Josh had Spring Break this week. Just this last Friday, he and I were chatting on Facebook, and being the wonderful wife that I am, I asked him if he wanted to take a spontaneous trip to St George with the kids - get away for a little bit and relax. We've both needed a major change of scenery. Once I told Quinn about it, he got so excited and hated that he had to wait ALL WEEKEND until we could go. So enjoy the picture tour of our trip this last week. :)
It has become a tradition to stop in at the local gas station and pick up breakfast (aka Krispie Kreme donut holes) before we head on a road trip. Logan kifed them.
I told Quinn to show me just how excited he was to go. This is the face I got:
Josh got a new look for the trip: stunning cop shades and a rad Chevy hat (we're kinda huge Chevrolet fans in this house. Just ask Quinn and he'll tell you all about it).
Most of the trip down (and around and back), Quinn spent his time not playing on Daddy's phone, but looking at the map and telling us where to go and making sure we were on track. This kid LOVES maps! I love that he loves maps - takes after his Momma.
We booked 2 nights at the Travelodge in Hurricane. Super cheap, but really nice (though the bathroom fixtures could use some updating), nice clean carpet, freshly painted walls, free continental breakfast (yay Belgian waffles!), etc.
First thing we did after we booked into our hotel room was go swimming. It was still a bit cold but a lot of fun!
We all especially loved the hot tub! The boys perked right up to be playing in such a large bathtub lol.
That night after dinner, we took a stroll up to Pioneer Park. Easily our favorite part of the trip! Super mellow walk for kids and pregnant people like me, but also full of fun rocks you can climb (all levels) and great views. And going at sunset was just prime!
Geologist Josh quickly began to tutor Quinn in the ways of rock formations. Quinn ate up every word. He loves everything his Daddy does. It makes me proud!
There are all sorts of fun alcoves and mini caves in the area.
Even Logan got in on the fun.
Quinn gathered some of the red sand for his collection. He got a lot of cool things for his collection on this trip.
Don't mind the fat pregnant lady in this picture (it was a really rough first trimester, let me tell you what!), but here's our little family.
Up on top of the rocks.
I love my hiking boys!
Once we found a safe place to put Logan down, he went crazy! He absolutely loved every second of it! Ate the dirt, tested it for quality assurance, etc.
Where the big boys could climb that Mommy and Logan could not. Quinn absolutely LOVED climbing rocks, and continued to ask if we were going to do it again each day we were there.
At the lookout point.
Funny story: I had quite the panic attack (and asthma attack) at the prospect of my little boys going up this high with Josh. There were steep dropoffs, Quinn loved just jumping around (he also kept getting mad at me for holding him back and not letting him just be himself), and I did not even want to go up it (Hello! Pregnant lady with bad hips!). But then Josh grabbed Logan, climbed up, turned around and lifted Quinn up, and looked at me. There was no way I was going to let him try and take care of those two on his own on those crazy rocks where I couldn't see! I was rather upset for a bit.... So this is my triumphant "I did it, and pregnant!" pose at the top. Just as a reference, I've done Angel's Landing, Camelback, and the Superstition Mountains with asthma being my only issue. This height thing is all new since having kids... it's not fun.
Quinn pointing out the view of the St George temple and Tabernacle.
My two cute boys posing for Mommy.
Josh was a huge help with the boys - as always. Logan would just take off trying to climb up everything, so Josh would follow him around to keep him from tumbling too badly. Such a cute Daddy!
"Look Daddy! I'm a big boy too!"
Quinn took this picture of us with the sunset. I sure do love my man!
The next day we went to the Children's Museum. It was crazy! So many kids and parents everywhere! Cool make-believe stuff, in every aspect you can think of, but crazy. Here the boys are "fixing" the car.
The Josh showed Quinn how to milk a cow.
Good practice for when we get goats!
...Meanwhile, back on the farm...
I was just quietly watching, Logan barely knew I was there, and he started picking up food and stuff and cooked me a meal! He must love watching me in the kitchen!
I already know Quinn loves to cook with me. Once he saw Logan do it, he had to cook me an egg too, flipped it and everything! I love my boys!
They had a theater room, complete with a stage and everything! They didn't like that so much as the letters. This is Quinn's "dramatic" pose.
In a sciency room, they had huge bubble-makers for the kids to play with. These girls would blow it at Quinn, and he's use his face/head to pop them, then squeal and tell them to do it again.
They all thought the kaleidoscope was pretty cool.
They had a green screen you could interract with.
And an art project tucked into a quiet corner (I liked this area - a small moment of peace!)
Logan loved the cave mine, and climbing over the bridge over and over and over...
And then took a little break... lol
Outside was a fun water splash area. Needless to say, the boys got drenched and had a blast!
Logan got so wet we had to take his clothes off and hang them out the window to dry as we drove around. He wore Quinn's jacket as clothing while we ate lunch in the meantime.
While we digested the yummy food from Judd's, we took a drive up Snow Canyon. It was way too windy to want to get out and do anything, but to see all the cool geologic formations, the lava rock (first time in the wild for me), and petrified sand dunes - it was pretty neat!
Oh, and a real volcano - though extinct. Quinn thought that was just about the coolest thing ever!
We also visited the Dinosaur Museum. Honestly, kinda cool, but really small and not totally worth the money. Granted, it's a local site, from findings right there, and I guess they do have some rather rare things on display. But I look forward to a visit to Vernal someday.
Again, Geologist Dad explaining how things work to his boys.
I told Quinn to look scared and this is what he gave me... I'm not sure he knows what he looks like.
Logan took after Josh by the end, and started explaining things to us as well, pointing to the rocks and jabbering off about them. I thought it was awesome!
And then he got tired.
They had a little sand pit where you could pretend to dig up bones, but again, it was super windy, which made it really cold, and sand being blown into the eyes is not the best feeling.
That evening we went to the St George Temple and took Quinn through the visitor's center. He really thought he was inside the temple, so it was pretty cute. He talked with the Sister Missionaries, bore his testimony in his own little way, and got a piece of rock they built the temple with for his collection from one of the Couple Missionaries. This was a favorite stop. It was nice to feel the Spirit as a family.
We had to make sure the boys got to actually touch the temple...
... even though for Logan that meant his head lol.
The next day we packed up and started home after browsing the Outlets. I pulled a pregnancy-brain moment and thought I had seen a route through Zion's that only added 30 minutes to our drive home, so we paid to get in, knowing we weren't going to hike, but so we could see some of the things. Man was I wrong!
So we made a little stop at the beginning of the Narrows for Quinn and Logan to stretch their legs and throw things in the water.
This is Logan's face right before he takes off running in the opposite direction you want him to. But you also know he's having fun if you see this look.
I heart him!
In the end, we drove through Zion's, found out by a map that the only way home was through Pangwitch and cutting back to I-15 just south of Beaver (or through Cedar Breaks, or clear up and around through Richfield, but we were trying to get home faster than all that). It ended up adding an extra 3 hours to our trip home with dinner and everything... we got home much later than expected, I felt bad the whole time for my mistake, but the boys were really good and the scenery was awesome! All those crazy small towns literally in the middle of nowhere...! We had a great trip, though exhausting, and look forward to the next time we get to make memories like this :)
