St. George Weekend - Pioneer Names Hike

On the way to the Sand Dunes hike, we passed the Pioneer Names hike.

The kids wanted to go because they saw a "cave."

This was the cave:

After climbing in and out of the "cave" Saxon decided to climb up the rock.

Then Nate had to climb up and help him down :)

He made it really far!

(Thanks to Mike for encouraging him to climb up the rock...)

Then, Dalton, ever the big-boy, also had to climb up the rock:

On the back side of the first "cave", we actually found a real cave.

Nate helped lift all of the boys into it.

Mike said this should be our next Christmas card.

Ha ha...no.

Nate told Saxon to come first out of the cave.

I knew exactly what was going to happen right before it did happen.

I barely had time to yell "NO" before Dalton jumped.

So Nate had Saxon pressed against the side with one hand and we each had a hand on Dalton trying to prevent him from sliding all the way to the bottom.  It was hard to catch them both because we were standing on a ledge so we couldn't get any closer.

Last but not least...Bridger.

After climbing around in and out of the cave, we never did see any pioneer names...

St. George Weekend - Sand Dunes

The next hike we did in St. George was the Sand Dunes.

When we got there, we saw one little sand dune in front of us.

It was so windy that I was tempted to let the kids play while I waited in the car.

We finally decided to all take off our shoes and just go walk to the top of the dune.

When we got to the top, we saw that the real sand dunes were past it.

We let the kids lead the way and we walked as far as the sand dunes go.

I LOVE this picture of Dalton.

He walked all on his own the whole way.

What a champ!!!

Mike taught the boys to stand on the edge of the sand cliffs and jump/slide down them.

Here's baby sliding down the sand dunes:

Family shot:

Once again, I couldn't get over the beauty of the red sand against the blue sky.

Every once in a while the wind would gust and sand blast us.

We were so covered in sand that I couldn't even wipe it off, it felt like it was engrained in my skin.  The sand was so soft though.  It was super-fine and warm, which was nice because the weather was a little cool.

Another fun adventure in St. George!

St. George Weekend - Petrified Sand Dunes

When we got up on Saturday morning in St. George, it was still really windy.

Too windy for the pool (and that was supposed to be our plan).

Instead, we googled "fun things to do in St. George" and found these hikes down Snow Canyon.  The first one we did was the petrified sand dunes.  The kids had fun because it was easy to climb and quick, but they still felt like they accomplished something.

They wore their sunglasses the whole time because of the wind:

I LOVE this pictures.

My cute boys who are best friends!

Family picture:

The boys followed Nate and climbed right up to the top of the rock.

It was so gorgeous.

Red rock.  Blue sky.  Beautiful.

Nate kept taking the boys to the edge to see how far they climbed.

Taking in the view:

Dalton was enjoying the ride on Nate's shoulders.

He's actually a good little hiker.

He kept wanted to walk.

He did a good job, it's just that he gets distracted and wanders off.

After almost losing him a few times, he was confined to Nate's shoulders.

Me and my Bubs:

Mike:

Bridger kept collecting rocks.  By the time we were done, he had pockets full of them.  My car is still full of them.  This one he picked up and said,

"This one looks like a chicken.  Bocka Bocka Bocka."

It was so funny!

He came up with "Bocka Bocka" on his own for what a chicken should say.

So cute!

Nate found this rock for me.

A heart :)

St. George Weekend - the hotel

For Memorial Day Weekend, we went down to St. George.

We went once a few years ago, and had so much fun, that we were dying to do it again!

We stayed at this amazing condo that was a Groupon deal that Mike found.

Seriously gorgeous!  I wanted to spend the whole first day admiring it.

My kids loved that it had two bunk beds so they each got a top bunk.

If you ask them what their favorite part of the trip was...they will say "the hotel and the bunk beds and the pool."  We wouldn't have ever had to leave and they would have loved every minute of it!

Bridger trying out his bed to make sure it was comfy:

Saxon felt like posing on his bed:

Dalton climbed right out of his pack and play and claimed the bottom bunk:

A close second to the amazing bunk beds?

The master bathroom!

Everyone (Me, Nate, the kids, and Mike) all shared the one bathroom because it was too amazing to pass up.  I don't think anyone ever used the other bathroom all weekend.

The kids took a bath in the jetted tub every night.

Then, just for fun, took a shower after.

Every moment that we were at the hotel, they were running between the bunk beds and the bathroom.

It was really windy while we were there, so we went out to eat, and then back to the hotel to just enjoy it for a while.  Mike too a bubble bath every night in the amazing tub  while Nate and I watched the Vampire Diaries season 1 (thanks Andi).  So. Much. Fun.  I didn't realize how much I needed a break until I was there.  It was so rejuvenating to not have to think about painting signs, or thinking of blog posts, or answering my phone of my emails.  To make our vacation extra indulgent, we got Sweet Tooth Fairy twice, and Nielson's twice.  Yum!

T-ball, Swimming, Soccer

We had the busiest week ever last week!

We had swimming lessons in the morning, soccer camp in the afternoon, and t-ball in the evening.  I was exhausted at the end of every day and so were the boys.  It was fun but I'm glad it's over.

This year Bridger is playing t-ball too.

I think he liked it.

He fought us on playing soccer last year, but he was really excited to get out there and hit the ball.  They never had an practices though so he was a little confused about the rules.  When everyone yells "run!"  he wasn't quite sure where to go.

He's getting the hang of it though...

Saxon's actually a little bored in t-ball because its too easy.

He needs more of a challenge.

I thought about signing him up for coach pitch, but I wanted him and Bridger to be on the same team this year.

(Saxon)

(Saxon)

(Bridger)

The boys were so excited to start swimming lessons again!

Saxon jumped right in with is class, but Bridger was a little hesitant.

He didn't want to get in and he growled at his teacher.

Finally I just handed him to her in the water and I walked away and he did just fine.

But every day he refused to get in, he growls, and once she dunks him, he's fine.

This year we signed Saxon up for BYU Soccer Camp.

It was really cool!

I mostly wanted to do it because as long as we live so close to BYU, I want to take advantage of the things that they offer.

They have the current Men's and Women's teams coaching and the women's team head coach supervising.  Saxon's friend Noah signed up with him and they went together everyday.

Saxon and Noah:

They named their team the "Fireballs."

Saxon and his coach Jake.

Saxon really loved soccer camp.  It wasn't too long, they got a popsicle break every day, and the coaches were awesome!

T-ball Game #2:

Now, this week starts summer reading :)

I think we are going to be busy every day all summer!

We love summertime and it's going to go by way too fast...