Utahhhhh - Part Zions/St. George



Now that brings us to the next part of our Utah trip:

 

The Dean Brenchley Family Reunion in Zions NP!

 

It had been so soo long since I've been to Zions National Park, I forgot how absolutely beautiful and breathtaking it is!! I'm pretty sure I was like 10 so I didn't quite appreciate the grandness. I think it was even more shocking for us Midwesterners who are used to a whole lot of flatness. I was just in awe the whole time. Everything was just enormous!

 

Thursday, we drove with my parents in the Exploder and caravanned with Chris and Cheryl. We even found a Costa Vida on the way! Score!! We arrived at this gated community and found the big awesome cabin we'd be staying in the next few days. It was perfect!! We had 40 people there but we all had our own space, it didn't feel crowded at all. It was really nice too. Ruby slept in a pack n play in our room and Lucy decided it would be fun to sleep with the cousins downstairs in the big open room filled with bunk beds. It was so fun to see the kids get to know and interact with their cousins that they haven't seen in years! Everyone got a biggest kick out of Ruby. She's a character, that one. :)

 

We got settled in and had some dinner and just relaxed. The weather could not have been better. Not too hot at all. It was fun to sit outside and look at the stars. You can't really do that at our house (trees+light pollution). I miss the big open sky in the desert. I didn't realize how much I missed that landscape until we were there. It is a totally different kind of beautiful than the green in the east.

 

Friday we went to the park and hiked up the trail to the base of the Narrows. It was the perfect hike for kids. Luce and Rubes were in hog heaven. That is definitely their element.

 

Here we are getting ready and waiting for everyone to get there to begin our hike.

We found a very friendly little squirrel

Oh Mike Dee, he was looking up in awe at the tall cliffs

Rubes got the best seat in the house, with Cheetos in hand

Addie got a sweet ride too

Ah!! So beautiful!! I miss it already.

Lucy and Brookelle were buddies

My little lady posing as per usual

"Sliding" with the girl cousins

We found the water!

Quick family photo!

And then we began our hike through the beginning of the Narrows, mostly in water the whole time

Crazy cousins

Phil and SiSi

Gus

Nice boogie Rubes!

We found a weeping rock (not to be mistaken for the "Weeping Rock")

This was right after Ruby dove in. She got up with a huge smile on her face. This girl loves water!

Me and my babies

Here are a few shots I snapped as we were driving through the park...

Pictures just don't even do it justice. I feel the same way about Moab and the Delicate Arch. It's just something you MUST see in person.
That night we had the first ever reunion talent show. It turned out to be really cute, most the grandkids did something. Our family did tricks and ended with a cheerleader stunt with Lucy on top of our shoulders. Poor Ruby was exhausted and already in bed so she sat this one out. At the end, we all headed downstairs and had a glow-in-the-dark dance party with glow sticks and a black light. It was really fun, especially when Phil requested Mike put on "In Da Club" by 50 Cent so he could get his dance on. He wasn't too bad actually. I think this might have been my favorite part of the reunion actually. :)
Saturday morning Trey and I cooked breakfast and then we hurried and hopped in the car and drove him to St. George so he could take a shuttle to Las Vegas to catch a flight back home. He had to go back to work on Monday. My dad came with us so I wouldn't have to drive alone. We dropped Trey off and then we had to go find the Fractured Prune. This place is my all time favorite donut shop. There are a ton out east in Maryland and a few in PA so I was delighted when my parents told me about it being in St. George. We just had to stop and grab a dozen donuts. And a few for ourselves as well. :) My dad and I share a love of good donuts...and ice cream. :) Then we drove back and by the time we got there it was already 2pm. Peyton talked Lucy into going horseback riding with her at Ponderosa Ranch that was just up the hill from our house. This was Lucy's first time on a horse. She was a little hesitant at first but after she did it she was pretty happy about it. She thought it was pretty cool that her horse's name was "Secret".

That night we all went out to dinner at the Ponderosa Ranch restaurant. The girls loved the fountain at the entrance.

After we all went out to the playground and the kids had a great time playing.

Ruby loved to race back and forth with a bunch of the cousins in the sand volleyball pit. Haylee's face in this picture kills me!

Here is a back view of the cabin. Pretty sweet deal!

Sunday we went to church in Orderville and then came home and got in our Team USA soccer jerseys to cheer on the US in their match vs. Germany, which they ended up losing in the last minute!! It was so heartbreaking. Then we did family updates and had a little spiritual lesson/discussion.

Monday we packed it up and headed out. It went by so fast, I wished we could have had a few more days to explore Zions a little more. We stopped by the Checkerboard Mesa on the way down to St. George.

And climbed around on a few rocks...

And I just had to get a few more pictures of the beautiful scenery...

We stopped at Café Rio for lunch and then met up with everyone who came to St. George (everyone except E&J fam and M&S fam) at this awesome little splash pad/water play area. I wish they had places like this in Cleveland! The girls could have stayed there all day.

A pic of all the cuzzys

After we went to the condos we were staying in for the night and unpacked and then headed to the Pizza Factory for dinner with everyone. It was just as good as I remember. Then we went back and put the littles to bed and Bryan stayed with them all while the rest of us went to Tuacahn to Little Mermaid. It was so so good!! Lucy thought it was so fun. I'm glad I got to go with her.
The next morning we had breakfast at a yummy diner, I think it was called "Black Bear" or something. The food was delish! Then we headed to the Children's Museum and then hit the road to Centerville. I got by dad to stop by Swig on the way out. I've heard awesome things about their sugar cookies and I will tell you that it's all true!! They really are as good as everyone says they are!! Oh my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

And that concludes the Zions/St. George portion of our Utah trip. We had such a blast!