Zion Fun

As I mentioned before, we took advantage of free entry into Zion National Park on Friday. We had a few hiccups before we left, like sleeping in and buying a new battery because the car wouldn't start, but we finally made it out of here and were able to meet up with the others (Heather, Chris, McKade, Maycie, and Kaden) at about lunch time. The rest of the day was carefree. 

I tried to put sunscreen on Ethan's head, but of course most of it stayed in his hair. I couldn't resist doing a little mohawk for a minute and showing him in a mirror. :)

 Ethan started out riding on Daddy's back. (btw he says "daddy" loud and clear now.)

 Here's a picture of our crew spread along the trail.

 Kaden boy was quite tired, and he fell asleep pretty soon after we wrapped him on McKade's back. His head looked so awkward, but every time we tried to help him to a more comfortable position, he would wake up. Eventually he settled in better.

 Ethan rode on my back for  most of the ascending trip. Oh, we did the Emerald Pools hike. I forgot to mention that.

 Because there was water pretty much along the whole hike, and "water" is currently Ethan's favorite word, I think we heard it about 500 times. I never get tired of it though. He changes his inflection a lot, and sometimes he really draws out the first syllable. Super cute. Anyway, you can hear him say it in this video. Make sure to watch it till the very end. ;) It makes me giggle.

I had everyone gather for a group shot. It was just a quick thing, and I was trying to not get the people next to the group in the picture. When I got home and looked at the result, I laughed out loud. Poor Chris grew some Shrek ears. :D

 When we got to the middle pools, we took a leisurely break. We ate snacks and let the boys play with sticks, rocks, and water. They had a blast.

 Terral made Ethan his first pair of Unshoes the night before we left, but because Mr. Wiggly made it hard to get accurate tracings, they turned out a little big. I think they are super cute, though! They just need some tweaking to make them more functional.

 Here's Maycie hanging out on our snack rock.

 Ethan loved this little waterfall. You can see how his toes slipped out of the right sandal in this picture. They will be awesome when Terral finds enough time to fix them. :)

 And here's our little family at the top pool. 

 Kaden had fun waving his arms and legs around when we switched him to the front.

 And this is what happens when you hand your camera to Chris so he can take a picture of you.

 "Oh, that's what you wanted me to do!" ;)

I gave Ethan a long piece of grass that had a fuzzy end, and he started tickling Terral with it. I just love his laugh. There is nothing like the laughter of your child.

 Chris' sandals were a little out of place among all the Unshoes. ;)

 When we were done hiking, we decided to just wander Springdale for a while since we always just drive through it. We ended up eating at a restaurant there, which is way against the norm for us, but we felt like we were on vacation and had a little wiggle room in our budget. It was an outdoor eating area, which was really nice with Ethan.

 Speaking of Ethan, he was so tuckered out by all of this (we couldn't get him to nap in the backpack) that he fell asleep within five minutes of the drive.

Since he was asleep, we decided to explore Toquerville a bit since we always just drive through it. (Are you sensing a theme here?) Terral and I liked looking at all the different styles of houses in the quaint side of town. But apparently we looked a little too long, because before we made it home, this little guy woke up. And he was not happy about still being in the car seat.

Luckily, he forgave us after a bath and some cuddles. Sweet little man. He sure makes life fun. :)