Emerald Pools

For Spring Break this year we took the kids to St. George.  I was dying for some warm weather and sunshine.  It turned out to be a perfect week.  

On Tuesday we headed to Zion National Park.  It's one of my favorite National Parks.  After another long pregnancy I couldn't wait to get out and do some hiking.  We may have gone a little overboard this week, though (you'll see).  At first I was a little nervous about how well Evelyn would handle being in the baby carrier so for our first day we started easy and did the Emerald Pools hike.

It's about 2.5 miles to the Upper Falls and then down to the Grotto with about a 350' elevation gain, so I thought it would be a good test run for the baby and the kids.   

Evelyn was asleep instantly.  There's nothing like fresh air and sunshine to knock a baby out.

It was about 68 degrees without a cloud in the sky.  Perfect.

When we got to the middle pools we had lunch and took the baby out for a while.  So far she didn't make a peep of complaint.  And then she went right back to sleep.  Easy peasy.

 The upper falls, and a little bit of Eden.  The mist coming off this waterfall was so refreshing.

Sometimes you just have to know what a cactus feels like.  We told the kids to satisfy their curiosity so they would be extra careful not to trip over one of these.

I was so impressed with all of the kids on this hike.  There wasn't a single complaint from anyone.  So we took the bus over to Weeping Rock.  Dallin said it took them four minutes to run up to the falls.

 It took me a little bit longer to get there.  I was slow but steady.  That became my motto for the week.

I was so grateful for this little hat I got for Evelyn.  It really kept the sun off her face.  But occasionally it fell down a little too far.  I don't think she minded since she slept most of the time.

When she was awake she was totally happy.  It was amazing.  A day in the sun with five happy kids, what more could a mother want?  Maybe to do it again...

When we got back to the condo in St. George the kids still wanted to go swimming.  Their energy seemed to have no end.  After they went to bed Ryan and I looked up hikes for the next day, just to see if we could take advantage of that energy while it lasted.