Zion Family Vacation

I've gotta say, summer is flying over here. We have packed it so full that thinking about blogging anything is totally overwhelming! We've done so much with so many people in so many places! One thing I definitely don't want to miss, though, is our family vacation to Zion.

Nate has a friend who used to manage the Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Resort, and he graciously offered to get us the hookup with a cabin for our family for several days in June. We jumped on it and are so glad we did!It was nice to step away and just be with ourselves for a minute.

Our first stop on the drive down was Bryce Canyon National Park. We spent the afternoon there and Bryn, Leah, and Asa became Junior Rangers! We listened to a ranger lesson about how the crazy Bryce hoodoos were formed and watched a thunderstorm in the distance. And we hiked down on the Wall Street trail. And then we hiked up on the Wall Street trail. Nate told the kids that if they didn't whine even once on the way back up, they could have a handful of m&m's when we got back to the car. Not one of them whined! Incredible!

There was quite a bit of elevation change!

We sniffed so many ponderosa pines. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and even one neapolitan!

The clouds are so cool in this picture!

Bryn discovered a cicada shell on one of the pine trees. I was so pumped, because those were an integral part of my childhood back in Georgia. I didn't know they made them out here! Upon further examination of several trees, we found bunches of them!

Victorious at the end of our hike.

Somebody got sleepy!

While we were not the ones who fed the chipmunk, we very much enjoyed watching him eat.

Emmie loved the phones at the visitors center. 

It's worth mentioning that there were tons of international tourists at Bryce who thought it was totally acceptable to touch and take pictures of Emmie without asking. If any of you speak English and happen to be reading this blog, it's totally not okay. It left me feeling grumpy and violated. And wanting to go give her a bath. Emmie didn't seem to mind being their child model, though.

Being sworn in as Junior Rangers

After we finished at Bryce, we headed to the Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Resort, our home away from home for the week.

Until roughly the day before we left on the trip, we'd been under the impression that there would be a full kitchen in our cabin. Luckily we checked the website one more time and realized that we were mistaken, which led to some creative thinking with our menu. Luckily the instant pot and camp stove are portable! They saved the day!

The kids were in hog heaven when we arrived. They got right to doing what they do best - playing! I will say that Nate and I were less than thrilled when a couple of them made poor choices about how far into the mud they should go.

We hosed them off, ate, slept, and were ready for adventure the next morning in Zion National Park.Thanks to Bryn's status as a fourth grader, we got a national parks pass for free for the year! Thanks, Bryn!
I'll mention here that Nate is a great trip planner. He loves to come up with huge lists of ideas and see how many adventures he can squish into one day. He did a nice job pacing this trip. We of course wanted to do a lot of hiking, but we knew we needed to space it out and put some "explores" in there too, to prevent our minds and bodies from burning out.
Our first big event was a hike to Scout Lookout. We started early and were glad we did! By the end we were pretty toasty. There's a lot of elevation gain on this hike, and lots of exposed edges. I was really impressed with our kids' caution and toughness. They rocked it!

Asa is totally in this picture. I'm just not sure where . . .

The last stretch: Walter's Wiggles. Nate, Addison and Bryn raced to the top! The rest of us were just glad to make it.

Scout Lookout with Angel's Landing in the background.

After conquering Scout Lookout, we dipped our toes into the Virgin River. It didn't last long, because we were all starving! So we headed to the Grotto picnic area for some food.

After lunch we hopped on the shuttle and rode up to see Weeping Rock, which was a hit! Super short and easy hike with cold, running water at the end. What's not to love?

We decided that we needed more water in our lives, so we hiked down from Weeping Rock and climbed down under the bridge for some wet exploration. The water was refreshing and full of water skitters, and there was lots to discover along the banks of the stream. We could've stayed in that one spot for days. Nate and I sat in the shade and Emmie napped while the other four ran wild for a while.

One of the requirements for the kids to earn junior ranger badges was to attend a ranger-led program. We baked on our 1/4 mile walk to the Zion Nature Center. We'd never even seen it before, but it was so, so cool! It had awesome exhibits for kids of all ages - a tent full of puppets and books, sample animal tracks, all sorts of interactive activities. Hardly anyone else was there, so the kids were able to explore all the things they wanted to at length. And there was air conditioning - definitely not to be overlooked.

Leah and Bryn got to help with a demonstration on how rangers catch bats. Also, for one part of the presentation, we went outside for a fun game. While we were standing in the field, a mom turkey with several chicks ambled by. Amazing.

Once the ranger-led activity was done, they'd checked all the boxes and were ready to become official Zion National Park Junior Rangers!

It's official! Four badge-wearing junior rangers and one cute little sis!

We were all exhausted and famished after a long hot day of exploration, so dinner in Springdale was just what we needed. After driving back and forth multiple times fretting about wait times, we finally just manned up and got in line at Oscar's. Turned out we only had to wait about 15 minutes. The food was great and we left feeling much better.

The sunset on Zion's cliffs was breathtaking. It was a lovely drive back up the canyon to get home.

As a perfect end to the day, we saw bighorn sheep on our way out of the canyon. I'd had a secret hope that the kids would get to see them, and my wish came true! They're on the top of this cliff.

