Ivins! (with LOTS of pics)

Okay so we finally took a family vacation. Best idea ever! We set out Monday around 11 I think. We hoped the drive down wouldn't be too bad. Started out pretty good. We got out to Delta and had to stop so I could feed Jackson. Once we made it to the 15 we had to pull over shortly after so Charlotte could go potty. Then we opted for lunch then too. I think they were pretty good after that and we finally made it out to Ivins in like 5 to 6 hours. When Scott and I first found out his parents were getting a condo we were really excited. We didn't really know what to expect. We had seen some pictures but its always different in person. The pictures definitely didn't do it justice. Its really nice and in a great location. The views around are amazing. It's a nice little home away from home.

We got settled in and then headed to Costco and Walmart for a few things. Then came home and got ready for bed. The next morning we decided to head to Vegas. We didn't leave until like noon I think. My friend Ashley was going to be off work around 2 or 3. We had to stop for gas and we did lunch too. By the time we finally got out there it was like 2:15 I think We decided to head to Bellagio. Every time we go to Vegas I have to get me some gelato. And its always fun to take in a show at the fountains. So we hung out while we waited for Ash to meet up with us.

These were inside the hotel by the conservatory.

 This was while we waited for a show to start. Not realizing the first show didn't start until 3. Luckily Ash checked while she walked through so we went back in to the conservatory to keep cool because it was soooooo hot and poor Jack Jack was rosy red from the heat.

I of course did not take any pictures with Ash. Go me. But after we were finally able to show Charlotte the fountains we headed over to Planet Hollywood to their shops. Ash said they have ABC stores like they do in HI so its the cheapest place for water on the strip. Then we took Charlotte to the Sugar Factory. We opted for the smaller one since we figured trying to corral here in the huge one would be just a bad idea. So she got to pick out some candy. Later on we were going to meet up with one of Scott's mission buddies and his family so we ended up just hanging out by the PF Changs in Planet Hollywood talking while I fed Jackson. It was so great to see Ashley. We have known each other since like kindergarten. She is so much fun to hang out with. And ever since I moved away she always made an effort to keep in touch. Even when I went out for her wedding and she was super busy. She still found the time to see me. I miss being able to see my friends all the time but its so nice that now we can go to Ivins and be somewhat closer and make it work to see my friends. Next time she said she'll come up so we don't have to come down with the kids. So awesome.

After we said goodbye to her we headed up to North Las Vegas to a buffet. We made a pit stop at a Walmart for some baby food for Jackson. I was awesome and didn't bring anything with us to Vegas. It was so fun to see Scott's mission buddy and his wife and two girls. Charlotte was pretty horrible there and kept running around. I really don't like taking her out to restaurants and rarely do. She's pretty naughty. But we had a lot of fun talking with the Pitt's and catching up. They're really fun to be around and its always a treat to see them. Once dinner was done and we said our goodbyes we headed to Tommy's. It was getting late and I kinda got lost. I wasn't sure which was closer and Jeff said both were probably about the same from where we were so we ended up in Henderson to the one we had been to a couple years ago. We stocked up on some chili for my brother's bday and by the time we finally headed back it was like 10:30 our time. We didn't get back until after midnight. It was a rough drive back. The kids did finally crash but I was fighting to stay awake and Scott hardly could. We were exhausted and it felt so good to climb into bed that night.

The next day we relaxed more. We didn't make big plans. We just kinda did whatever we felt like doing and lounged around all morning. I spent most of the day cooking. I was making up a big batch of pico de gallo and decided to do my homemade bbq chicken pizza that night. That afternoon we had some thunderstorms. I got this lovely pic of the dark sky headed our way.

After dinner and cleaning up we decided we'd go swim. It's nice because the clubhouse is right around the corner so its a short walk. We got there as some people were leaving and just swam from like 8 to 9 and had the whole pool to ourselves. It was also kind of nice that its only 5 feet deep in the deep end. So we could stand easy enough. The kids loved it. Charlotte was having fun jumping in. Oh and I forgot swim diapers but they have some there you can use. Sweet! We only made it to the pool once. It's indoors which is great at night. Hopefully we can go more next time we come.

