across the Virgin River and into the wilderness to a natural arch and hike through canyons to sand dunes.  

We headed out as a family to do the reverse of Will's hike.  It was so beautiful (and hot)!

We really enjoyed dipping our toes in the river.  

We found this tree or bush that had been eaten by the dry, hot, wind from the inside out.

The arch was very cool.  I haven't seen a natural arch in person until today.  It was fun to know it was so close to Chris's house and with in walking distance.

Clare was too hot and tired to keep hiking with us.  We let her stay by the river and cool down while we headed into the canyon to scramble up and up and up!

On the far end of the hike we came to some sand dunes.  The kids had a blast jumping down the dunes and filling every pocket/elbow crease/ear canal/ with sand.

Our hike was long and we started to worry we had left Clare for too long.  Will hiked ahead to collect Clare while Chris, the other kids, and I made our way down through the canyon.

Back at the river, where Clare had spent her hours cooling her toes and relaxing, the kids jumped all the way into the river.  

We were hoping to hike the Narrows in Zions.  Even with COVID weirdness the crowds in Zions are significant.  We couldn't get tickets and there was a toxic algae bloom in the water.  So we had to bail out of the Narrows.  This hike turned out to be SO much better.  We were the only people on the trail the whole time.  We got to pick our path many times.  We got to see trails that were not crowded or over used.  The kids scrambled up crazy high rocks.  We got to see a natural arch and roll down the sand dunes.  It was beautiful!

When we got back to the vacation home we all jumped in the pool with out hiking clothes on.  The pool was the perfect temperature!  We loaded up on Little Caesars Pizza and were thankful for the day.

Living the dream...

We had the weekend before the kids needed to be back to school on their computers.  Will's sister, Charity, also lives in Saint George so we spent the weekend with her and her family.  We watched General Conference, ate a lot of big meals, took some hikes, played games, and visited all weekend long.  

We extended out welcome into the following three week nights for dinner and games.  It was the perfect combo of vacation and real life.  The kids would go to school in the morning/afternoon and we would head over to Charity's house for dinner and games for the evening.  Chris's vacation home was the most comfortable place we could imagine.  Big, spacious (every kid got their own room for the first time in forever) clean, and a ton of fun.  

The pool was perfect and the weather was still hot enough for us to want to get into the pool!

Colter got his own room in the form of the Harry Potter room under the stairs.  He was so pleased about this!  I worried one of the big kids would break the spell telling him that sleeping in a closet wasn't as cool as sleeping in a full bedroom.  Thankfully, everyone kept the spell working and Colter slept in a closet under the stairs with joy every night!

Poor Lorien and Wyatt.  They flew from Salt Lake into Vegas Monday night.  Will put them on a shuttle from Vegas to Saint George.  About 50 miles outside of Vegas their shuttle stopped in traffic.  Apparently, there was a terrible accident ahead.  The kids were stuck for several hours until the road was cleared.  The real kicker was this shuttle actually runs from Salt Lake to Provo to Saint George to Vegas and back again.  The big kids could have gotten on the shuttle in Salt Lake (Wyatt could have boarded in Provo) and they could have driven the 4 hours south to Saint George instead of flying to Vegas...they would have been back with us hours earlier!  Thankfully, they were together and kept each other's spirits up.  Also...they had chargers and their devices to keep them entertained.  

We tried out some Crumble Cookies (another food fad in Utah).  

Everyone had an easier time getting school done in a vacation home than they did in a hotel room.  I think it will be the way to go if we try to distance learn from anywhere again.

Really, we enjoyed family time in the most relaxing environment without smoky air.  Thank you Chris, it was a lovely birthday present!