St. George

We spent the week after Christmas in sunny St. George Utah. It was a pretty successful trip, as far as climbing trips with kids go. We were able to find nice sunny warm spots for me to climb, windy shady freezing spots for Mark, and we had nice weather and lots of new places to explore on our rest days. The kids did well at the crag-- Amelie was (mostly) happy to sit and watch us climb, and Logan puttered around digging in the sand and playing on the iPad.  And, perhaps most importantly, there was an In n Out.  I'm not sure when this became a key criteria for a vacation destination... I think perhaps when Mark started starving himself and dreaming of the food he couldn't eat.

By the time I get around to posting these things, I never remember the details, so here's the quick recap in pictures. 

The much-anticipated In & Out dinner.  We went twice. 

On the drive out to Utah, we stopped for a hike at Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction.  Mark & Logan.

Kate & Amelie near Independence Monument.  This was Amelie's 6 month birthday!  (Thanks for the cozy sleeper that kept her warm, Christina!)

We rented a condo in St. George that was just big enough. The refrigerator door could not open all the way because it hit the cabinets, the bedroom door could not open all the way because it hit the bed... Still, it was great for 1 week.

Amelie loves everything Logan loves lately-- here she's trying to get in on Jake and the Neverland Pirates on the iPad. 

We took a day trip out to Zion on our first rest day. Logan at the Virgin River, near the Narrows.

We hiked up Angel's Landing and found some fun caves along the way

Angel's Landing

Family photo.  We'll have to photo shop that other lady out.

After we got down the dangerous part, we let Logan out of the backpack and he ran the rest of the way down

I made everyone take these cheesy photos in the same spot our wedding photos were taken.  This is the first time we'd been back since our wedding. They had built a new hotel in the background, but otherwise it looked the same.

Here are a few pictures from the crag-- Logan & Mark below Mark's project at Black and Tan

Miss Amelie at Turtle Cliff

Logan making sand castles... he was always disappointed when they didn't stick together.

Amelie and Logan warming up for Gorilla Cliff

Cozied up under Mark's route at Gorilla Cliff.  Logan gave her his favorite puppy to cuddle with.

Logan at Gorilla Cliff.  The wind was howling and it was freezing!  The kids were troopers.

Besides what's shown in the pictures, we did lots of hiking/bike riding to explore other cliffs,  watched a redbox movie almost every night (oh, the joys of the big city where the redbox is only a few minutes away), read a few books, and watched a Strawberry Shortcake DVD they had in the condo about 100 times.  I can sing the theme song in my sleep.  It was a fun winter destination-- we even missed some snow at home (I love when that happens).  I bet we'll be going back again soon.