the tadje family: Zions Trip

We spent a wonderful week of the summer in Zions with the entire Curtis family! My parents rented a big cabin in Zions Ponderosa and we spent a week playing games, swimming, staying up late, hiking, and having fun with family. The Curtis family couldn't have been planned any better. All of the cousins come in clumps so Aiden has a group his age (the oldest group), Brennan has Sydney who is his age, Callie has 3 girl cousins her age, and Graham has 2 little cousins his age! The cousins all get along so well and it is so fun when we can all be together (because it doesn't happen that often). Our first day there was Lucas' birthday so we got to celebrate him turning 12.

The next morning we did a six mile round trip hike to see Observation Point. Nate wasn't able to come down to Zions until halfway through the week (because of work) so I was feeling like a tough mom and decided to bring all four kids on the six mile hike. Callie and Graham did amazing the first few miles but by the end of it they were beat! And so was I :) My dad was kind enough to help carry Graham occasionally to give Graham a quick rest. It was a beautiful hike and I'm glad we went.

We (especially Graham) couldn't have done this hike without my dad's help!

When we finished the hike we were hot and tired so we went to the pool to cool off. There were two slides there and the kids did those on repeat. They were little fish and could have lasted all day! Also - Callie and Sydney showed up in matching suits. Great minds think alike!

These four girls got along so great the entire week! They are such a fun age. This was snapped in the middle of them choreographing a dance number.

The next morning we headed on another hike before it got too hot...and Nate finally made it down to Zions so he was able to join! My mom watched all the kids and Nate and I were able to hike Angel's Landing for the first time ever! We've always had our kids with us when we have been to Zions so we've never been able to do this big hike. And quite honestly I was a little nervous about it because I don't like scary heights. But by the end of it, I felt so accomplished and LOVED the hike! And it wasn't as scary as I thought. Probably my favorite hike of all time. We hiked with my dad, Steve, Andrew, and Becca. The switchbacks were steep at the beginning and I was happy I had been working out and was in good shape because those wouldn't have been easy. And the last half mile of climbing boulders to the top all while holding onto a chain was pretty awesome. And the view at the top was breathtaking!

That evening we played some Minute to Win It games. We played games every night (Name that Tune, Wits and Wagers, etc) and it was a fun way to gather together each night. We broke up into random teams and everyone got pretty competitive.

My parents rented a golf cart and that was a hit all week. The kids even got to take turns driving it. The cabin we stayed at also had a ping pong table and a swing set and a basketball court and lots of activities to keep the kids entertained.

On the 4th of July, we all spent the day exploring Zions. The kids did the Junior Ranger program and we hiked along the Riverside Walk, listened to a ranger program, rode the tram around, and hiked to the Lower Emerald Pool. The kids were tough little hikers despite the heat!

Zions has lots of these little critters:

Graham always loves to buddy up to an older girl (he especially loves his babysitter Ellie). But this week, he became pretty obsessed with Sydney :) She was a good sport to sit by him a lot and hike along side of him.

My parents took the rest of our kids back to the cabin and Nate and Aiden and I (along with Andrew and Jackson) did one more hike. It was another breathtaking hike and definitely worth doing! It was called the Canyon Overlook Trail and I'd love to bring our other kids on it next time we go.

That night we celebrated the 4th of July with a yummy BBQ and s'mores and sparklers. And we also took some updated family pictures because my parents had their kids and grandkids all in one spot.

The next morning, we woke up early and took all of the older kids (leaving the younger kids home with grandpa) and we hiked the Narrows! It was our first time hiking through the Narrows and it was quite the experience! We rented boots and walking sticks (and dry suit pants for me to keep my warm because the water was 49 degrees) and headed to the start of the trail. The park was crazy busy and the line to take the tram up to the trail entrance was a 2 hour wait, so we decided to hike up to the next tram stop and get on there. So even before we started the actual hike through the Narrows, we had hiked a couple of miles. But once we were there, it was pretty awesome to hike through the water. The water was freezing! And it was pretty high and rapid in spots so we were definitely grateful for our walking sticks! There were some of our kids (and grandma) who took a wrong step and fell into the water. And there were parts it was too deep to see the rocks underneath so we had to hope we stepped on a stable rock. We ended up hiking for about 8 hours in all and be the end of it we were wiped out! My feet ached liked never before. The boots gave us a few little blisters and it was not the easiest hike of my life but it was definitely worth doing! The kids were troopers and I was so proud of them for never complaining even though it was a long day!