Zion River Resort

Amber and Tyson bought a motor home and wanted to try it out, so we headed down to Zion. We didn't want to pull the trailer all the way down there and we didn't want to un-winterize it, so we stayed in a cute little cabin.

 We got in around 7 on Thursday night.

 We had a busy day on Friday.

Amber took us to this fun dinosaur train park. It was pretty amazing and had a lot of fun things for everyone.

 It had a big volcano that blows steam and makes loud noises every 40 minutes. The first time it went off Bensen was with my mom, she said he got a scared look on his face and said "We got to get out of here!"

After a couple of hours at the park we headed over to Pioneer Park. We had a little car picnic, then headed up to explore.

 Last time we were here it was over 100 degrees. This time it was probably between 50-60. I preferred the latter.

 The kids loved getting in all the little cracks and climbing the hills.

 Vivian loved riding in the backpack.

 Jaycee, Wesley, and Kayla were the only ones brave enough to make it all the way through the narrow. Bensen stayed at the bottom with me and was pretty upset that I wouldn't let him go with them. I told him that I wouldn't be able to come get him if he changed his mind, I wouldn't fit. He still really wanted to go, so when the kids came down wanting to go again I let him go with them.

He loved it.

 After Pioneer Park we got gas and headed over to Glitter Mountain.

 There were signs up this time that said they didn't want you going into the pit and not to take out big pieces of rock.

 We still made it out of there with bags and bags of glitter!

That night it got pretty cold. Tyson smoked pulled pork, we had pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, potato salad, and fries. Even Bensen ate a sandwich!

On Saturday we headed to Kolob Canyon. Amber had heard of a hike that has caves, narrows, and petroglyphs. So we went off to look for it.

 We had fun looking.

 But we didn't find it on our first try.

 We came down to where we had service and tried to find better directions and eat lunch.

 We also squeezed in a little laser tag.

 Then we gave it another try.

 This time we found it! Or part of it.

 The kids all loved the hiking.

 Bensen was a little worried about getting Cactus Brain...not sure what that is, but he was worried.

 We found some petroglyphs!

Kayla fell into a cactus. That looked pretty miserable!

 We hiked a little farther and found another cave.

 Then we decided to head back to the car. Grandma had stayed back in the car with Viv because she fell asleep.

After our hike we drove into Hurricane and ate at a little Mexican restaurant. It was pretty good.

Amber and Tyson got up early Sunday to drive home, we headed home around 10:30.

We had such a fun trip.

We truly live in a beautiful place!

Sweet Little Bensie Boo

My sweet little boy turned 4!

Where does the time go?

Bensen is so funny and witty. I don't know where he comes up with half of the things that he says. The other day I asked him to do something, when he didn't I got a little mad and said "Bensen I asked you to do something, why haven't you?" He said, with his cute puppy dog eyes, "But mom, I changed my story." That is from Super Why, it is how they solves their problems.

 We gave him two presents in the morning. The other I had ordered from Amazon and showed up later. But he was so happy for those two presents and didn't for a second complain that he didn't get more.

While the kids were at school we went to lunch.

Vivian was sick all day. Poor thing. We waited until the day after Bensen's birthday to take her to the doctor. She had the flu. She fevered for 5 days. And puked every time I tried to give her medicine, which was twice a day. 

Last year on Bensen's birthday, Wesley was in the hospital sick.

 When the kids got home from school Mike took them to Classic skating. Me and Viv stayed home.

 After Classic Skating they went to Burger King. But Bensen had fallen asleep in the car, so they went through the drive thru.

After dinner Bensen and Wesley had a little cuddle, which never happens.

He requested a dinosaur cake. I had good intentions to make an amazing cake that had Oreo filling and chocolate ganache. When I put the ganache on the cake it fell apart! So he ended up with a trifle. He loved it, and it was delicious!

On Sunday he had a party at each Grandparents house. I took him to my house first. We had pancakes and waffles, and opened presents.

 Then I switched Mike and he took him to his parents where him and Elsie celebrated with cake and presents.

We are so lucky to have Bensen in our family. He keeps us on our toes. He loves hugs, playing with anything, going outside, singing, riding his bike, and coloring. He does not like going to singing time, cleaning up, or eating food.  He is a very picky eater.

Happy Birthday Bensen! We love you!