Bells Canyon Reservoir

The girls didn't have school today so Josh took the day off and we went on a hike. Neither of us had hiked Bells Canyon before but I was told that it wouldn't be too hard for the girls. We recently bought camelbaks and decided to give them a try. It turned out to be a fun little hike. The girls loved it.

When we got to the reservoir, we ate lunch and Josh tried to teach the girls how to skip rocks. Mostly they were just throwing rocks. Afterward we decided we'd keep going up because another mile and a half up the canyon were some waterfalls. We were pretty certain that we wouldn't get that far but thought we'd give it a try and see what we could see. Unfortunately we didn't get very far. After only a minute or two, Sadie informed us that she needed to use the bathroom. We decided to turn around and soon realized that she wasn't going to make it down the mountain. We were able to find a place for her to relieve herself and discovered that both Kali and Ashlyn needed to go too. Once the three of them were done, we decided we could head back up the mountain. Once again, we didn't get far. Ashlyn was too tired to walk so I had to carry her. Sadie was complaining that her legs were tired, and Kali informed us that she needed to use the bathroom again. We gave up and turned around. If you ask the girls, the most memorable part of the hike was the fact that they got to go to the bathroom out in nature.

Donut Falls

Ever since Josh did some hiking with his scouts he has been dying to go hiking as a family. Today we got the chance. We hiked Donut Falls and had a wonderful morning. It was the perfect temperature and the hike wasn't too hard for the girls. The only sad part is that there were so many people there that we weren't able to hike all the way up to the falls. We got to the water and were able to climb onto some of the rocks in the middle, but that's it. Despite that, it was still a lot of fun to be in the mountains and to be able to enjoy nature. We plan to do more hikes in the near future.

Ensign Peak

Our annual hike up Ensign Peak was a success again this year. Although I am carrying Ashlyn in this picture, she walked a majority of the hike.

The girls loved the flowers and the hike down the best, but I preferred the view and the beautiful weather.

Ensign Peak

We have a new tradition for Memorial Day that we've done twice now and have loved each time--hiking Ensign Peak. Josh's dad came with us this year, as well as Brady and Jordan.

We got there early enough to beat the hiking crowd and to have a little fun before hand. Brady showed the girls how to pose in some karate moves, inspired by The Karate Kid, even though the girls have no idea who that is. We also ate donuts and milk, the perfect thing to eat when you know you're going hiking. It may not have given us the energy we needed but we knew we were likely to burn it all off. My favorite, a guilt-free, yummy breakfast.

Kali and Sadie did awesome on the hike, other than each taking a turn falling down and getting scratched up. Ashlyn, on the other hand, had to be carried the entire way. Thank goodness Brady was there. If I would have had to carry her the entire way, the hike would have taken twice as long.

St. George

Our annual trip to St. George was a blast as usual. As a matter of fact, I think it was my favorite family vacation ever. Everything just turned out perfect. I didn't seem to be as stressed or ornery as I usually am on these trips. It probably helps that I'm not pregnant, nursing or potty training a child. We surprised the girls with the trip the morning of. They were pretty excited. Here are just a few of the fun things we did.

We got a delicious free Dominoes pizza (thanks to the Dixie Direct card) and had a picnic at a park. This was Ashlyn's first experience with a Capri Sun and she loves them.

We played on the inflatable slides at Jumpin' Jacks, which is a great workout if you haven't ever tried it. I was amazed at how much Sadie liked it since she always seems to be the one to saunter around rather then do something that takes a lot of energy. But she just kept plugging away at the obstacle courses and climbing those steps to get to the tops of the slides.

Ashlyn was scared to death of the inflatables, but was as happy as could be if she were allowed to walk around on the ground and climb the seats to the car video games. 

We swam at the Condo's indoor pool because it was in the 60's for the first two days.

Then we went on a hike which was probably our favorite part of the whole trip. We picked the best day because it was overcast most of the time and in the 70's. The hike was easy for the girls and the red rock with the green trees and shrubs and the blue sky and white clouds was breathtaking. 

It was only about 20 minutes from our Condo so we packed a lunch and spent a couple of hours enjoying the hike at a kids pace while looking for lizards and pointing out all the pretty flowers we could see.

There was a small waterfall.

And we even got to cross the stream at one point. (Thanks Jen for the suggestion to go to Leeds.)

We got to do bumper boats at Fiesta Fun.

Then we visited Brigham Young's winter home. The girls did such a good job listening during the tour and really seemed to like it. They learned where St. George got it's name from which was a question they had asked us on the way down that I didn't know the answer to. Sadie's favorite part was that the tour guide gave them some almonds from the almond tree on the property. Ashlyn struggled, but it was worth the visit. It's fun to see the girls showing some interest in this kind of thing.

We did more swimming. This time in the outdoor pool. Kali is still just as much of a fish as she always has been. She does, unfortunately, drink a lot of water and ends up with a tummy ache afterward.

Sadie played with her "keyboard" much of the time, which is made from the tiling on the side of the pool, or she pretended to be a dolphin and had me throw her a toy while she fetched it and brought it back.

Thankfully swim time was usually during Ashlyn's nap time because she didn't care much for the water. I could get her to stop from crying for a little bit if I would toss her duck and take her with me to go get it. But she still didn't really like the water.

Then came bowling. The girls are hilarious to watch.

Not too happy with her bowl right here, but for the most part, she was jumping up and down and having a blast.

Kali got a few pointers from Dad, which seemed to improve her bowling technique a little. Thankfully, because I was a little nervous when she'd practically throw the ball down the lane.

She would have won me by a landslide had I not bowled a spare and a strike on my last turn.

A few other fun things that we enjoyed while on our trip and didn't get pictures of were: early morning jogging, a beautiful double rainbow, movies, wii games, eating at our favorite restaurants, and outlet shopping. Such a wonderful vacation!!!