Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Thankful for something different



This Thanksgiving Mojo & Dado rented a house just outside of Zion National Park in Southern Utah - the boys & I drove down as soon as school got out and Alec & his family drove up and met us there.
It was 4 days of fun family time either hiking in the park or playing at the house. The park was absolutely beautiful - shocking canyon walls and beautiful colors and views as we strolled along the Virgin River. The kids loved being outside, and hiking through the park made us all feel a little less guilty about indulging in all the traditional holiday fare!



The very best part of the trip was watching the cousins spend time together...






Well.... maybe the other very best part of the trip was ALL of us spending time together!


While there are more trails and sights in the park than 3-4 days could cover, I do have to point out one particular trail that some of us managed to take!
Angel's Landing is a heck of a hike - 5.4 miles round trip and severely vertical.
And though the first 2 miles up the trail were rigorous to say the least - it was the last little bit that shocked me to the core!

So here is the trailhead: (note extraordinary sunrise views!)


Dado & Alec & I were so excited about working our way up the side of the cliff:


We even made it to the top of "Walter's Wiggles" - the infamous switchbacks up the canyon cliff...


... only to be met with this view - of the rest of the trail:

I mean, the trail literally went up the very narrow, steep edge of this cliff face.
As thrilling as the whole hike was - I must admit the narrowness finally got to me.... as you can see from this picture, I tried to make it a little ways but my expression says 'I don't think so!'


The boys, on the other hand were totally unfazed!



So Alec proudly escorted the boys to the peak of Angel's Landing, rewarded with views all up and down the canyon! They were quite thrilled with the experience and proud that they made the whole climb....


... I was, alternately just thankful that they didn't fall off the edge of a cliff while taking a selfie!

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious



Sam just wrapped an incredible 3-show run of Mary Poppins Jr. where he played the role of Roberson, the Banks' goofy house servant. While he was delightful to watch with his antics and and fun character, the whole show was simply fantastic! The kids (3rd - 8th grade) were amazing - from great singing and dancing to just fun characters on stage! I am always so impressed with how these productions come together with such creativity and talent.

As much as I love Mary Poppins and her story, perhaps my favorite part of the show is the Chimney Sweeps and their Step In Time number! Sam was also part of this group of boys who tap danced and jumped (and flipped!) their way into one of the best numbers of the show!





Friday, November 2, 2018

Halloween



What a fun holiday we had!
Sam dressed as a zookeeper so he could trail all his stuffed animals along in a wagon!
Hamp finished football practice just in time to help hand out candy to all the fun trick-or-treaters. (and even took the opportunity to dress up a little himself, just for fun!)