Hiking Zion: Observation Point

At the end of January, we took a trip down to St. George to spend a couple days in Zion National Park.  We knew Lance's time with Marriott was coming to a close, so when a great Friends and Family rate popped up at Springhill Suites, we couldn't resist.  We arrived in the pitch dark, so imagine our delight when we awoke to this surprise.

Not too shabby.

This is the kind of hotel pool Jason likes best.


Ever ambitious, we decided to tackle Observation Point, an 8+ mile trail with 2200 feet in elevation gain.  We opted to get a picture at the beginning while the kids were still happy.

The beginning of the trail was chilly, but with some pretty impressive ice formations.

Science at its grandest.

Plus, popsicles!

Think my hubby enjoys being on the trail?

This narrow slot canyon is my favorite section of this hike.  The ice made it extra special.

Frozen mustache, anyone?

Hello to you too, handsome Eli.

I sure hope our children look back on our hikes with fondness.  For me, these memories are some of the sweetest.

Halfway there.

Another glimpse of us crazies.

Pausing for lunch.

The final ascent was challenging, but we made it.

Despite being relatively flat atop the plateau, the last half mile of the hike took forever because Annie wanted to autograph every patch of sand we passed.

At last, we made it to the point.  The vistas are pretty incredible with the Virgin river winding its way through the main canyon.


Just in case you needed proof as to how substantial the climb, Angel's Landing rests far below.


On the other side, you can see all the way up toward the Narrows.

Lest you mistakenly think it was all sunshine and smiles, the kids got genuinely exhausted.

Eli sulked for a good while because the hike was so long and hard.

Fortunately, the majestic draw of the canyon cheers even the poutiest souls.

Food helps too.

Personally, I could have gone for the piggy back ride, but only Annika gets away with that one.

Hiking is my happy place.

On the way back, our group got majorly separated because Annika insisted on being the line leader.


Brooklyn and Eli had gone ahead, so the gap kept growing as the rest of us slowed to a five year-old pace.

Fortunately, we were all safely reunited at the base.  Famished after our intense climb, we headed out to find some grub.  Oscar's Cafe for the win.

The restaurant promise rang true: if you leave hungry, it ain't Oscar's fault.  We might add: if you leave the canyon unimpressed, it ain't Zion's fault.

January--A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

I feel a bit like the following picture right now.  All I want to do is stick a bucket on my head and hide from all the responsibilities awaiting me.  I am SO far behind with, well, everything!  The one nice thing about blogging is that at least I can do it from my comfy bed.

In this picture, Annika is actually entertaining herself during our lengthy drive back home after Christmas.  Having picked up some sickness in Omaha, we brought the bucket just in case someone got sick.  I'm grateful this was its only use.

Spark was waiting for us back in Salt Lake, having been well-cared for by some friends.

Their only complaint was that he ate a TON.  They actually had to break into our house and get some more food once the first bag was gone.  Tired of last minute runs to PetSmart for more timothy hay, I finally went online and stocked up.

Better run through your maze, Spark, and work off those extra calories.


Back at home, here's Talia looking sharp in a gorgeous dress that Brooklyn sewed with NomiAnn's help.  They actually made it with Brooklyn in mind, but when it turned out to be the wrong size, Talia was the lucky recipient.  I'm pretty certain she loves it since she wears it all the time.

For Eli, the best part of coming home was building his new BB8 Lego set.  It's admittedly awesome.

And Annie, well, she was delighted to be home and picnicking with her den of snakes.

We were lucky to have some company in January.  Michael Rushforth came to visit all the way from Texas, courtesy of a linguistics conference.  Here he is checking out Music and the Spoken Word with Eli.  Go Whackerforths!

Yup, I feel pretty darn spoiled that we can come and listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform pretty much any time we like.

We're also spoiled by the neighborhood ice rink that once hosted the Olympics.  Annika is getting better, but watching her skate is still scary.  That little gal is fearless.

With winter break over, the end of term school projects piled up with ferocity.  Talia did an admirable job tackling the Science Fair.

So Talia, what are you and your Dad up to?

They constructed an impressive wind turbine so that Talia could test the efficiency of different styles of blades.

Testing in progress. 

Nice work, Reddi-wip!

Brooklyn's Bettering Utah project trumped even the science fair in terms of intensity.  Over the course of the semester. she had to come up with and implement a project to better Utah, dedicating around forty hours of volunteer time.  She and her cute friends started an after-school volunteer program at Jackson, a local Title I elementary school.  Here's the group making Talia and Eli pretend to be Jackson students so they would have photos to include in their final project.  Personally, I think the siblings are dead giveaways.  But still, well-done, Buttermilk.  You and your friends worked hard all semester, and should feel proud of what you accomplished.

Utah Studies required a second project where Brooklyn had to research something to do and some place to eat for each county in the state.

The beehive gave her a few extra points for presentation.

For the most part, there really is something interesting and unique about each of Utah's 29 counties.  But can you imagine trying to complete the same project for each of Nebraska's 93?  (No offense, Nebraska--we love you.)

Whew!  After all that school work, I need some laughs.  Will this do?

How about this?

Or maybe the naked babies trapped inside a guinea pig ball will make you chuckle.


Guess it's going to take a pack meeting to bring things back to serious.  (As if!)


More January fun--we took Annika and her friend Jefferson (aka Jeffro) to the Leonardo.  Naturally Annika spent the entire time playing with the stuffed animals.

Annika sets the birds in flight by sending them all down the slide.

Meanwhile, Jeff controlled the trajectory of his air-blasted ping pong balls.

Oh, and let's not forget our trip upstairs to see the Lego Wonder Woman.  Impressive.

In January we took a trip up north to spend the night in Hyde Park with Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles before going up to Idaho to see Great-Grandma and Grandpa Hansen.  Story time with Grandpa Charles is the best!

Grandma Susie picked up the cutest lion hat for the kids.

Roar!


Let's not forget the yummy breakfast.  The sillier, the tastier.

Here we are in Rupert with Grandma and Grandpa Hansen.

Grandpa Hansen was quite interested in the collection of Littlest Pet Shops that Annika brought along.

Talia entertained us all by performing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on her ukulele.  Completely self-taught, this girl amazes me by how eagerly she picks up new skills.  Whether it's knitting, crocheting, ukelele, violin, or painting, she's constantly diving in to grow her list of talents.

A picture of Leland in his younger years.  On February 25th, he and grandma celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary.  That's amazing!

Back in Salt Lake, we finally got some much needed snow.

Annika had a blast playing outside...


...even if it was a bit cold.

The Avenues: it really is a great place to call home.  

(Drawing courtesy of Jason, who is helping to design a float for the Days of '47 parade.  Because our family needs another project.  Wink, wink, smile.)