Indian Summer

I guess since it took FOREVER for summer to arrive, it decided to stick around a little longer.
It was after Veteran's Day and we were still swimming in the pool.  Maya and I took as much advantage of the pool as we could.  We would go swimming during the day.  The water was wonderful...how I miss it!

Also, in October, Gigi came from PA to visit the family here.  Although she was a recovering from surgery and other ailments, she was a trooper and went to Zions with G-ma, Paka, and our little family. How we love going to Zions National Park.

As the sun sets...magical!

Of course we camped and that was fun...except for the howling winds that come from the canyon....it can get pretty noisy, but it didn't seem to bother the children.
Arden and Maya really enjoyed spending that time with Gigi.  She would read them books and just chat with them.  It was great.

King of the trunk?

During our stay in Zions, we enjoyed picnics by the river, walks on and by the river, playing with insects (mostly Arden and Maya), attending Ranger Talks, and going on hikes. Arden even earned his Junior Ranger badge.

Now that the children are older, going on adventures, like this one, are even more fun and easier, since there's minimal carrying.   And they truly enjoy the outdoors. 

One of the days Newel planned to hike up the river with Arden and show him some of the Narrows.  Since the water was getting pretty cold, they rented some wetsuits.  Arden loved it!  He especially loved floating with his suit.  While the boys went on a river hike, G-ma, Maya, and I went on some small hikes around park.  I finally went to see the Weeping Rock. We checked out different trails.  Later, we cooled off with some ice cream underneath the big cottonwood trees by the Zions Lodge.  Maya and I enjoyed having that special time with G-ma.

Gigi and Paka weren't feeling well, so they stayed back at the campsite. 

That evening, we enjoyed roasting marshmallows...a camping tradition.  Maya had recently rediscovered Polly Pockets, but my favorite part was watching her play with them and carry them on Arden's truck from Nicaragua. It was so cute.

Roasting the perfect smore!

The following day, on our way back home, we went to the other entrance of Zions...and went on a little hike...with G-ma.  We didn't know where the hike led us to, but it was so beautiful, we didn't care.  We were enjoying the ride...not the destination.

During our little excursion, we saw a big white bird...may be an owl or hawk standing on the side walls...even though it was really far away from us, we could tell it was a pretty neat looking bird.Unfortunately, we didn't hike for too long because it started to get cloudy and rain drops began to fall. But it was so fun...we even went to a 'cave' to explore it. What a fun trip.