March 2013

The highlight of the month was the boys and I took and trip to St. George and then over to Zions National Park with the Brian Slade family. Mike had to stay home and work. We missed him, but we still managed to have fun with out him. It worked out perfectly that Chick Fil A was opening their store in St. George on Wednesday and Brian and Pam were planning to go camping in Zions Thursday-Saturday, so we thought why not drive down Tuesday night and see if we can get it. If we didn’t get in, we could always head over to Zions a day early. So we packed up the kids and drove to St. George Tuesday night. Wednesday morning bright and early, 5:00am we woke the kids up and drove over to Chick Fil A. There were over 188 people there and they only had 100 spots. Brian and I got in and Pam got in as an alternate at 103. The kids ran around and played in the parking lot. However, the boys couldn’t stay overnight, because they are too young, so in the late afternoon Mindy Barker came and pick them up. They slept over at their house and I picked them up in the morning. We collected our coupons in the morning, went back and took a shower, packed up our cars and then headed to Zions.

Brian and Pam go camping with a group of their friends every year and they always invite us to come. I can see why they love doing it, we had a great time with them. There was probably 12 families there, so lots of kids to play with and we went hiking both days, so it was a blast. We set up camp and then everyone wanted to go on a hike. I decided that I would take the boys on the hike and then we would just turn around when they were done. The hike they went on was called Hidden Canyon and it started out steep with a bunch of switchbacks. The boys probably made it a half mile and then we had to turn around. They wanted me to carry them and they said they were so tired. I had to switch off carrying them back down the trail and had to bribe them with chips and fruit snacks. At the bottom of the trail was a little stream and so we played in that. They loved it and got all wet and we ended up staying there for a couple of hours. When I thought they were ready again, I made them hike with me up to Weeping Rock, which was a short quarter mile hike, where water rains down from the rocks. It was really cool. When we hiked back down, we were getting ready to leave and the group got back from the big hike so we ended up all going back together. Our camp site was right across from the Virgin River and it had a sandy beach, so the boys wanted to go down there and play in the sand. We brought some of their trucks, so they had a great time. We did a potluck style dinner, which was delicious. There was so much good food. They made a fire and roasted marshmellows and by that time I was so tired from waking up so early two days in a row, that I went to bed. The boys slept in the back of the Pilot and I slept in the tent trailer with Brian and Pam’s family. I don’t think I ever want to sleep in a tent again, the tent trailer rocked.

The next day we woke up and Brian made some delicious breakfast burritos. Everyone want to hike Angel’s Landing that day. Pam was staying back with Ayden, so she watched the boys for me, so I was able to go on the hike. Bridger and I were the head of the pack. We got to the chains first and when I asked him, if he wanted to wait for his dad, he said no, so we went ahead. He did a great job and didn’t complain at all. We enjoyed our view from the top and headed back down. It is a great hike and has such amazing views. I’m glad I was able to go. When we got back to camp, everyone was down playing at the beach. They had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids and Owen and Caleb had tons of fun looking for eggs. Dinner was even better the second night. Some items on the menu: seven-layer dip, loaded baked potatoes, cranberry/walnut salad and then for dessert chocolate raspberry cake with ice cream. It is amazing what you can do with a dutch oven. The boys kind of played with themselves and their toys the first day, but by the second night I think they realized how much fun it was to run around with all the other kids. Also, Caleb kept wanting to play with Bridger and kept asking, “Where’s Bridger?” It was really cute. We had a big fire and everyone sat around and talked.

Saturday morning we got up and packed and headed home. The boys and I drove straight home with no stops. It was fun to see Mike and be together as a family again.

I met with the boys Pre-School teachers and they’ve noticed and had the feeling that there is something they just aren’t quite getting, so they tested them and they are now going to go back into the Early Intervention Program. Mike and I noticed it too, but we weren’t sure if it was a three year old thing, or a twin thing, so hopefully we can get the boys the help them need.

I want to plant a garden this year, so Mike helped me get the supplies from Home Depot and we built three garden boxes. We have enough room for eight, but we figured we would start out with something manageable and then go from there if we love it and have a green thumb.

We are all happy the weather is finally starting to warm up. We’ve gone to the park a couple of times and of course the boys love playing in the sand box.