St. George Fun

Dax and Cord were planning to go backpacking over the first weekend in June.  After looking at the weather, they decided that it would be better to push their backpacking excursion back to August.  So, there we were.  Vacation days were already scheduled.  The itch to get out and play was already sparked.  What other choice did we have than to head out of town?

We found an awesome condo on VRBO in St. George and we got a screaming deal because it was last minute.

Thursday, our little crew headed South, just after breakfast.  We had a pretty good drive down.  We had our first Maverick stop in Nephi.  I had a bit of a sore throat, so I decided to get some frozen yogurt.  It sounded soothing.  I didn't realize at the time that it was the beginning of an addiction.  :)

When we made it to St. George, we headed straight for Snow Canyon.  It is named after a guy named Snow.  It doesn't actually snow there very often.  It fact, it is pretty hot.  We had been told that the Lava Flow Tunnels in the park were fun to explore in, so we decided to give them a little looksey.  It is a State Park, so we used our awesome State Park Pass to get in for free.  Bonus!  We were pretty much the only people in the entire area.  The kids did an awesome job hiking around on the red rock mountain and we even braved climbing in the caves.  We should have brought head lamps and stuff to explore the caverns more throughly.  It was amazing how the temperature dropped when we got underground.  It was such a refreshing place to chill.

There was a giant red mountain that we could climb on. Cord and the three oldest, made it to the very top!  There were beautiful views in all directions.  We got a little bit thirsty, so we had to head back to the car to find some water.  Hiking in the dessert requires water for sure.

After our time at Snow Canyon we drove to my Aunt Susan's house and I picked up a little bike for Ollie that we had ordered online.  She gave me a new piece of custom pottery that she created.  It is a platter with cute hieroglyphs on it.  Pretty cool!  We zipped over to our condo, unloaded all of our gear, and then Cord did a quick grocery store run.  It is hard to stay happy without food in the kitchen.

Dax and Monica's crew rolled into town around 8 and we had a nice BBQ on our deck.  Yum!

Friday morning, we went to the Virgin River Parkway and rode our bikes along the paved trail.  Ollie rode on his new bike seat.  It was super cute.  Gage was a speed man like usual.  There was an awesome playground where the kids got to climb and play.  

After lunch, we drove over to Sand Hollow to spend the day at the lake.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on board with the plan and it was crazy windy.  So, we went to the Red Cliff Recreation Area instead.  It was a great decision.  The storm blew over and we had perfect conditions for hiking.  This is one of my favorite places to explore.  The red cliffs are beautiful.  The hiking is pretty flat, so the kids don't get tired.  We had a beautiful afternoon in the canyons.

We met Dax and Monica's friends for dinner at a great little pizza place in St. George.  We ate outside on the patio and we were the only people there.  So, the kids got to be a bit wild without bothering any other customers.

That night, we went swimming at the condo.  The pools were beautiful and the kids always love a nice dip in the pool.  I actually stayed back with Ollie so he could go to sleep at a decent time.  He had other plans.  We watched a few great episodes of Dora the Explorer instead.

Saturday, we decided to try the lake again.  Luckily, the weather was a little bit better.  We were able to paddle board and kayak on the water.   The kids played in the sand and we ate lunch on the beach.  The wind picked up a few times and we had to hide behind our beach umbrellas for protection!  Oh well.  It was fun anyway.

After the lake, we hit the Mavrick so I could get another, ahem, frozen yogurt.

I actually swam in the pool on Saturday night.  Cord took a picture just to prove it.  You never know when it will happen again.  It felt really refreshing.  That is the positive word for chilly.

Sunday came too fast!  We let the kids play at the playground while we packed up our stuff.  Then, we headed to a city north of St. George for our final hike!  I had read about this hike on a blog and it looked really awesome.  We ate a little lunch at the trailhead and then started on our way.  We had lots of fun snacks and drinks for this hike.  I think I learned my lesson from Snow Canyon.

I had read that your feet get wet, and the advisory was true.  We crossed a river about 10 times and then ended up walking in the river through an amazing slot canyon for quite a ways.  The kids enjoyed navigating through the water and it kept us cool.  We climbed a crazy "ladder" beside a waterfall.  It was kinda scary.  Good think I trust Cord and his physical abilities.  I don't have to worry when he is with the kids.

We found a fun little natural waterslide on the way back down to the cars.  We all took a turn going down the slide.  Even Monica decided to get in after she accidentally slipped into the river while taking photos.  She was already wet!  I was proud of Natty girl.  She was the first one to give the slide a try.  I can always count on her to be adventurous!

We were on the hike for almost 4 hours.  I couldn't believe how fast the time flew.  It was a seriously amazing trail.  It was a fantastic way to top off our fun weekend in St. George!!  Oh, and we stopped at a Maverick along the way back so I could continue to feed my frozen yogurt addiction.  Mmmmm...