Spring break

Brian was brave enough to take the 3 oldest kids camping in Zion ALONE! I braided Zoey's hair in dreads before the trip so he wouldn't have to worry about her hair. It took a whole day to prep getting these guys packed, food purchased, and meals prepped and ready. It's more work getting out of town and cleaning up from a trip than the actual trip itself these days :) The kids wanted to pack their own bags, but luckily we went through them before departure, otherwise Eli would have been hiking in a swimsuit and a church tie! ha ha! 

 They headed out Thursday and spent that night in a hotel in Springdale and enjoyed the day at the pool. They swam for 4 hours!! The goal was to be down there so they could get into the park first thing the following day and get a campsite (first come first serve). The hotel served a Continental breakfast with omelets, waffles, muffins and breads..anything you could want. What did out kids pick? Cap'n Crunch! I guess it's more of a novelty for them since they don't get that at home :)

 They braved several hikes and saw some cool wildlife. A deer in the river and even pet a squirrel!

They all became Junior Rangers which they are all proud of...but especially Jackson. He took it very responsibly! This is them working on their Junior Ranger books...

They were pleased to see that I packed them hot chocolate for breakfast. I really did think of everything :)

While in Zion, Brian took the kids on a few hikes--Temple of Sinawava (1.5 miles) an Emerald Pools (5miles). When their legs got tired, Brian would let them stop and rest... until Zoey got smart and said her legs were infinity tired! And then it was the ice cream motivation to the end :)

 Brian rewarded the hikers with ice cream at the lodge afterwords. It was hard-earned! After coming home I asked them what they liked best and they all agreed it was the ice cream! I joked with Brian that it was a long trip for ice cream and maybe they could stay close to home next year, but he reminded the kids that the ice cream only tasted so good because they had to hike to get it!

 After ice cream, they played tag... newly found energy from sugar can go a long way

Until it's gone... and the hike caught up to them and they sacked-out! They wore each other- even their dad- to the bone! They slept until 6pm, played hide and go seek (in the tent!) while Brian made dinner, and staye  up late watching a movie. Spring break at its best! A little getaway, a little warm sunny weather, playing hard and no home rules to worry about!
 

They wanted to stay longer, but made the drive home in time to catch Everette's baby blessing on Saturday afternoon.