The First Half of Spring Break

We started Spring break a little early.  I checked the kids out of school a whole 15 minutes to an hour early and we headed south in the chilly, snowy weather.  (It wasn't quite as snowy as this picture indicates -- this was earlier in the week, or maybe the week before.)  It was a cold beginning to a very nice week.  Friday evening we arrived in Cedar City and had dinner at Wendy's with Trisa.  Then Trisa and Tia went off to enjoy Brian Regan while the rest of us went to a hotel and got ready to swim.  We were super blessed this time because the pool was nice, and warm, and nobody else came to use it while we were there.  It was good exercise and fun too.

The next day we had planned on hiking in Kolob Canyon but we decided, without having to think very hard, that we didn't want to hike in the snow storm and so we headed on to visit cousins.  We were met by H. and M. who were wearing no shoes.  Brrrr.  We all went in and huddled around the space heater until Uncle Quinn came home and turned on the heater.  Tonya and I went on our traditional shopping trip and I think she won this time (as in she paid for more of the stuff).  I snuck a box of Bran Flakes she had picked up -- but then I think I ate the whole thing and so it's just as well that I paid for it!

Some of my favorite things this trip were my kids having so much fun with their cousins, Dan and M. doing some moves / dances for us, reading in a relaxed fashion next to Tonya on the couch, occasionally reassuring her that she wasn't a bad hostess for reading because I was reading too, and our family home evening games.  We played games where we shot each other with marshmallows out of pvc pipes turned into "guns".  Of course, I mostly laughed so hard I couldn't shoot and I don't think I ever helped us win -- but it was sure fun!  I never took any pictures but I probably enjoyed things more without the camera out.  Almost everyone played a game of capture the flag too and Jake was pleased that he got away from his older cousin "Veggie Teen" by turning so fast that his cousin slipped or tripped or something.

Monday the cousins and Trisa had school and we headed off on a hike.  One of my boys discovered after we'd been hiking that Aunt Tonya was missing.  They somehow missed that she was staying home.  This is the only picture with all of us in it since I usually was behind the camera.  We hiked to Weeping Rock and went on the River Trail that leads to The Narrows (which are not hikeable during this time of year).

We have many pictures of squirrels because that is what the kids take pictures of when they get a hold of the camera.  They must think that squirrels are cuter than their mother -- go figure.

Down by the river we found that people have started stacking rocks.  Derek and a few of the kids enjoyed creating their own formations.  These were not here last year when Derek and I hiked here and so they are a fairly recent thing.

It was a really good hiking day and our trip to southern Utah was a very fun first half of a happy Spring Break.