Over spring break this year, my family and I went to Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort just outside of Zion's National Park. It was a great trip! The best part was that for a bunch of different reasons, only the siblings in the family were able to make it, so it was just the original 7 of us!! Holy hannah! This hasn't happened in a really long time and prolly won't again for a while. Don't get me wrong, we love our spouses. It was just something different and fun for a change. :)
You all already know how awesome my mom is at taking pictures. Most of the pics from this post are hers that I stole from facebook. Thanks mom! The grainy, not centered, poorly lit ones are mine. haha.
You all already know how awesome my mom is at taking pictures. Most of the pics from this post are hers that I stole from facebook. Thanks mom! The grainy, not centered, poorly lit ones are mine. haha.
When we first arrived we took a few minutes to empty the cars but the kids went crazy! Grandpa got us a beautiful cabin that had a sandpit playground and a wrap around porch. LOTS of space to run and play outside!!
They don't look like they're having fun at all?!
Can you see her face?! OMG I love her.
The cabin was off a hill and we spent a lot of time retrieving them from halfway down! Actually.. I'm pretty sure I heard a story about little Rushy getting stuck down there after relieving himself on a tree. hahahaha
Fortunately the babies didn't make it far without someone holding them. So glad Auntie Smelly loves Baby TY!
Carter is seriously SO expressive. He's so great!
Oh I love her face!
It's seriously the BEST to hold these two. They make us all so HAPPY!
Kiddos got changed and crawled around the cabin. I love watching Ty play with the older cousins. It's so fun!
**heart eyes**
Of course if Grandpa is laying on the floor there's no where else these kiddos would be.
I couldn't get a great pic but this is good enough! Good job babies!
The next day I think we went hiking in Zion's but when I put these pics into the blog I goofed. I prolly didn't need to say anything cuz no one would have been the wiser!... but I'm too OCD. So... forgive me! The first day was hiking who's pics are almost last.. The following are from day 3!
Out of order or not, this was a great day!
We did some zip lining with the kiddos....
They were excited to get all dressed up but once they got to the top it was a little more difficult!
Rushy's all ready!
This is Kelly trying to convince Carter that it will be ok to jump off the building. Hopefully he understood that that's only true when you have all that stuff on!
That's a forced smile if I ever saw one! haha! Don't worry. He did just fine! We came to the ranch a few months ago and we literally had to push him down kicking and screaming. This time he was a little apprehensive but gave his second ride to Carter. haha
Here comes Carter!! he LOVED it! Was nervous at first but once he did it once there was no stopping him.
When it was finally time to leave he said he couldn't go cuz he had to do the zip line 6 more times.
While the big kids did zip lines, the babies did the swings!!
These two fit into the swing together and it was so beyond adorable!!!!
Ty.. Why are you sticking out your tongue?!
He kept leaning back on her. She was squished the whole time! Poor thing. Sorry baby girl!
I'm pretty sure he was just trying to snuggle her. Or at least that's his story and he's stickin to it.
Pure joy. **MEGA HEART EYES**
I love to see Jon with his kids!!
OMG! All 5 of us!!!
Oldest to youngest. Plus two little stinkers. :)
Not sure why we did this huddle but when we came out of it.. this happened....
This is about the dumbest game on the planet but somehow this is our family. If you're playing the game and you see someone do this to you, you're supposed to lay down flat on the ground immediately. It became a thing when we were in Israel and I don't know how it lasted this long. haha. I sure do love them!
I know I already posted this pic, but seriously.. Do you love this as much as I do?? He's my everything and I can't imagine life without him!!!!!
These kiddos have the best Beepa ever. :)
There was a HUGE Mule at the horse place. Apparently it was a mix between a Clydesdale and a regular donkey. It was so sweet!
Kelly you look tiny compared to that horse. Holy Hannah.
The kiddos were super excited to ride the horses. It was only a 15 minute ride but they loved it.
These two boys right here make me SO SO SO happy. They are simply amazing!