At the crack of dawn the next day, while all of us were asleep, Nate was up and hiking to the top of Zion to see what's left of the cable works, which he's always felt some primal compulsion to do.

Nate's take on why the cableworks are cool, and also a tour of Zion canyon from the top!

He made it home for breakfast and was ready to party! This was the day that our master scheduler had built in for rest and relaxation at the ranch.

The view from our front porch.

It started out with the world's most amazing continental breakfast. Emmie's face here sums up how we all felt about it.

Our cabin had a super nice shower, but no tub. So Emmie got to have her bath in the sink!

We played several rounds of mini golf over the course of our stay.

The favorite hole was 14. Just when you thought all was lost and your ball had gone in the drink for sure, surprise!

Then we hit the pools. A little chilly, but so beautiful and fun! Two water slides, two pools, two hot tubs.

In addition to all the free activities the ranch offered, there were several paid activities available. We let each of the kids choose one. Bryn's was an hour of horseback riding through the woods. It was not cheap, so she ponied up (ha!) a good chunk of her own money to pay for part of it and went riding with a random group of visiting girl scouts. I'm so proud of her for being brave enough to go on her own! She absolutely loved it and rocked at it. She was the youngest one there by several years but handled herself with grace and confidence.

The wranglers gave her a sweet and gentle horse named Blanca.

Later that day, Leah opted to go on a ten minute pony ride, and she got to ride Blanca too!

After her ride, Leah and I explored the farm area and fed the bunnies and goats.

This turkey definitely gave Leah the willies. She wasn't quite willing to let it out of her sight while she was close to it.

Poor Asa was pretty tuckered out. To hike as much as the big kids, his legs have to work twice as hard, and he was feeling it! To add to that, he had an awful canker sore right in his front lip. And then, during his activity of choice, the trampoline jump, the worker "helped" him do a back flip, during which he kneed himself right in the nose. Poor little buddy! He was a total trooper. It was good when he finally had the chance to catch up on his rest.

Emmie appreciated some quality time in a swing!

Addison spent a lot of time in the pond. He was a natural at kayaking and paddleboarding. He went in the drink like three times and loved every one of them!

King of the rock!

To finish off a fabulous day, we put Emmeline to bed and turned on Night at the Museum for the big kids, which we'd brought from the library. While that was happening, Nate and I went on a little date to play mini golf together. It was right outside our cabin, so the kids could holler at us from the porch when Emmie needed us. It was fun to spend time together, just the two of us. And the kids absolutely loved the movie!

The next morning we were up and at 'em early for our big hike of the trip: Observation Point. An eight mile out-and-back hike to an incredible viewpoint of Zion Canyon. Our kids totally rock. And Nate and I have built up an extensive repertoire of "are we there yet" songs to power our little family to the end. The fave is "My Old Man's a Sailor." But there's also "There's a Hole in the Bucket," "The Ants Go Marching," "99 bottles," you get the picture.

Once upon a time, Nate and his buddies went to do a canyoneering adventure in Zion and ended up being helicopter rescued because they dropped into the wrong canyon and got stuck. We got the distinct pleasure and privilege of seeing the very spot where it all went wrong, "Miss Me" canyon.

Observation point. The fact that we were looking down on Angel's Landing gave us a good sense of just how high we were.

Once we made it to the point it was time to relax and play and have lunch!

Side note: We ate so much pbj on this trip. SO. MUCH. Over a month later, I still can't look one in the eye.

Nothing makes a happy baby quite like a very sandy apple core.

We found more cicada shell friends on the way back to the car.

We're pretty positive that this an actual cougar track.

We headed back to the ranch after our epic hike and swam and relaxed for the rest of the day. Poor little Asa's streak of bad luck continued when he busted his chin open on the side of the pool. Luckily there happened to be a vacationing ER doctor right next to us at the pool, and he kindly offered to take a look. He patched Asa up with some butterfly bandages, which was enough to get us through the night. The next morning we packed up and made a quick stop at the Kane County hospital ER to get him glued. It's his third time having his chin stitched/glued, but who's counting?

This is what happened when we opened the trunk.

Tough little buddy. He was so brave at the hospital. And he was very proud of his hospital bracelet. We made sure to get him some ice cream after it was all done.

After the hospital, we drove to Coral Pink Sand Dunes state park. We'd heard that you can sled on the dunes, and were so pumped to try it out. That said, Addison and Leah probably would've been just as happy making faces at themselves in the shiny car next to us in the parking lot.

It was quite a slog to get from the parking lot to the big dunes.

It was beautiful there. But to make a long story short, the sleds totally did not work. Luckily there was a kind soul there who'd rented a sand sled who let us go down a couple times on it, which was really fun. But then we had to hike out. And by then the sand was burning hot. Note: It was not a hot day. At all. We're talking like maybe 73 degrees. And the sand hurt so bad on our feet! I can't imagine going there in the heat of summer.

Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on the way out. This stop was a bust.

But it was nothing that slurpees and a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house couldn't cure.

As an extra bonus, Sonnet was there!

And we got to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa.

On our way home, we met up with Bri and Mason for a picnic in the park and some leg stretching.

And as soon as we got home, Asa found every blanket he could and buried himself in them on the couch. And he did the same thing the next morning and sat there for like an hour. There's no place like home!