We had the best spring break!!
We spent in St. George and were lucky to stay at Darren's aunt's place.
Sunday we visited the grounds of the St. George temple. I love this temple! The white against the surrounding red rocks is incredibly beautiful. Plus this is where my parents were married!
As you can see, Brady forgot his church shoes, and is still smile challenged. Has been since birth we think!
Darren getting his Sunday on
Over the fence is the Santa Clara river. Virtually dry at this point. But has raged and threatened and ruined many homes!
Fun toys at Clara's
Not sure they're suppose to be doing this.
We had crash course in rappelling the day before the big slot canyon adventure. Paige had never rappelled before, and we didn't think it was the best idea to have her first one be deep inside a canyon!
We headed up to the DIXIE and everyone had a go at it
Justin
Brady
Paige.
She was sooooooo scared! Chris and I were at the top with her. For a while I didn't think she would do it. Chris did an excellent job coaching her along and getting her to do it. She didn't listen to us and wouldn't sit back over the edge, so when she started walking down her feet slipped our from underneath her a little....her eyes were as big as saucers! I felt so bad for her!
Darren had the rope at the bottom so she wasn't in danger of going anywhere, but I felt nervous for her!
I love this picture. One, because Darren is such an incredible father and I love it when a picture captures a teaching moment with one of the kids. It may be rappelling, it may be kayaking, but all lessons develop trust, and hopefully it overflows into the rest of their life. Two, because at this moment he is breaking the news to her- that she needs to go up and do it again!!
Imagine my surprise when she showed up back at the top! "Dad is making me do it again."
And she did.
The next day in Pine Creek I was so glad she had gained the confidence she needed. (story in another post)
Now for the biking portion of the trip!
We could ride from where we were staying to some really awesome trails! It's quite a climb up the road and then up the dirt road to get to the trailhead. Paige did it twice with us...we were super impressed with her mountain biking. She improved a ton! The rest of us rode this trail everyday, sometimes twice! It ended with Bear Claw Poppy.....sooooo fun!
Who gets shuttled home? Not us. A full 12.4 mile loop. Paige is a studmuffin!
It became our tradition to stop at this little petroglyph park in Bloomington on the way home.
Brady still smile challenged.
My birthday! Thanks for the $$ mom and dad!
Zen
I hate Zen. But Brady was pretty persistent that we ride it some time during our trip. Finally, on the last morning, we set out to do it. It has been compared to class V kayaking. Super technical. I have ridden it three times now, and have left blood each time.
But I am glad I did it. It was much better this time, and I would even do it again given the chance. Last time was during a race and I was exhausted by the time I even got to Zen and it was pretty ugly.
We rode a LOT! Brady rode close to 80 miles in three days. I can sometimes hang on the downhill but on the climbs I am the slowest of the above group.
Stucki Springs, Barrel Roll, Bear Claw Poppy, Zen and lots of trails in between.
The winding trail to the back and side of Darren is the way we came and as far right of the picture as you can see is where we were going!
We truly did not want to leave St. George. We had so much fun. The kids are at such a fun stage. Best buddies. I hope they always think we're cool.