St George Part Two

One of the activities we did was fish with the kids.  Though it ended up as something of a debacle, I'm still glad we did it.  We had just attempted to go to the Jacob Hamblin home, but the hours were wrong online, and it was closed.  So we headed to the nearby fishing pond (which apparently wasn't the greatest fishing pond of the area).  We attempted to do a little fishing and hit the nearby park, but inclement weather set in, and we had to go back to the condo.  Oh well.  I'm pretty sure Max was pretty entertained by the experience.  We also saw a cool heron.

I sail!  Ahem, I mean I fish!

On our last day, Clint, Max, and I went to check out the Green Valley Gap which was right near our condo.  I really wanted to go rock climbing but it was a little difficult to do when 1) Derek just ran a marathon and 2) we had all the kids with us.  So, I had to be content with just a quick peek at it.  I wish I could have just hiked around in it for a while, but we didn't have the time.

There was an open gathering area of sorts that someone had brought a couch too--I'm not sure if it was lowered down from the top or how they got it there.

Can you find me in this picture?  I wanted to keep going . . .

Our last hoorah before heading out was stopping at the Dinosaur Discover Sit and Johnson Farm.  This is an actual dinosaur dig that has been turned into a museum.

The kids enjoyed doing some dinosaur crafts, 

and especially digging for bones in the sandbox outside.

St. George Part One

This October, my family got everyone together for the first time since my wedding five years ago.  Huzzah! My brother was doing the St. George marathon there, which was our reason for convening there (and it's midway between Flagstaff and Salt Lake.) The trip started out with my mom and me going to Tuacahn Theater, which I've long wanted to attend.  We saw Beauty and the Beast which was nostalgic and fun.  I enjoyed the special effects--though some of the costuming for the Be Our Guest number was a bit bizarre.  It is quite lovely having the red rocks visible as the backdrop behind the stage.  Unfortunately, not everyone could come because they weren't all in town yet.

Because this was our first time together in five years, we spent some time trying to get some family pictures at the St. George temple.

Girl cousins!

All the boy cousins

Much of our time was spent similar to the below--stoking a bunch of grandchildren or trying to supervise as they ran wild in the converted garage filled with toys.  We did do a few activities though, which I will get to in my next post.

Summer Happenings

One of the fun things we did this summer was go to This is the Place Heritage Park with Megan and her family.  Here is Max practicing his pioneer skills and doing a little ironing.

We also watched a performance of Native American Dance/singing.  The drums were very loud and Max wasn't quite sure what to think.

We also had a fun time panning for gold, 

and riding the train. 

Clint and I also celebrated our 5th anniversary.  We went to a movie at the new Sugarhouse theater with amazing seats (Jurassic Park) and we went out to dinner at Ruby River Steak House.

The theme this year was "wood."  I gave Clint a wood pen and a little wooden heart puzzle with a message on the back.  He gave me a computer monitor--not very wood. :)  He claimed his real wood gift would eventually be a porch glider.

This summer we also enjoyed spending some time outside when we could.  This is a short little "hike" to Lisa Falls.