Capitol Reef Vacation Part II: Mom and the Littles

After our fun hike in the stream at Capitol Reef, we all had dinner together and then parted ways. Leah, Asa and I hit the road bound for Grandma's house, and the others stuck around and prepared for some serious hiking for the next few days. For my little group, the drive went just fine and we made it safely to St. George.

The next morning we met up with Aunt Lindsey, Aunt Abbey, Uncle Devon and the cousins for a picnic in the park and a ride on the carousel.

Elaina and Leah became besties for life.

After that we went to play at the all abilities park. That place is so fun!

Such pleasant-sounding instruments.

We love to ride the train there.

By the end, Leah, Asa and I were wilting in a major way. It was so darn hot. So we made a mad dash to the slurpee store on the way back to Grandma's.

The next morning, Grandma offered to be our chauffeur on an adventure down to the Arizona strip in search of "Glitter Mountain." It was a really cool place! It's a selenite mine, which is a type of gypsum, just like at Glass Mountain in Capitol Reef. We brought sandwich bags for collecting pieces, and climbed all over the piles of loose gypsum and oohed and aahed over how shiny they were. The ground was totally covered in it. It was really quite something. We'll have to go back with Nate and the older kids next time. Two thumbs up to this explore.

Grandma looking down into the mine.

It was fun to collect it in our sandwich bags.

So shiny! Look how it sparkles in the sun!

These kiddos love playing at their grandparents' house!

Asa did a lot of horseback riding.

They played in the yard for hours.

Leah oohed and aahed over Grandma's Barbie collection.

We sniffed Grandpa's beautiful roses.

They scrubbed their gypsum until it sparkled.

They spent a whole afternoon splashing in the wading pool.

After a couple days of revelry with Grandma, we were happy to be reunited with our other half and start for home. A fun vacation for sure.