A Little Getaway-and More Summer Bucket List

On Friday June 15 I woke up and told Don that I had had it with summer and we needed to be spontaneous and go and do something. It had only been summer for a week but I was grumpy and needed to get away. We thought about trying to go to Panguitch to see my friend Amy or go to Cedar City to the Shakespeare Festival but the Shakespeare Festival was not going yet and my friend was at Girls Camp so we just decided to go to St. George.  It was not much cooler at all but atleast it was civilization  We didn't leave here until around 3 because being spontaneous takes lots of time when you have kids. We stayed at the Hampton Inn.  We like it there and it is very clean-one of my most important necessities when staying at a hotel.  They also have a great free breakfast in the mornings and we used some of Don's Hilton points so even better.  This was our first visit to a hotel with Kyle and it wasn't too bad.  After we checked in we walked down the street to Golden Corral.  On our bucket list is try to new restaurants since we ALWAYS eat at the same places.  My kids went nuts at Golden Corral.  It was great!  There was so much to choose from and there was stuff Kyle could eat too.  The boys loved the chocolate fountain and the cotton candy! We made them wait to get dessert after they ate their dinner and it was sure hard for them since we were sitting right by the dessert section.

Our arrival at the Hampton!

Caleb at Golden Corral on plate number 5

Yummy crackers!

Cotton Candy!

After dinner we went back to the hotel for a rest and I ran to Target and Old Navy.  When I got back we all went swimming in the hotel pool.  It was Kyle's first time swimming too!  He loved it!  I bought him a floaty boat at Target and he splashed and played and had a great time.  Saturday morning we went to the breakfast downstairs and then headed out to Zion National Park for the day.  Cayden has wanted to go hiking for a while now and it is not fun in a 110 degrees so we thought we would try it at 100 degrees.  It was ok until about 2:30 when the clouds all disappeared and the sun was beating down on us and radiating off the cliffs.  We parked at the visitor center and took the shuttle up to the Emerald Pools trail.  It was a mostly paved trail so we were able to puch Kyle in his stroller.  We had a backpack to hold him in but thought we would all be much more comfortable with him the stroller.  There were lots of people packing their babies in their arms and a few people with baby backpacks but we only saw one other stroller although many people commented on Kyle's 4-wheel drive!  It was much nicer to push him although there were some hills to go up and down.  That hike took about an hour in and out.  Then we took a rest at the lodge area and had snack and Kyle had a bottle.  Then we rode the shuttle up to another trail but this time I stayed at the shuttle stop and Don took Caleb and Cayden on the hike to the weeping rock. That was a much shorter hike and I sat in the shade with Kyle and read my book on my kindle app.  After that we had all had enough hiking and sun and it was getting really hot.  There were quite a few people up there too and so it took a while to get back down to the visitor's center on the shuttle.  We hustled to the car and headed out.  We were going to stop at Subway but it wasn't open so we decided to just head back to St. George for some Five Guys.  After dinner and a nap for dad, mom and Kyle we headed to the pool again.  Cayden sat up and watched TV which I thought was surpirsing because I thought for sure he would crash!  After swimming and baths we ordered a pizza from Papa John's and some mac and cheese and mashed potatoes from Village Inn.  Kyle would have nothing to do with the baby food I had brought for him so he needed people food.  Sunday morning we slept in and missed the free breakfast but we packed up and went to Village Inn instead.  It was quite delisious and was a pretty good deal too.  After breakfast we headed home and had nice Father's Day nap! 

This is a cool tree with a big hole that Cayden was sure had a squirrel.

On the Emerald Pools trail.

Kyle's first hike!

Swimming and swimming!

Cayden preferred the hot tub even though it was 100 degrees outside.

Summer Bucket List Part 1

On Wednesday June 13, Caleb, Cayden, Kyle and I went for our first summer outing. Summer here in Logandale REALLY makes me grumpy sometimes and this was just barely the first full week of it! Caleb needed a bunch of stuff for his scout camp and I really needed a day away from here! So we loaded up and headed out for St. George-it is only 2 degrees cooler than here but atleast it was civilization! Kyle was not a happy camper in the car until about Mesquite when he fell asleep. First we went to the scout store and then to get Caleb some hiking shoes-not hiking boots-hiking shoes. We looked at a few places but settled on Payless. After the scout shopping we went to lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. One of the things on our Summer Bucket List was to try somewhere new to eat and since dad gave it rave reviews a few days before, we decided to try it. Kyle had his first full french fry that I had to keep pulling out of his mouth because he wanted to cram the whole thing in. After a few tug of wars I decided to break it up into pieces for him.  Good call dad on the Five Guys place!  A little more expensive than In and Out and not as fast but much better tasting.  After lunch we went to Target and Deseret Book and then for another bucket list item-snowcones!  They were delicious and then I dumped it on myself just to prove it.  Luckily it was at the gas station as we were heading out of town and so we didn't have any more stops to make.  As soon as we got home I squirted Spray and Wash all over my shirt, let it sit for a bit and then ran it through the wash.  It all came out because it was Cayden's Sugar Free Tiger's Blood.  Man that stuff was RED.  It may have been permanent if it would have been the sugar full kind!  We were all pretty tired but we had a fun day. As usual Connor was working with Grandpa and Don was in Denver.  This was actually my first trip out of the valley with just my boys since Kyle was born.  I have not been stupid brave enough to attempt a whole shopping expedition without Don but I am proud to say we survived but only cuz I had such good help from Caleb and Cayden.  Here's to more summer adventures!

Kyle's First French Fry

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

The first snow cone of the summer-Sugar Free Tiger's Blood

Tiger's Blood-not sugar free

First Snow Cone Dump of the Season-thankfully Sugar Free Tiger's Blood and it all came out!