Tag Archives: Zion

Zion, Part 3 = Isaac

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Isaac is at the perfect age for adventures. 5.13.09 Camping trip to Zion's (6) He gets so excited about everything.  Even driving down the freeway is exciting for him.  He loves looking out his window and talking about what he sees or asking questions.  One of his favorite games lately is finding letters in the alphabet. When he sees the letter he’s looking for he’ll say “got it” then figure out the next one.

He wanted to be involved in everything.  He enjoyed helping his dad set up the tent doing everything from bringing stakes to his dad to holding the poles of the tent.  He thrilled to see the fire and when Zach gave him a rule to stay 5 steps away, he committed to stay 8 steps away.  He got to cook his own hot dog and his own marshmallow.

image The first site we went to see was The court of the Patriarchs.  He was very excited because one of the peaks was named Isaac.  As we rode the shuttle to the site, he heard them say his name when they were describing the next stop—his eyes got wide and he exclaimed “they said Isaac!!”  He was very proud to have a mountain named after him (or someone with his same name).

He hiked himself to exhaustion on each trail.  5.14.09 Camping trip to Zion's (18)-1He loved to be the leader and would run up ahead if he got behind.  On one walk he helped me name some rocks that we thought may have been overlooked when they were naming everything.  He wore himself out so thoroughly that at the end of one hike he said “give me some food and put me to bed!”

As we were preparing a meal at our campsite we suddenly heard Isaac shouting “Mom, Mom!!” and running toward us.  When he got to us he pointed to the road and said “What is that thing?!”  It was a little white golf-cart type vehicle.  What I thought was interest turned out to be fear.  He was actually scared of it!  He can be a bit of a chicken.

You really couldn’t ask for a better camper.  He went to bed on time and slept well.  He loved every adventure and didn’t turn down an opportunity for a walk or a hike or to help make food.  At the end of our trip as we were packing up camp, Grandma’s tent started to blow away and Isaac grabbed hold of the tent.  He was very proud of himself for saving it from “blowing over the mountain”

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Zion, Part 2 = Nicole

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Taking Nicole camping with us turned out not to be our best idea.  5.13.09 Camping trip to Zion's (9) Our first problem was that since she couldn’t walk she became filthy very quickly if allowed to crawl around.  She spent most of her time either in someone’s arms, in her high-chair, or in the stroller.  She seemed happy enough most of the day.  She was a little wiggly on the bus at times, but in her stroller along the paths she would either sleep or ride along contentedly.

Our biggest challenge came at bedtime.  Typically I read her some stories, sing her a song and then lay her in bed where she cries herself to sleep.  She usually doesn’t cry too much, but in a strange place I 5.14.09 Camping trip to Zion's (18) thought her crying might be worse and I didn’t dare annoy the entire campsite by letting  her try.  First I walked her around until she fell asleep, but she woke up as soon as I tried to lay her down.  Then we thought we’d see if she’d be content laying in our bed with us.  She just wiggled endlessly and became quite unhappy.  Frustrated and tired, I put her back in the stroller and walked around in circles until she fell asleep.  It was too dark to go far and I didn’t want her to wake the campsite while I found a flashlight. I carefully removed her from the stroller and laid in my bed with her in my arms and she was awake within five minutes.  I put her to sleep again by holding her close and rocking her as I paced around by her bed and once I felt that she was sufficiently sleeping I laid her down and she stayed asleep, sometime after 11:00 PM.  She woke up a little after 4:00 5.13.09 Camping trip to Zion's (28)AM ready for breakfast and play.  I grabbed a few things quickly and found my way to the bathroom which was lit and had a floor not made of dirt.  I fed her and let her crawl around on the bathroom floor until about 6:30 AM when I could see that the sun had come up.  At which point I could see well enough to take her on a walk in her stroller.  She actually fell asleep, but I only got a 10 minute break on my bed before the other kids started waking up and woke Nicole up in the process.  We decided we didn’t want to try another night like that and so instead of sleeping one more night in our tents and then leaving in the morning, we packed up our campsite and left after dinner.

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Zion, Part 1 = Charlotte

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I thought I’d start with the middle child for once.  I really think the best way to describe our recent trip to Zion National Park is to tell the story child by child. 

The way we have our car seats arranged, 5.13.09 Camping trip to Zion's (2)Isaac and Nicole sit in the middle and Charlotte sits all the way in the back by herself.  This seems to be the best arrangement because it allows me to easily buckle and unbuckle the two kids who need help and the hardest seat for me to reach is Isaac’s and he can buckle himself.  I do sometimes feel bad when we go on trips or long drives because we have a hard time hearing little Charlotte all the way in the back.  She does well to entertain herself, mostly by singing and sleeping.  In fact, I can’t think of a time that she complained about her seat, unless you count the non-verbal complaint about Zach’s music choice pictured above.

As a girl who loves to play in the dirt, She couldn’t have been happier to camp. image She was constantly playing in the dirt and finding sticks and rocks.  Even the threat of spankings couldn’t keep  her hands clean for 5 minutes.  She did receive a few spanks and often when Zach called out her name she’d stand up and run away with her little hands covering her bottom as she yelled:  “don’t spank me.”  Ironically, when we got home I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was and she said “playing in the dirt.”

She was a good little camper.  She loved watching the fire, although she was sad that it was orange instead of pink.  One of her other favorite things seemed to be the “silly bus” which was “a bus attached to a bus.” 

We went on lots of little trails.  5.14.09 Camping trip to Zion's (14)She walked most of each trail, but often insisted on holding mommy’s hand or held onto the stroller that I was pushing.  Charlotte and I often trailed the rest of the group as she walked along the dirt next to the path and would stop to pick up a rock or stick.  Once she had collected a stick she’d trace the dirt along the path with it and poke any small stream of water she saw along the way.  When she got to tired she was hoisted up to Zach’s shoulders where she happily rode along wearing her father’s adventuring hat.

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