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!

Escape from Smoke Mountain...

On my birthday, my older brother called and offered his vacation home in Saint George, Utah as a present/escape from all the smoke.  I was so grateful and accepted happily!  We made plans (hoping the smoke would clear before then) to drive out to Saint George in the first week of October.  The little kids had minimum days for school all week and everyone can just take school with them anyway.  It seemed like a no-brainer.  To add to the ease, Wyatt has been in Utah visiting cousins for the last two weeks and Lorien went to Utah to visit a friend.  So the 10 hour drive would be made with just three kids!  It was going to be so easy!

We headed out early Saturday morning.  The sky was thick with wildfire smoke.  The lack of visibility gave us all an unsettling feeling.  The skies were smoky all the way through Bakersfield.

Once we got through one particular pass outside Bakersfield, the air cleared.  It was shocking to see blue skies again!  It was also 100 degrees as we headed into Death Valley.  Fun times!

Because we had the time (and desire) we stopped in Las Vegas for dinner and took the three little kids to eat at Will's all-time-favorite restaurant, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill.  We strolled around the casinos and took in a quick Bellagio Fountain show too.  

Adell and I stopped to ooh and ahh over some fancy clothes in a designer store.  I pointed out an Alexander McQueen dress so she would know what the judges were talking about the next time we watched Project Runway.

For a laugh, we stopped into one of the designer stores and enjoyed the high quality customer service!  They told us all about their hand crafted purses and these amazing shoes that smelled like chocolate.  Colter even got to try the shoes on.  I was impressed!  This was a high end, designer shop.  There was no way we looked like typical customers (see our traveling outfits in the picture above).  Yet, we were treated with kind enthusiasm and politeness.  They let us try on shoes and handle purses.  None of the kids were told to keep their hands to themselves or to leave.  It was really lovely!  If I ever become an high end, designer item shopper, I'll be shopping here!  

Mesa Grill was a hit.  Will and I love this place and it was beyond fun to treat the kids to a really yummy dinner.  Everyone ate something new and something they liked.  The only draw back was the chilly air conditioning.  

Our waitress told us in normal times they would provide shawls to the female guest who got cold while dining.  With COVID 19 they weren't doing that anymore.  However, one of the other staff members suggested extra table cloths!  They brought two out and draped them over Adell and Clare's shivering shoulders.  It was awesome.  Say what you will about the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas, the high end restaurants and shops care about taking care of their customers...I'm a big fan.