Once we got back we all bathed and crashed pretty quick. I got a few pics of Mr. Jackson all bundled up. I love my little boy. He's so cute and cuddly!

The next morning was nice. We lounged a bit. Charlotte played outside with her bubbles and we spent some time out on the patio while it was still cool. Charlotte found a feather.

 I forgot we had these wasps in CA. Up here they're only black and yellow. These ones used to fly into our pool and float on the water while they got a drink. Chloe was terrified of them.

 The kids played around a bit while we got ready to head out and explore a little.

Once we got dressed we got in the car and I found Charlotte's pirate kit thing from her Carl's Jr. kids meal from Monday. It had a hat and mustaches. We had fun with the mustaches.

We stopped by the church to chuck some trash. We didn't think the trash would get picked up Monday before Scott's parents left but found out their neighbor takes the trash in and out for them so we could've used the trash can but oh well. I love their church bldg. I've never seen one colored like this but it really compliments the area and its beautiful! There are also some amazing views of the mountains around there.

We had to gas up again and took a couple pics of the kids while we waited.

We decided to take Charlotte to the St. George temple. She loves temples and was super excited. I got lots of pics there. We also went to the visitor's center. They gave her a special rock that is the same kind of rock they grounded up and used in making the temple. We watched a neat little presentation on families and then saw the Christus and heard the little message they have. It was neat to talk to the missionaries. Charlotte was pretty good inside and had fun running around outside.

 Charlotte was trying to pick up ants here

After we were at the temple we just drove around looking at stuff. We ended up driving up this hill to a church bldg we thought might have a sweet view of the valley. I got this picture from the church. You can barely see the temple there down in the valley. 

Then I took these other ones and was going to put them together in a panoramic view but I don't feel like it :) 

After dinner that evening we decided to walk to one of the little lakes across the street. Scott's mom told him that there are a couple of swans that usually hang out over there. We brought them some bread. There are also a bunch of little fish in there and they were eating at the bread while it sat in the water.

Scott watched the kids while I went on a little bike ride. I wanted to check out this park that wasn't far that had a splash pad. I found a little market that was just down the way. I didn't ride as long as I had hoped because the seat was killing me. My seat is way different and so it was killing me. I need to get a bike thing on the back because they have awesome paved trails in Ivins. I'd love to go for a nice long bike ride in the fall or winter there. I bet its so nice! I did snag a couple pics while on my ride.

The next day would have been Friday. I was looking online at all of St. George's parks. I originally wanted to go to Zion one day but when I looked up prices to get in the park it was $25. Are you kidding me? It was good for a week but I'm only going one day. I'm not paying that right now. So then I wanted to do Snow Canyon but I woke up kinda late. Scott let me sleep. Such a good husband. I was catching up a ton on this trip. It felt good to sleep. So since I got up late I thought we could go to Pioneer Park and climb around on the red rocks up there. It was fun! I'd like to go back and hike around some more. It was pretty hot so we didn't stay too long. But I took a bunch of pics and we saw some lizards.

We found this room thing. Not sure what it is but we went in to check it out

Scott wanted to do a Lion King reenactment

We got some lunch then headed back to put the kids down for naps. While Charlotte slept I found this bug on the screen. Not sure what it is.

That evening we went over to see one of Scott's friends that he used to live by in Magna. We met his wife and daughter. It was fun to talk to them and see them. Hopefully we can see them again next time we're out. Then Scott's parents came out that night so it was nice to get to spend time with them down there. It had seemed like forever since we had really spent time with them so it was nice to share that time down there.

Saturday Scott let me sleep a little again. He's so good to me! Finally got to see a frog that morning! Scott's mom found it. I guess the ones they usually see are small. The dead one we found was a lot bigger. But they are so tiny and cute!

When trying to decide what to do Scott's mom suggested the farmer's market at Tuacahn. I had never been up there and it wasn't far at all. And who doesn't love a little farmer's market? It was neat to walk around. We even got to pick out a Christmas present. There were some people selling LDS art like those vintage temple pics for way cheap. The ones you usually get for a couple hundred were going for like $15 to $45 depending on size. So Scott's mom told us to pick one out we liked and it'd be part of our Christmas present. How awesome is that? I hope they're back next year because I'd love to buy some more stuff. They had a lot of neat pics! They also had a couple camels there from Aladdin that they're doing up there. They were giving camel rides for $5. Charlotte wanted to go but didn't want to go so I ended up going with her. At first I was kinda like, eh, but then really, how often do you get the opportunity to ride a camel? Probably very rare. It was super short and in a small circle but still kinda cool none the less. Scott took some pics for me.

