After church on July 5th, we headed down to St. George to stay in my cousin's condo for a week, kind of as our pre-anniversary trip. Darwin's parents came down with us this time to hang out and to watch the girls for us so we could go to a show at Tuacahn. I had to work a little bit while we were down there and got up early, like usual, to try and pound through some hours before everyone else woke up. I definitely prefer to go to sleep early and get up early for many reasons. One of the benefits of getting up early is being able to enjoy beautiful sunrises! Of course our camera can never do justice to the beauty of nature.
I enjoyed the company of my little munchkins out on the porch in the mornings. Priceless!
July 6th: Sand Hollow Canoe Adventure
On Monday we headed to Sand Hollow after lunch to take Grandma's retirement canoe for it's initial voyage. She wanted to test it out in warm water, and Sand Hollow was the perfect location!
The girls fell asleep in the car on the way there
It was a lot of work to drag the canoe in the sand down to the water, even with the dolly devise.
They're such a cute couple! We love these guys!
Dragging the canoe through the sand
There they go!
They wanted to practice swamping the canoe and getting back in it so they'd be prepared if it ever happens for real. Good times to be had!
Our girls were in heaven playing in the warm, shallow water!
They loved playing in the sand too, of course!
The girls got to go for a ride too!
Savannah didn't love it and only lasted a couple minutes before she wanted to get out. Aurora loved paddling though. I think it's one of her new favorite things :)
Grandma and Grandpa got the girls a fun set of sand toys. The wagon is good for several things, including a potty for a certain four year old in our family in an emergency ;)
Daddy and the girls sitting in the swamped canoe
Rori had fun trying to hang on to Grandpa's paddle
When it was time to go, the girls found ways to entertain themselves while we got the canoe loaded up on top of the Jeep again. More fun in the water! :)
This kid cracks me up!
Rori making sand angels in the water :)
Cutie!
Because it was hard enough to get the canoe down the hill in the sand into the water, Grandpa decided to drive the Jeep down to get the canoe loaded up again then just drive back up to the road. Unfortunately, he lost his momentum going back up the hill and the Jeep got stuck in the sand! It took a lot of digging and man-power pushing to get the Jeep unstuck and back on the road. Fun memories for sure!
July 7th: Rendezvous with Koon family in Cedar City
My older brother's girlfriend's dad passed away the week before we went down to St. George. We we so sad for their loss, but grateful for the opportunity to go support Heather and her family while we were down in the area. So, on Tuesday we headed up to Cedar City for Ronny's funeral and to spend time with my brother. The rest of my family (minus my younger brother) came down to Cedar to support Tayton and Heather as well. This was the first time we had all the grandkids together in a couple of years!
Liam, Hannah, Amaia, Dakoda
Savannah, Hyrum, Aurora
A silly picture is always a must after making the kids stand still and smile. Haha!
When we got back to the condo after being in Cedar City, we got more bad news. Dar's older brother's best friend, Tammy, passed away unexpectedly that morning. Darwin's parents made plans to stay to watch the girls so we could go to our show at Tuacahn that night but they would leave as soon as we got back to go home to be with Ryan. We were devastated by the news of Tammy's passing! It was definitely a rough week for our family, but we tried to make the most of it and waited as long as possible to tell the girls that Tammy had passed away. Aurora especially adored Tammy and we knew she would be sad when we told her what had happened.
That night, Darwin and I headed to Tuacahn for dinner and a show. We saw "When You Wish" which is like a Disney medley on broadway. It was amazing to be at Tuacahn, and we had front row seats!! The outdoor theater is incredible! Where else can you see live horses as part of the show and real water on the stage! We were amazed with the scenery and the acting. We will definitely be going to more shows at Tuacahn and highly recommend it for anyone who can take the chance to go! It was a bonus that the weather was perfect too!
Me and my handsome hubby on our anniversary date!
Grandma and Grandpa were supposed to go see Beauty and the Beast the next night but because they headed home early to be with Ryan, they ended up giving their tickets to one of Grandma's former coworkers who is also retired and living in the St. George area. Hopefully they'll make it back to see a show another time. Tuacahn was awesome!!
