Southern Utah (Post #2)

On monday, after getting our new campsite all set up, we took the kids to the Temple and visitor center, then to Swig in St George. After all of that fun stuff, we visited a really fun park!

We also went on a short 2 mile bike ride at Halfwash Trail. It was nice to get out and do something physical in such beautiful weather! Unfortunately we heard A LOT of frogs in the creek along the trail so Ryan wasn't happy about that...

This is the gorgeous drive we would take multiple times a day, between Leeds and St George. 

Quail Creek State Park.

I got to use my new outdoor kitchen finally! We brought leftover beef stroganoff, so all I had to do was heat it up and make some rice. Boom.

Found some of Boston's cute little shoe prints in the dirt.

Time for s'mores!! NOW we're camping.

Such a gorgeous night.

After everyone showered we turned on Wreck It Ralph 2 and finally enjoyed some much-deserved downtime! It was an awesome day.

Southern Utah {Post #1}

Our first camping trip as a family!!! It's sort of funny calling it "camping" because it was actually "glamping". With a camping trailer, running water, a fridge, a TV, and heat, this is the absolute best way to camp and we absolutely loved every second!

We took our new trailer on a trip to St George and surrounding areas from March 23rd-29th. We stayed at a KOA in Leeds that offered full hookups, so we had all the amenities we needed. Our drive down was uneventful, and the truck handled it perfectly.

This was the view looking towards Red Cliff recreation area from our campsite, and those snow capped mountains against the red rock made for a gorgeous view!

The site we were assigned to was super skinny and the family we were next to had about 8-10 people. So before we could "set up camp" with our chairs and picnic table outside our door, they had already claimed almost all of the space. There was no room for us to "live" outside the trailer and it was uncomfortable feeling so in each other's business. So we spent the first couple of breakfast hours inside our trailer playing games rather than hanging out outside. We were able to fix the problem on our 3rd day there though, and were able to move to a MUCH bigger site on the end on the row that had a firepit too! So it all worked out in the end. But I did snag some sweet photos while they played games.

 The kids loved having their "bunk house" and we loved that it had a closing door, hehe.

 Our first full day in southern utah was a sunday, and we decided to spend it in Las Vegas. We have several good friends there and we wanted to show the kids some of our old stomping ground from med-school days. First we took them to the Ethel M cactus garden. They don't remember ever being there but we went many times while living in Henderson!

 We also drove by our old apartment. There it is! The place I brought two of my babies home.

And drove by the school.

 We met our Paradise friends (the Millers) for lunch!

 Then we ended up hanging out at the Reynders' home for the rest of the day, and the Larsens were there too! It was SO wonderful to catch up with these med school friends of ours and see how everyone's families have grown so much in the 11 years since we all met. I still can't believe it's been that long since we started our medical journey!

 It was such a fun day visiting old friends and seeing our old town! We drove back to our camper late that night so we could enjoy the St George area for the rest of the week.

March Stuff + Leprechauns

Grace's class was assigned to create a bottle-head person for an autobiography book report. She chose Madame Curie because Grace loves science. It probably looks like I did a lot but I really only helped her finalize her ideas for the clothing and the hair, and helped with the hot glue. Grace did all the rest! I think she turned out super cute! And the best part was that everything on this doll was stuff we already had at home. I didn't buy a single thing.

I think the best detail is her little green rocks in her hands, representing Uranium. Madame Curie recorded that these rocks had a slightly green glow to them and used to keep some in a jar by her bed. Whoops. 

 The morning she turned in her doll was the same day as Crazy Hair Day and "pastries with parents". We all got a donut before school!

 Also in March this little man had his first big cut on his head. Of course it involved a razer scooter [insert eye roll here] and Ryan closed it up with glue and a steri-strip. 

 Ryan and I hadn't been on a date in such a long time, especially since I've been feeling dizzy, motion sick and tired so often these days. But when I had 5 good days in a row we decided to hire a sitter and get away for a few hours!

 We went to dinner (the yummiest japanese place!) and saw Captain Marvel. It was an awesome night out feeling "normal" again.

 Boston's showing off his crack... I mean skills.

 Cute new "do".

Pi day!

 The kids build traps to catch leprechauns. They made fake gold coins from the front door to their traps to lure them inside. I wonder if they'll fall for it...

 We didn't catch any, but the leprechauns sure made a mess!