St. George/ Zions Stott vacation

Stott Family Vacation
August 10-14th
*warning, lots of pictures*

Wednesday night we arrived in Hurricane and settled in to Koby's parent's and his aunt and uncle's southern winter homes. Then my parents, Koby, Kallie and I and Kira and Lexie headed to Tuacahn to see The Little Mermaid. What a fun night!

Two princesses

The girls really loved it and it was an amazing show. I loved the huge amounts of water that poured onto the stage and the creative ways they made the actors look like they were swimming underwater. It was fun!

The show ended at 11pm and there was a big line to see Ariel and Prince Eric. I took a picture of them in the background with Kallie and Lexie. We were wanting to head home but Kallie REALLY wanted to see Ariel. She had her daddy wrapped around her finger because he gave in to her little pleas and STOOD IN A HUGE LINE so Kallie could see Ariel.
I don't think Koby would even do that for me. He hates lines and crowds. He didn't even complain. It was too cute.

Kallie had her parent's dumbstruck with how eager she was too see Ariel. We didn't even know she loved Disney princesses THAT much. As soon as it was her turn, Kallie ran and gave Ariel a huge hug. This is my shy little girl! I guess she really believed that was the real Ariel. We may be in trouble if we ever go to Disneyland.

We woke up bright and early (ok, Devin and Koby) to drive to Zions and wait to get tickets for the Pine Creek Canyon. We got them! They drove all the way back to pick the rest of us up and we headed out to get our gear and get to the canyon. I was a little nervous about this trip. I don't like heights or having to go over them. Yikes! But i really wanted to conquer the fear. Besides, I was a little jealous of the guys' previous trips.

Katrina was going to come on our southern Utah trip but a friend was about to go into labor and she wanted to be there. Not only were we bummed that she wasn't going to be on the trip, but it also meant we had one less babysitter. My mom was so very nice and said she would watch all 6 kids all by herself, all day, stuck in a small house!! We still owe her big time.

Ready to go!

Our first rappel

Koby had to go down this rappel and continue through the little slot and down another.
He was our designated first rappeler to make sure the rope was good (ek!) and then valet the rest of us down.

Devin was the designated guy on top to make sure we hooked in right. He was the "pro" of the group. He was also the last down.

Dad

Gorgeous views the entire time!

Koby

Koby at the bottom of The Cathedral. It was a fairly long rappel down into the water where we had to swim out of the cave. We couldn't touch bottom. Really cool yet kinda creepy.

Going down The Cathedral

The wetsuit jacket came in handy here because it was cold water.

Devin and Koby in The Cathedral

Go Kira!

Winding up the rope.

Skimming down the wall. I hated those parts the most. I'd rather rappel down them because scooting on my bum was more scary and killed my hands and knees.

Looking up. You can see the big boulders and logs that were wedged in the canyon during flash floods. Crazy!

Fuzzy picture of me

Navigating down a tree stump

Out the slot part and taking off the jackets.

Landon

The tunnel on the left is one of the windows from the long tunnel the vehicles take through the mountain.

My bum coming over the edge.

Coming down

At the top of the final and biggest decent. 100 feet of free fall!

Big gulps.
I was really, really nervous at this point. I felt pretty confident up to this point but knowing that I was going straight over a huge ledge into air was scary. I decided not to look at all. I sat and did yoga breathing until it was my turn. I hooked in, took a minute to breathe and get my wits gathered, and then I scooted off the ledge.

I still did not look down until I was off the ledge and in the air. Then I looked down. It was pretty incredible!

Huge adrenaline rush.

I feel bad that I didn't get a picture of Koby going down this one. It was hard to get pictures of him when he was the first one down.

We then had a hike out. It was very pretty.

Halfway out, we took a different trail but some of us went back down to the original trail. Koby and Landon went up... we had no idea where. So the rest of the trip I was a little worried about where they were and if they would get stuck somewhere. We had to navigate over HUGE boulders and search for the trail as it wound through the water and through tight places. It was pretty difficult and I rubbed my hands raw and scratched up my legs. By the very end, I was getting really frustrated, super hot and ready to be done. Suddenly there was Koby and he showed me the end of the trail Whew! Huge relief. Koby then told us how they took a much easier, although sometimes washed out trial and was there much earlier than the rest of us. Next time we do this canyon, I'm taking the high road!
(view of the arch at the end of our trail. We came out of the canyon at that arch. Sweet!)

All in all, I LOVED the adventure, I loved the rappelling and I definitely want to do it again. I can't say I conquered my fear because I'm still afraid of heights, but I'm not scared of rappelling. It was personally gratifying and the views were breathtaking.

We got Durangos and went home. The kids had a great time with Grandma and we were glad to see her alive. I had planned to pick a dessert up for Koby but we got home so late that we sang happy birthday to Koby over his dinner. We didn't get to celebrate Koby too much but he had a fabulous day doing something he loved.

I can't remember what we did that night but I'm guessing it had something to do with games.

The next day everyone went back to Zion's to do the overlook hike.

We could see the upper view of the Pine Creek Slot Canyon we hiked through.

This was the long, long hiking part that we did the day before to the road in the distance.

Kallie and Grandpa

Maren, Lexie and Kallie

Skylar and Brigg finding the only shade they could

Lexie, Kallie, Mallory, Brigg and Maren

After the hike, we went down to the swimming hole we found the previous day. It was clear, refreshing water.

We weren't prepared with swimsuits so the guys just jumped in their shorts and we stripped down the girls to their underware.

The kids loved finding and playing with the little frogs.

After our swim, we found a shady spot and ate lunch.

That night we got our jammies on and made sure they were nice and worn out by having them wrestle Landon.

After the kids were in bed, I think we played games? I can't remember. I know that we made a frozen yogurt run one of the nights.

Saturday we went to the Washington County fair. We walked around, looked at the booths,

walked on stilts,

played in the bubbles,

declined doing the demolition derby,

and looked at the animals.

I walked in to take a few pictures of the animals but quickly left before I had an asthma attack. Too late. It wasn't too bad until I went to sleep that night and ended up making a midnight run on my own to walmart to get an inhaler.

We went out to dinner in St. George, hung out, and the rest I can't remember. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins and the adults got in some great game nights.

We cleaned the houses then next morning, went to church at Joy's ward and headed home.

It was a fun filled vacation. I think there was a good mix of rest and play.

We are so thankful to have such wonderful family who let us use their homes!

Next Stott vacation: Disneyland or bust!