Southern Utah Trip

Friday October 27th we took off for an adventure.  The long car ride (approx. 3hrs) to Layton, Utah was just exhausting for the kids. While the girls slept Brayden read a good book.

 Friday night we stayed with Erik & Tracey, Josh's cousin who had lots of fun toys for the kids to play with. We got up the next morning to finish our drive to Cedar City, Utah.

Before leaving Layton though we had to have breakfast at Sill's. For those of you that have never been it is definitely worth it to stop next time you are in the area. Their scones are plate size and yummy!

After another several hours in the car we made it to Cedar City!

We checked into our hotel and then headed off for the Temple Open House!

After the tour we wanted to check out a few places in town to do with the kids. We found this fun interactive park where we spent the next couple of hours checking out the area.

At the end of the day we went back to the temple grounds to see the temple all lit up.

On Sunday morning we got up and at it for our next adventure.

To start the day we headed out to Parowan Gap Petroglyphs. We really had no idea what this place entailed before getting there but it was awesome to see.

Just down the road from the petroglyphs was the dinosaur tracks.

We had a bit of a drive to our next stop so we made a few stops on the way. The scenery was beautiful.

 This was a trail we came across on our drive. I thought it was so cool to have my maiden name. We got out to see how steep and far the trail was but we didn't hike it. It was a very steep, rocky path in a heavily wooded area in the middle of nowhere. 

Then we came across Cedar Breaks National Monument and took another break out of the car.

  Then we were back in the car.

Bryce Canyon National Park... Finally! Kaytlin is a 4th grader this year and gets a pass into all the national parks for free but she first had to sign some paperwork.

Our first stop in the park. We had never been and had no idea what to expect. The view was impressive and awe inspiring.

We see people down in the canyon and want to go down too. No problem the sign says 1.3 miles right? Ha it was 1.3 miles but they don't tell you elevation drop. We may have only hiked 1.3 miles but it felt like 10 when we were done. I wasn't sure the kids were going to keep going but they did great. I kept telling them if we keep going down we must go back up.

 The trek back up to the rim.

After the last hike the kids started getting grumpy so we were inspired to not do any more hikes right away. The next area was named exactly right. The majestic views were inspiring.

Then we went to the natural bridge which was my favorite place.

The final stop in the park! We met some new animals and friendly people.

 I wasn't going to post this picture but I love the joy on Kaytlin's face when she was trying to photo bomb us and Alayna was taking the pictures.

We had so much fun seeing such awesome views but when we were done the kids were DONE! We then left and headed back north toward Provo.

 Our dinner stop was comical.

Kaytlin's first cast fell off this night.

We got into Provo pretty late, checked into the hotel and got some good sleep.

On Monday, we took it easy seeing sights in Provo while waiting to meet up with my parents who were coming up to Idaho from New Mexico.

 The Provo rec center is always a fun relaxing stop.

After the relaxation, we were fed a yummy dinner at Brother &
Sister Campbell's house in Provo before heading back home to Idaho. The kids snoozed all the way home and still slept all night.

The trip was fast but we got to do so many fun, interesting things and see so many amazing sites.

We definitely need to go back again.