Camping in Zion

During Brady's days off, while the kids were out for Spring Break we went camping in Zions National Park. Who is ready to go camping?

 ME!!!!

 We drove to Kolob Canyon Wednesday morning and did a short hike there.

 The top of Timber peak at Kolob Canyon. The mountain behind us looks like a rocket. Gideon even agreed.

 Some cool arch formations in the mountainside. After the hike we drove to our campsite, in Springdale, UT. We enjoyed roasted hot dogs and smores for dessert!

 Cooking hot dogs for dinner. We camped at Zions Campground. Our site was not far from the working bathroom...an awesome feature about this campground!

 Each site had a flat tent spot, picninc table, and fire ring with a grate for cooking.

 Ayla kept wandering off checking everything out. She loved to walk up to the pool area and look at everyone playing in the water. Everyone had a turn for Ayla duty, and we all tired of it after a while, so I trapped her in the tent to play. She was pretty mad about it for a while.

 Getting wood chopped and ready for breakfast in the morning. We had mountain man breakfast: sausage cooked in a dutch oven, then a bag of hash browns added, followed by scrambled eggs and cheese. It was really, really delicious!!

 Until her brothers joined her for some pillow fighting fun.

 We were playing with the flashlights and glow sticks when it got dark. Gideon needed a turn with the headlamp. His squished face is hilarious!

 Checkerboard mountain just inside the East entrance. We drove through one of the longest tunnels in the U.S. and shouted out the windows so we could hear our voices echo. All six of us were giggling.

 On the way back to get on the shuttle for another hike I saw some bighorn sheep on the side of the road. We stopped to watch them for a little bit. They kept coming around out of the bushes; we counted 11 all together. I have always wanted to see bighorn sheep in the wild. I remember driving to Green Canyon as a kid and looking for bighorn sheep and white mountain goats. Every time, I knew that was going to be the day I saw one. Well, here I am about 20 years later and I finally get to see some!! Brady wasn't looking for wildlife, so if I hadn't seen them we would have missed this awesome opportunity.

 This is Wheeping Rock, an area of the Park that has constant water flow all year long. In the video below you will see little drops of water falling down. The kids were trying to fill their hats with water to help them cool off.

 The overhang/viewing area basically inside wheeping rock. The water was falling off the mountain on top and behind us here.

 Playing around at Zions Lodge while all the boys took a potty break.

 We had to walk back to our van after the shuttle ride, and she feel asleep. Can you see the drool bubbles coming out of her mouth?

On the ride home, Ayla was playing with her feet. She was making her tickling sound on all of her toes, followed by some smelling and cuddling while sucking her thumb.

We all had a wonderful time camping and hiking Zions National Park. It had been almost 5 years since our last camping trip as a family. We all love it so much! However, I really hope the next time we go Ayla will be mature enough to stay in our general area and not wander off by herself. She was quite the handful. Gideon did amazing, always wanting to help and be in the middle of what we were doing. Ammon and Zenock both got pretty tired of watching Ayla...so did Mom and Dad for that matter :) Our next trip will include a hike to Emerald Pool so we can cool off in the water as we walk.