Ok you parents out there.. Don't jump down my throat. After the nice horse lady took the boys for a ride she offered to take the babies. I admit it was a little hard but he seemed to love it so I let him go. OMG it was so awesome. She was super nice and loved Ty and Peyton. Seriously so cute.
I really do hope he grows up to love horses like his mommy so I guess this is a good start!
Umm.. Think the babies love grandpa?! haha. I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that he has a box of fruit loops in his lap?!
I'm pretty sure there was granola in that bowl. It is now on the floor. This was true almost the whole trip. Thanks peyton!! ;)
hahahahaha Brookie we love you. This will probably be in your wedding video. Think someone needs a new diapey!!
K. Here's day 2. :D We went hiking in Zion's and it was awesome!! If you've never been, GO! It's beautiful. We got on the bus with our huge strollers and some how we got convinced that we could do Angel's Landing. hahahahaha. Mom didn't remember the first section that's all dirt. It was doable with the stroller but pretty bumpy! We were kind of a circus pushing our crew on that trail. It was also hot and sunny and the kids all wanted to walk about 3 miles an hour. Not so good when you're blocking the whole trail. Ha. Anyway, we made it to the paved part of the trail but by then we were pretty much done, so we turned back. Another day Angel's!
Btw, this was my view the whole time. Kinda awesome. :)
So we left Angel's landing but didn't see a bus to take us to our desired trail that was at the end of Zion's canyon. But with Mom, Kristi, Me and two running strollers full of kids, we decided to walk! It was only a few miles and were definitely up for it. It was actually pretty perfect. We wanted a nice long walk and we got it!
Love this stinker! He slept pretty much the whole time and was super awesome. Thanks baby!!
Obligatory selfie. :) Usually don't do this but it's not so bad every once in a while.
This is after we finally made it to the end and started our actual trail. This was Kristi most of the time. She has Peyton on her chest in a back pack thing and Rush, Carter and Brookie in the stroller. That's a BOB stroller btw. If you ever plan to transport 12 children in a stroller, Bob is the way to go! haha. Seriously though, it's a great stroller. Rolls like a champ and is super smooth. It was even not that bad carrying three not so little kids!
I took a couple turns pushing the big stroller (Kristi or Mom took mine) and that thing was heavy!! But Kristi did it most the time and she's kinda my hero for it. I LOVE YOU PRINCESS!!
Yup. Love them!
More benefits of having a Mom who's super awesome at photography! We got some REALLY cute pics at the end of the trail. THANK YOU MOM!
This is one of my favorite pics ever! That smile just melts me. :)
Oh how I love this. My best friend, our kids, and two extra sweeties.
Rushy and Carter are best friends and I LOVE watching them together. SO CUTE!
The kiddos played in the dirt and water for a few minutes and got their energy out. I love watching little kiddos explore and learn about the world around them.
I keep saying this, but can you look at that face? I can't get enough of this girl. I hope she stays two forever!!
This girl is the other greatest little thinker every. She is just so darling. I seriously love her!!!!
This is the gift I was given on this super fun day. The best tan line ever! hahaha
That night we made salmon with a fruit salsa to go with it. You wrap it in foil with lemon, butter and some cajun seasoning and put it on the fire (also works in the oven!) And it's one of the most delicious things you've ever eaten!!!
We struggled with brookie's diapey that night. hahahaha
Our last day there some of the folks got to go horse back riding. There wasn't a whole lot of pics taken cuz it rained and it's kinda a long day, but I did get this one! If you're ever down there and want to go horseback riding, go to Jacob's ranch. They are amazing!!! It's an ALL day thing and it's an incredible experience, not just a ride.
I got to stay home with the cute babies and enjoy their amazingness.. Ty ty doesn't take a bottle really quite yet so I couldn't stay all day. But there's really nothing wrong with hanging out with these kiddos all day!
Maybe this is an anticlimatic last picture for quite a lengthy post but I think it's kinda perfect. It was an awesome trip where we got to be siblings and cousins and have fun and laugh and be ourselves. I seriously love my family! I can't wait to see the amazing relationship that grows between these two. I can only hope they're as good a friends as their mommy's are!!
Comments
Post a Comment