We spent the next couple of days enjoying time together and the lovely weather in Southern Utah. The first day, we lounged around and relaxed. It was Sam's birthday, and Caleb, Henry, Johnny and I had made her a special sign the day before. Henry was really excited to present it to her on the morning of her birthday! We had cake and ice cream that night, which was delicious. Papa bought trick candles, Bwahaha! It took Sam quite a while to get them all blown out, and even then we needed a bowl of water. Henry really liked the "green ice cream" (mint chocolate chip) he got to have after.
Papa took Henry fishing down at the catch/release pond at the opening of the little town home community, which Henry was pretty excited about. For a few minutes, anyway! At 2, he wasn't really up to sitting and waiting for the fish to bite. But he has talked about fishing with Papa since we got home, so it definitely made an impression!
After fishing, everybody headed down to the pool. It was SO nice! The pool was heated and it wasn't blazing hot, so it was just perfect. Henry loved swimming around with Nana, Daddy, and me, and was particularly interested in a little shark toy that we found at the town house. It was Johnny's first time swimming! He really liked the water, but quickly tired out. He took a good nap on the lounge chair while we continued swimming. Caleb, of course, adored the water and was grinning and splashing around with his mama, too.
After swimming, we went home and napped and enjoyed just chilling around the house. They had a pin ball machine, which everybody enjoyed. Henry wanted to play it all the time, and kept asking to go upstairs to play "that ball game." The older boys played video games, watched football, and we ate delicious food prepared by Nana. That night, Derek, Jeremy, Dallon and I played Lord of the Rings Risk, which was a lot of fun. Derek and I won. YAY!
Saturday, our second day, we got up at a not too early hour and headed in to Zion's National Park for some hiking. We decided to hike to the Emerald Pools, as it was an easy hike, and we had 3 kiddos to lug about. It was PERFECT weather for hiking. Overcast, not too hot, and absolutely beautiful. Henry even got out of the tummy pack and hiked for a while! He was very proud of himself for that.
When we reached the upper pool, Caleb was stripped to his diaper and crawled around happy as can be. He LOVED it! Henry scampered around, too, and even fell in the water. We were so proud of him for not freaking out when his shorts got all wet! He just wanted to have fun. He loved eating the trail mix that Nana had packed for us, and munched and munched with Uncle Dallon while I fed John. One of the funniest moments on the trip was on the hike back to the shuttle bus. Henry spotted a man standing up on a big rock and he (quite loudly) said "Jump down, sir!"
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It really was a great hike--just perfect for us that day. When we got home, Papa, Greg, Derek, Jeremy, and Chelsey went golfing, while the rest of us stayed home and had naps, read, and watched T.V. That evening, we watched more football and lounged about. Some of us (including Henry) watched Hotel Transylvania, too.
Sunday, we got up and got ready in time to attend Sacrament Meeting at the local ward before heading back up to Provo.
It was a really fun weekend! I wish we could do it again; it was so nice to be able to just relax, get away from everything at home, and spend time together in a beautiful place.
--Jen
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