Catching up with June - St. George

**Warning: This is a long post!!  We took LOTS of pictures on our week long vacation :) I have to take advantage of my time to blog so I'm posting our whole week in one post rather than breaking it up.  Get ready for picture overload!**

The biggest hit for us in June was our week long trip to St. George the week after Darwin got done teaching for the school year.  Although, after a team conference call for work the Friday before we left, I found out I was going to have to work full time on our vacation.  Bummer.  I seriously wanted to cry because I was really looking forward to having more time with my family that week.  It actually worked out okay though.  Savannah was growing three molars all at once and had a fever for the first 3 days of our trip, so with that on top of me working 40 hours it ended up being a pretty mellow and laid back vacation--really just what we needed [minus the 40 hours of work ;)].

In preparation for our trip, we bought Aurora a new swim suit, some Minnie Mouse swim goggles, and we got some floaty sets for the girls that included arm floaties and little tubes.  Aurora begged me to open them a few days early and once they were open the girls had a blast with them from the very beginning!

Watching TV with all her new swim gear on :)

Ready to go hit the pool and sunshine!

Savannah was hilarious with the arm floaties.  It was her very own idea to wear it like a hat.  She's such a funny girl!  I love that she makes us smile so easily!



We were a little unsure of going to St. George as early as we planned to because Savannah wasn't feeling well.  But Monday morning when we got up to get ready to go she seemed to be doing better so we packed everything up and headed out.  By the time we were on the road she was acting like she didn't feel good again.  We had to make a few stops to try and calm her down, but we were already far enough away from home that we didn't want to turn around and go back.  One stop we made was at a gas station in Scipio that happened to have a petting zoo!  We thought it was a pretty lucky stop :)  Savannah LOVES animals!
Aurora checking out the Zedonks (zebra/donkey cross-breed. Weird. I know!)


They had long horn bulls and goats

A camel

A zebra

And a bunch of other animals like emus, peacocks, mini horses, etc.  I decided we might have to make that gas station a traditional stop on our way down south.  We pulled in to St. George later than planned because of our unexpected stops for  Savy.  I think we were all glad when we finally made it.  Aurora fell asleep 2 exits away from where we needed to get off and stayed asleep until the next morning.  The next morning when we went outside she was SO excited to see palm trees!  It was pretty cute.  I love how excited kids get about things.
Dar and Rori got to spend some time at the pool while I stayed in the condo and worked while Savannah slept--she did a lot of sleeping that week and I did a lot of working.


Love the Minnie Mouse goggles :)

She did AWESOME going under the water the whole week we were there.  She's definitely our little fish :)

Swimming wore her out!

Even though she wasn't feeling well, Savannah was still pretty happy and cheerful.  She loved the porch swing.  We spent a lot of time out there, even in the heat!


I think Aurora might have a popcorn addiction ;)  Just kidding.  She asks for popcorn all the time though.  She and Daddy were being silly with the popcorn bowls on their heads

 As I mentioned before, we had lots of down time and lots of snuggle time too!

Movies and popcorn are a must on vacation :)

Towards the middle of the week Savannah started to feel a little better.  She still had a slight fever but we decided to try her in the pool anyway.  She did just fine while we were at the pool for the most part.

Cutie pa-tooty Aurora in her swim gear


We're so glad our girls love each other so much!


More snuggle time on the couch after swimming--Aurora was so sweet with comforting her sick sister.

And more time on the porch swing out in the heat too :)

Silly Savy.




Before we left for St. George, Darwin bought a GoPro camera for work (he teaches his students how to build under water robots). Some of the pictures coming up are taken with the GoPro.  He had lots of fun learning how to use it while we were on vacation.  The videos he took are pretty fun too!




It was nice that we were able to make time to play in the sunshine at the pool because I really felt like I was working a lot too.  I would get up early and try to hammer through as many hours as I could before we'd go outside to play.  I got pretty good at working while snuggling our sleeping Savannah at the same time :)

Aurora got to use scissors for the first time ever (I'm a little slow with introducing her to certain things for some reason) and she made a pretty awesome paper snake.  She had a blast cutting paper and it kept her entertained for a long time!


I'm sure we spent WAY too much time with the TV on that week too, but it's okay, right?



We were so happy that we got to see our good friends, the Hancock's, while we were down there.  We only see each other a couple times a year so it's always nice when we can get together.  Their girls and our girls had a great time together!

 They went swimming with us a couple times and Darwin got some fun pictures with the GoPro in the big pool



Bard and Kerry in the lounge chairs :)







We brought our Wii down with us--always good times :)


Somehow Aurora always happens to get her hands on the camera and I love to see things through her eyes :)

We were privileged to have Dar's parents come stay a night with us on their way down to San Diego.  It's always fun to have Grandma and Grandpa around :)

Aurora loved the "cute and tiny palm tree" just outside the condo and asked us every day to take a picture of her with it.  It was just her size!


Grandma and Grandpa took us to breakfast before they were on their way to CA again.  After breakfast we took the girls to the playground back at the condo.



Cheese! Haha!



Rori had lots of fun playing with some new friends at the playground






Beautiful Savannah!








After playing outside we went back in and Rori watched The Croods while Savannah had a nap.  Watching The Croods in a cave is a must.

Later that evening we met up with the Hancocks again.  They invited us to attend a wedding reception with them and both girls fell asleep on the way.  The girls and I stayed in the car while Daddy went in to the reception with the Hancocks.

Then it was back to the pool for more swimming!  It was our last chance to swim before heading home the next day.

Rori had fun hopping around the pool like a frog :)



We headed home on Sunday.  We weren't able to go to church that day, but we took the opportunity to take the girls to the St. George LDS Temple.  We had taken a picture of Rori with a tiny palm tree earlier in the week and had to take a picture of her with a giant palm tree too!

Then Rori took a picture of us with the giant palm tree too

Savannah touching the temple--And Rori looking for treasures in the rocks :)

Our family at the temple!

In the Visitors Center

I love being on temple grounds, especially with our family.

Our cute girls at the St. George temple!







After we spent an hour or so at the temple, the Hancocks invited us to have lunch at their house and we were happy to take the opportunity to see them one more time before heading home.  To put the cherry on top of the end of our week in St. George we got to meet up with my brother, Tayton, at a park briefly.  We were on our way back north and he was headed back to Las Vegas after picking up my niece, Amaia.  It was a quick visit because Savannah was already asleep in the car and both parties needed to get on the road again, but we'll take every chance we get to see them too!  It was great to see you, Tayton, Heather, and Amaia!  We love you all!

It really was SO nice to be away from home together for a week even though Savannah was sick and I had to work.  After our crazy month of June, I feel like I'm ready for another get-away!  Thanks again, Spencer's, for letting us stay in your condo!  Love you guys!