Strong Family Vacation to St. George

Paul's parents enjoy getting the family together and going on vacations.  This summer we all met in St. George, UT for a week.

It is always good to see everyone and let the cousins play and play.  This summer was no exception.  The cousins enjoyed swimming each day together and we all enjoyed a couple of days in Zion National Park.

First stop in Zion was the Riverside Walk which follows the Virgin River upstream to Zion Canyon Narrows.

John was especially excited about this hike walk because we promised him that there would be a river and lots of rocks that he could throw. It turns out he wasn't the only kids who was interested in throwing rocks in the river.

After this adventure Sarah has decided that she does not like squirrels, in fact she has become very afraid of them.  Let me explain:  the squirrels along the river are not afraid of people like normal squirrels.  They have no fear in waddling right up to your feet, standing on their hind legs and curling their little hand like a dog does to "beg".  While we were playing by the river one particularly brave squirrel even crawled right into the basket of Richard & Mallori's stroller and helped himself to some trail mix.  Anyway, as we were walking back Sarah was walking along the small retaining wall on the side of the trail, much like one would walk along a curb.  There were openings under the wall for drainage every so often. As we approached one of these spots a squirrel ran through the drainage opening and another one over the top of the wall then they both ran right towards Sarah.  It happened so fast that she jumped off the wall screaming.  If you ask her about this hike she says she doesn't like it because it had squirrels on it. :)  I wonder how long this fear of squirrels will last?

See this cute sad face?  It belongs to our one year old niece Violet.  Paul was a nice brother/brother-in-law/uncle and offered to help Jill out since Steven wasn't able to be there this day due to his college school schedule.  He carried Violet in our baby backpack.  Violet enjoyed the ride on the way in but the way out was another story.  For nearly the whole mile  Violet protested very loudly that she did not want to be in the backpack.  You couldn't help but feel sorry for the little lady and  for Paul who had to listen to the protest at such a close range.  True to Paul's temperment he never complained or seemed the least bit put out - isn't he wonderful?

The Riverside walk is probably my favorite of all the hikes in Zion.  I love seeing the huge canyon walls full of various colors up close.