Zion

Well the rest of our vacation was wonderful too! The rest of our time in St. George we did some golfing (real golf for Tyson & Wayne, driving range for the rest of us), played lots of Mexican Dominoes (my new favorite game), played some tennis, rode ATVs (see below), did some swimming (even though it didn't get that warm...but we had to take advantage of the great pools) and we did some relaxing. After St. George we headed back to Vegas for a night. We ran around as a family trying to see some fun stuff while were had time. We saw the fountain at the Bellagio and some canals with gondolas at the Venetian, and a "less clothes than expected" show outside of Treasure Island...not at all like last time I was there! The next morning Troy and Kari had to fly out early and the rest of us had to be out of the room by noon. We took a quick swim in the pool which was awesome. The place where we stayed was wonderful and had three different pools. We chose the lazy river to hang in for a while. Kai floated in his tube with all of us floating around him...the center of attention yet again, he was in heaven. We got Kai a quick nap before heading out for the rest of the day. We walked around The Strip again and Tyson and I got to go on the roller coaster at New York New York. That had to be the best highlight for me. I LOVE roller coasters and this was the FIRST time we have gone on one together...sad but true. I guess we don't have many roller coasters handy here in Oregon but still! Anyway after that everyone else headed to the airport and we went back to the resort. We no longer had a room but it seemed a better place to hang than the casinos. It ended up being a good choice and we had a semi-relaxing afternoon/evening before heading to the airport for our 9pm flight. Question: has anyone ever taken a baby in a taxi? Is it normal to not use a car seat and just hold your child on your lap? This is what our driver told us to do, acting as if it was weird that I wanted to strap in his car seat. We made it safely and it was only a 5 minute drive but it was a little weird. Kai did pretty well on the flight. I stood in the back of the plane bouncing him to sleep forever only to finally get him to sleep (a miracle in itself) and find the drink cart just past our isle. So, I continued bouncing until it got back to me. I finally made it back to my seat only to settle in and immediately have Kai start thrashing like a wild animal in his sleep. It was a full flight so we had a lady right next to me...a lady who had no children...but she was relieved to find she was very sweet and understanding. After all, she did have a naughty cat at home! He did go back to sleep and slept the rest of the way home. This was really such a wonderful vacation for so many reasons. It was so fun for us to spend a whole week with Tyson's family. It is always a blessing to me to for Kai (and us of course) get to be with family since we don't have any close. It was wonderful for us to spend a full week together without the coming and going of our day to day life. It was truly quality time! And in general, we stayed at amazing places and saw amazing things. I will post a few pictures below. I don't have any of Vegas because after seeing the beauty of Zion the lights of Vegas just didn't compare:)

Telling Daddy a story about his rocks

Yes, he is now running!

In the pool with Daddy

This is on the shuttle in Zion. Kai was literally hanging from the ceiling. He was getting pretty restless and Tyson was trying to entertain him. Not the safest way to keep your kid happy but Tyson was pretty proud Kai was strong enough to hang on his own.

ATVs

One of the highlights of our vacation for Tyson was that we rented ATVs one morning. I have to admit it may have been a highlight for me too...it was super fun! When I first got on and rode about 100 yards on this "practice" area I was freaked out. I honesty wanted to quit and not do it, which is not like me, but it was a lot of power for this little lady! But, I got the hang of it pretty quick and had a great time. Plus, I know my husband and quitting does not fly:) The only glitch was that Troy (who did end up being about to make it out for a few days) had a "little" spill (off a ledge!!!) and had to go to the hospital to get checked out...thankfully he was fine! It was a fun time (other than that) and it was a beautiful area with lots of red rock and huge sand dunes!

Vacation!

We are in St. George, Utah right now enjoying a wonderful vacation with our family (Tyson's side). We flew into Vegas to 106 degree heat only to have cold and rain a couple days later. Despite the crazy weather we are having an amazing time. The place we are staying is beautiful and perfect for all of us. We have done a few hikes and spent yesterday in Zion National Park. It is truly beautiful here...a different kind of beauty from the Northwest but still beautiful. The only sad part of our vacation is that Uncle Troy is not able to be here. We are still hoping he may be able to make it for part of it but we are not sure. We miss you Uncle Troy! We have a couple more days here and than a night in Vegas before flying home. Here are a few pictures we have taken...I have tons of scenery pictures and realized it was too many for me to pick from right now so I will have to post some of those when we get home.

Kai enjoying the one hot day we had on Daddy's back on a hike.

Daddy & Kai in Zion

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time of all of us...we are at the top of a hike in Zion

Kai playing on the playground at the resort. Gramma & Pa in the background watching

1984 called...it wants its party back!

Last night we had a super fun combined birthday party for Tyson, Caitlin and Matt. We had an '80s theme, a white elephant gift exchange and a great game of Bag of Nouns. It was a fun time with great costumes!

Hot Hot Hot!

It has been super hot here the last few days but today is nice...hot but not ridiculous. We have been creative in ways to keep cool with our air conditioner not working...filling Kai's baby bathtub with cool water on the deck was one of the best. It kept him entertained and cool! My favorite thing we did is take our mattress out on the back deck and sleep outside...Kai's room stays cool downstairs but Tyson and my room is hot. It was so fun to sleep under the stars yet have a bathroom so close:) No pictures of sleeping outside but here are some of Kai getting to splash his little heart out!

Mother's Day!

Today was a fun day spent with my amazing family. I am so blessed to be the mom to such a wonderful little boy and the wife to my amazing husband. I was spoiled this Mother's Day with the gift of a new camera. I am so excited as I love photography and, of course, any pictures of my little boy. Now I have a camera that can actually keep up with him:) After church and a nap for Kai we went on a wonderful hike, enjoyed each others company, tried out the new camera and got some fresh air. The hike went past a little lake by a meadow and then up the stream to a beautiful waterfall. Kai loved throwing rocks in the water and running around by the lake. It was such a fun day together. Here are a few (or lots) of pictures from our hike...today all the pictures look amazing with the new camera but I will hopefully learn to be more picky:)

Boys at the Park

Our friends Jeff, Kari and Dutch stopped by on Saturday night which was a wonderful treat for us. We were able to visit for a little while as our boys played at the park. Dutch is just a few months older than Kai and it is so fun to see them play together. Thanks friends for stopping by...come again soon!