We learned the hard way that Zion National Park is now constantly packed. It was the off season which means that the shuttles were not running and you can drive yourself into the park... until it gets full, which happens rather early in the morning. We could only get to the visitor's center and the Watchman Trail, which was right next to the entrance. It was 3 miles long and steeper than I would have preferred to do with the little kids.
Bree lovingly held Isaac's hand the entire way up. He was absolutely obsessed with her for the rest of the trip. She went ahead with the faster group on the way down, and Isaac called for her literally the whole way down.
Elliot had hiked up with the faster group. He excited led me to the lookout point when we finally caught up. It meant we got left behind again, but it was worth it for a special moment with Elliot in excited explorer mode.
After reuniting Isaac with his true love, we ate our lunch on these benches that turned out to be the location for a ranger talk that the ranger assumed we were purposefully there for. It was a good rock talk. After this trip, Elliot said that he MIGHT consider changing his future profession from video game designer to geologist.
At 4:30, they opened the gats to let more vehicles in. We opted to drive through Zion Canyon while the rest of the families headed home. We parked at a random pullout to get a better look at a flock of turkeys we saw out the window. It ended up being a great spot that the kids didn't want to leave!
I love this picture of our heads all crowded together.
A nice Frenchman helped us take a better shot. I love the friendly vibes of national parks.
I don't know if this spot is even labeled on the park map. There was a little trail leading from the pull-off down to the river. It was so pretty.
On the way home, we stopped at the house that Aaron's Grandpa Cox built. I hope that the current resident wasn't too weirded out by the stream of minivans that stopped to take pictures from a distance throughout the day.
The next day we explored Snow Canyon Park, which was less grand than Zion but way more hands-on fun and less crowded.
First stop: Jenny Canyon
The walls were so fun for the kids to climb!
Joanna shimmying up the crack like it's nothing
Next stop: Lava tubes. I told the kids to check to see if they could make the lava rocks turn back to molten lava. Hannah's technique was spot on.
Most of the group scampered down a couple of the tubes
Last but not least was the amphitheater. The consensus was that we should have skipped the lava tubes to spend more time here because it was awesome. This was my view from where I stopped to nurse Felix.
There's something about the angle of these sandstone layers that makes you want to keep going up. They are fun to climb!
The gals were quickly immersed in a game of snow dogs in the soft, cool sand.
This trip was a great mix of exploring the great outdoors and lounging around chatting with a bunch of Bloods, which are two of my favorite activities. The kids are always thrilled when they get to run around with a cousin pack.
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