Leah's 6th Birthday

Leah celebrated her 6th birthday while we were on vacation in St. George. She had a fun-filled day! We started out by having a girls shopping trip at the Outlet Stores. Before we left, Katie gave her a crown, a rose sucker, and made her a rose ring!

Aunt Katie's present was to pay for Leah to have her first manicure!

When she saw Katie getting her acrylic nails Leah commented, "I want THOSE kind!"
Ha ha ha! It was funny! Maybe one day she'll be getting acrylic nails for her birthday--when she's OLDER!

Me and my mom enjoyed getting pedicures
while Leah and Katie were getting their nails worked on

Leah got to pick out her birthday outfit from Nanny. She tried on a bunch of skirts and picked one out based on how well it "twirled". She also got to pick out the present from mom and dad. She had been asking for a duck pillow pet. I couldn't find one at any stores, so Leah decided that a ladybug bean bag chair would be the next best thing.

The thing Leah wanted to do most for her birthday was to go swimming. So, we went to the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center and she was able to show everyone how she's able to go off the diving board and how she dives into the deep water. They also had a fun water slide and a great kids area for them to play at.

It cracks me up that Caleb's feet aren't even touching the diving board!

We went out for Leah's birthday dinner at The Brick Oven.



Then...we had cake and ice cream!
I feel quite guilty that Leah's cake wasn't made by mommy,
so maybe one day I'll have to make her another one.
Buying a cake from the grocery store was just easier being on vacation and all.

Happy Birthday Leah!!

Zion's National Park

We went to Zion's National Park for the day and had a great time. The first hike of the day was at the Temple of Sinawava. It's a nice paved trail until you reach the end, then it's hiking through the river! It was very cold water and the river rocks were so big and slippery! The river was past my knees in spots, which made it past the kids' waist! What an adventure...

Our next stop was Weeping Rock. It was a short hike, but a little steeper than the first one. Shane sat this one out due to a hurt ankle (from a swimming pool accident). It was such a beautiful place.

It was like rain coming down! Water was dripping all around us as it came dripping out of this huge rock surrounding us.

Our last hike was to the Emerald Pool Trail. Shane sat this one out too, and we had accidentally left our camera in the bag that was with him. So, we have no pictures of that trail. That one took us about an hour to complete. It's a series of 3 pools, but we only went to the first pool. If we didn't have the kids with us (who were extremely tired by this point) I would have loved to go see the upper pool.

Hiking at Zion's made for a really long day. On the shuttle bus ride back to our car Leah was almost asleep and everyone was really tired. We hoped they would all sleep on the drive back to St. George, but once everyone got into the van they were all WIDE awake and fully of energy!?! They did sleep well that night though. We had a great day at Zion's National Park!

Seeing the City

On the schedule for the day was to do a tour of St. George and have the kids play at the city splash pad. We started by eating at the Bear Paw Cafe. I had some awesome strawberry crepes!

We took a few pictures while we waited for the tour to start

The St. George city tour was really neat. There were different actors who played the part of different historical people at each place we visited.
This was us on our tour bus

The St. George Tabernacle reminded me a lot of our Provo Tabernacle. It's amazing what the pioneers could build with what little resources they had. The balcony in this tabernacle was too high at first (those sitting in the balcony seats would not be able to see the pulpit), so they lowered the entire balcony--with only man-power! Amazing!The all-seeing eye

We also stopped at the courthouse and the Opera House. In the basement of the Opera House you can see the mechanism that the pioneers created to be able to lower the entire floor (to slant like theatre seating) for a play, but then raise it so it was level for dances and other things.

This is Brigham Young's winter home. He would travel to St. George in the winter to help alleviate his Rheumatism.
At the end of the tour here we were treated to some fresh figs, peaches and grapes from the orchards and vines on Brigham Young's property and Jacob Hamblin's property. So yummy!




Downtown St. George has a great little splash pad and stream for kids to play in. Our kids had a lot of fun playing there. It was the perfect way to cut through that southern Utah heat!