Come to Zion 1: Heading South

When I was around 8 or 9 years old, our family went to a family reunion at Zion National Park. My dad borrowed a converted bus to haul us to Utah from California. Not far outside of St. George, the bus broke down. We managed to figure out a way to fix the problem and rolled into the group campground in the middle of the night. Besides the bus breaking down, my memories of the trip are vague and center around my sister and I floating down the river. 

That was the first and only time I visited Zion's (despite the fact that I lived in Utah for 8 years for college). Once we moved away from Utah, and I realized how much we did not take advantage of our time there, I put Zion's high on my "places to visit" list.

So, when my extended Manning family announced they were planning another reunion at Zion's (30 years after the first!) it seemed like a perfect excuse to get our family down there. Of course, we took our time making our way that far south.

 We weren't in a hurry, so we didn't get frustrated at all the pit stops required with 5 kids in tow.

 

On our first day, we drove to Boise, Idaho and stayed in a really fantastic hotel (La Quinta Inn & Suites Boise Towne Square). The room had 3 queen sized beds, and one was in a room off the main room (perfect for getting little Nellie's to sleep).

After checking in, I snuck back out to grab some dinner from a nearby grocery store while Mark and the kids changed into swim suits and watched TV.

Then it was finally time to swim! I am loving the fact that the big three can now swim well independently.
We plan these elaborate vacations, but in the end it's the swimming that the kids seem to remember best.

When Nellie decided she was done swimming, she and I went back to the hotel room alone. I had just enough time to get her to sleep before Mark and the big kids got back. Perfect! Nellie being asleep meant it was 10x easier for everyone else to get to bed and go to sleep.

While Thane does love swimming, his favorite part about hotel stays just might be the breakfasts. I think he single handedly got our family's money's worth out of the hotel stay with how much he ate.

Before leaving Boise, we drove by the Boise temple and the chapel where Thane famously left his mark.

The second day of driving was much shorter than the first, and we pulled into Colleen's house in Midvale around 3 pm. What a joy to see cousins and be out of the car! In anticipation of our arrival, Colleen made two big pans of brownies. She knows us so well.

The kids wasted no time renewing their relationships.  Nellie was tickled to have someone smaller to follow around and try to mother. Poor little Cohen!

Aubree and Elizabeth, our twin bibliophiles, set up their book reading fort just like our last visit.

The Pied Piper, er, I mean Mark, helped the kids settle down before bed with some bedtime stories. Once the kids were all asleep, Mark, Colleen, Andrew, and I were able to play games.

The next morning, Graham woke up with his face covered in blood. He'd gotten a nosebleed in the night (and apparently slept right through it). It was the first of several over our vacation. Utah is dry, high, and hot! 

Colleen took us outside to play, and we quickly realized that we really are Washington wimps. It was "only" about 90 degrees, but we kept retreating to the shade. 

 

The little kids, with the help of water toys, were able to last a bit longer.

Even when they got wet, they dried in a flash.

We left Colleen's in the afternoon and stopped for a few hours to visit our dear friends, the Jensens.

Mostly, the kids played with their old friends while the adults caught up on the events of the last year. Aubree played a few songs on her violin and Bryce played a few piano songs.

When it was time to go, we recreated the picture we took last year. If we visit every year, we can continue this tradition and track our kids' continued growth.

We reached Kira's in time for dinner. Again, the kids wasted no time reconnecting with the cousins. This time the rebonded over Perler beads and hotwheel tracks.

Once the kids got to bed, Kira and I plotted and planned for our trip down to Zion's. Nothing like waiting till the last minute, right?

The next morning we were back in the car for our final trip south, this time to Zion Ponderossa Ranch. We stopped in the tiny town of Beaver for lunch. We didn't have many dining options, but Mark found a small pizza restaurant and ordered two pizzas for our family. It took forever for them to arrive (we passed the time sharing a 32 oz. icee), but when we got them they were huge and delicious.

We arrived at the Ranch right at check-in time.

Oh, and Graham spent our entire vacation trying to perfect his wink. So if his face looks strange in pictures in future posts, now you know why.