July 8th: Swimming at the Condo, and Tuacahn with the girls
On Wednesday, we took the opportunity to hang out at the pool at the condo. The girls were really looking forward to swimming in the pool, although Savannah wanted to go back to lake and still asks to go back. She loved the lake! I'm so glad Aurora was a good sport and was willing to play in the little kid pool with Savannah even though she was big enough and skilled enough to go in the family pool this year. Thanks for being such a great sister, Rori!
Puddle jumpers are probably the best invention ever for kids who love water!
We had to get new goggles for both girls this time around.
Piggy back rides on Daddy are always fun!
Later that night we loaded the girls up and took them to Tuacahn to show them where we had been the night before, and maybe try to get in to see Beauty and the Beast with them :)
Cool stairs headed up to the theater
Check us out! ;)
They thought this statue was cool and wanted us to take their picture with it.
We attempted to get a picture of the girls with us in front of the water feature. Attempt is a good word for it :)
After showing Tuacahn to the girls and realizing we wouldn't get in to see Beauty and the Beast (Savannah is too young, 3 is the age limit, and we couldn't justify spending another $200+ to take our girls to see the show--I think we've decided that once they're at least 5 and old enough to sit through a show that we'll take them to see a show with us) we took them to see the St. George temple. It's so beautiful lit up at night!
July 9th: Day in Las Vegas
Before we went down to St. George I wanted to take a day to go to Las Vegas to see my brother and take the girls to the "m" factory (I'm not spelling it out because the "and" symbol comes out goofy). My brother ended up getting really sick so we weren't able to see him (luckily we saw him on Tuesday though, even if it was under sad circumstances) but we ventured down to Vegas anyway. To get there, you pass through a corner of Arizona--we like to take pictures of the state signs.
Our first stop when we got to Las Vegas was the "m" factory!
It's amazing to me that they've made a whole store based on a candy product!
We watched a short 10-15 minute 3-D movie with the girls.
We could see Hello Kitty down on the street from the 3rd or 4th floor of the "m" factory and of course the girls wanted to go get a picture with her. Naive little me didn't think that they would want tips for getting a photo, but Hello Kitty let us get a picture anyway even though we didn't have any cash. We didn't let them get a picture with a Despicable Me minion after that though. I was a little embarrassed.
It was free for us to get this picture though! Thank goodness!
Our next stop, after lunch at Carl's Jr, was to Ethel M's Chocolate Factory in Vegas! It was fun to see the workers making the chocolates and candies right in front of us! We got samples at the end and then bought some expensive chocolate lolly pops for the girls and chocolate covered raisins for us. They were yummy, but expensive!
I think the girls (and Darwin) were more thrilled about all the airplanes flying over than the actual chocolate factory--the factory is right next to the airport.
Savy eating her white chocolate happy face lolly pop!
Rori eating her milk chocolate happy face lolly pop!
Outside the factory is an authentic cactus garden. It was really cool to walk around and see all the different kinds of cactus that are native to the area.
Me and my hubby!
Back in the car Savy was funny playing with the fishing toy she got in her lunch at Carl's Jr
The last thing I wanted to see before we left Vegas was the Las Vegas LDS temple. Savy fell asleep in the car and Aurora didn't want to get out for a picture so it was just me and Darwin
Back at the condo, the girls soaked in their last opportunity to hang out on the deck while Daddy and I packed things up to head back home the next morning.
We had planned to stay until Saturday, but with Tammy's passing, we ended up heading home a day early to attend her viewing and internment. Thanks again, Tracee, for watching our kids so we could go! After we got everything unpacked, the girls thought it was super fun to play and hide and the suitcases. Silly kiddos!
Rori all snug and cozy in the suitcase
Peek-a-boo!
Savy snug as a bug!
It's always more fun together!
We're so sad for the circumstances that cut our vacation a day short, but we were so grateful to take a few days away from the hustle and bustle of our daily obligations and we were also more than happy to come home early to support Ryan. Thanks for a fun get-away in St. George, family!!
DARWIN is on his 12th year of teaching, currently at Springville High School teaching astronomy, geology, environmental science, and physics. He also teaches physics at UVU for a 7 week STEM summer school program for junior high students. He also teaches teenagers in our church ward. He's super busy, but still makes time to be an awesome dad and husband.