After hanging out at Tuacahn we drove down to the Brigham Young winter home. Scott's parents had some errands to run so we just took the kids. Charlotte was kind of a pain. Mostly at the beginning. They sit you in this small little building and give you some history but Charlotte didn't want to be in there. So trying to keep her quiet and listen was a pain. She did a little better inside the house but still not great. Trying to keep Jackson entertained wasn't the easiest either. Probably better to do without the kids but it was still neat to see. Scott took a couple pics for me.

 This was cement inside of the mulberry tree there. They wrote names and dates in it. This mulberry tree was what they used to feed silk worms so they could make silk. The tree is like around 140 yrs old and was struck by lightning and cracked in half. They had a tree surgeon save it. The cement was used to keep it from rotting away inside. Pretty crazy!

 Only a couple pics of the inside. Pretty distracted trying to corral a crazy 3 yr old girl and keep a 6 month old happy. Ah the joys of kids! :) This stuff will be so much more fun when they're older. I love historic stuff like this.

After this we grabbed lunch. We got Charlotte Arctic Circle and Scott and I tried a bbq place called Porky's. Scott like his sandwich and mine was pretty good too. Mac and cheese was disappointing. Bbq beans were good. Ranch style potatoes were pretty good and coleslaw was good. We might eat there again. Kind of expensive but better than some bbq places I've tried. We took the kids back to nap. Once they were up we decided to check out the local splash pads.

The first one we went to was technically Santa Clara I believe. Charlotte was hesitant (even though she was fine at the fountains at City Creek) but then did better later on.

Scott didn't plan to get wet but that soon changed. I think he had fun too :)

 Trying to get Scott's footprint with the kids but that's hard with the kids and it drying so fast

 This was at the splash pad a few blocks away. This was in Ivins.

After that we got dried off and went to dinner at this place called Pancho and Lefty's. It was good some good Mexican food. I really liked it. Charlotte surprisingly wasn't too bad there. Way better than she was in Vegas. I definitely would like to try it again when we're out there. We got ready for bed and got the kids down and crashed for the night hoping to get some rest for traveling home the next day.

I think we slept pretty good that last night. We were ready to go home for the most part. Charlotte kept talking about her bed and wanting to be in it. We left around noon. We grabbed lunch on the way out. We ended up having to stop in Cedar City for Charlotte to go potty. Then again in Fillmore I think to feed Jackson and also for potty breaks. We also grabbed some snacks. I needed something to help keep me awake. I was getting kinda tired. We had skittles to help with that. After that last stop the kids did a lot better. Jackson didn't sleep as much as we hoped but he was pretty good. Charlotte was good except for keeping Jackson awake. Then she of course crashed not far our from home.

We really needed that break. Scott and I don't get a ton of time together some days (which I know is still sometimes more than others I know!). Today for example he went in to work around 4:30am and didn't get home until a little after 7pm. So he came home and we tried to squeeze in some time to talk in between feeding kids and bathing kids. I had to run to the store for a couple things. We had family prayer. But really we don't get a lot of time together unless its after the kids have gone to bed. So we really needed the break to be together and just have fun with the kids. Charlotte just loved going out on the patio in the mornings and blowing bubbles and running on the grass and the nearby stairs. She like to run down this little hill and roll down it too. It was so nice to just enjoy those little moments that can get lost when I'm busy trying to do laundry and keep the house neat and cook. Jackson takes up more of my time now that he's eating 3 meals a day so to have Scott's help was so nice. I just can't say enough of how much we needed that and how much we enjoyed it. We are hoping to get back again in a couple months but maybe a little weekend thing. Maybe have Scott just take off a Friday. Definitely doing another week after his vacation resets next year. I need that reset to get out of my funk and regroup everything. Just awesome. But its good to be back and get back into the groove of life. Good vacation... good good vacation.