Zions Thanksgiving Break

The kids and I snuck away for a trip down to Zion during Thanksgiving break. Byron had to work and couldnt join us. We drove down and stayed in a nice hotel with a pool and a hot tub and thoroughly enjoyed the hot chocolate bar and chocolate chip cookies they set out nightly. Ahhh, nice.

We hike almost every hike in Zion. Starting with Angels Landing. The kids were troopers and the weather was amazing. Nice and crisp hiking weather. Freezing once the sun went down but beautiful during the day.

The view from the top of Angels is incredible. We made it across some of the chain zone but Ali decided to be the sensible one and we stopped before we got all the way to the end. It made her and Tyler a little nervous to be walking along  a bitty ledge of rock, hanging onto a freezing chain and trying not to slip to your death. Carter was disappointed but as he has hiked it already he agreed to turn around with us.

We chose two hikes a day, one tough one and an easy one. It was amazing hanging out with our cute kids and chatting as we hiked. They have lots of ideas in those heads of theirs.

Swimming in the pool, heated pool, was fun even though it was chilly outside. The hot tub was great as well. Ali enjoyed playing the animal game where we shout out an animal and she swims like the animal would. She would play much longer than we were willing to think up animals.

This is my trusty camera lens. I had a fun time trying out new things with my camera and finding out what it really can do.

These are taken on our hike back from the trailhead for the Narrows hike. This is not the time to hike the Narrows, but our kids are ready to come back in the summer and hit it then. It looks like a fun hike up the river and through the narrow rock canyons.

We got a kick out of this sign. Lots of joking about being in the wild.

The kids found this sandpile in a dried up riverbed. They spent an hour or so building sand-castles and then used dirt balls to try and destroy them. It is harder than you would think destroying a sandcastle with a a sandball. I had fun stacking rocks and taking pictures of them while waiting for the kids to finish their castles.

We really loved our hike through the Redrock Cliff Recreation Area. This is a camping site which we will have to bring Byron back to next year.  It's just one exit further south off I-15 than the Zions turn. Funnest hike of our trip. Steps carved into the side of sandstone, ropes hanging down to help you hang on with. Natural waterslide rocks along the riverbank, it was too cold for us to try it but we are returning come summertime.
The kids and I had a great time hanging out together and enjoying the pure beauty of nature.