Parkinson Family: Zion National Park

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Zion National Park

At the top of the "Canyon Overlook" trail at Zions

Okay, this post probably has the most pictures of any I've ever done, so I apologize, but there were so many good ones and I just couldn't choose. So, I used a lot of them.

Over Spring break this year (April 5-9th), we took a trip to Zion National Park in Southern Utah. We have been trying to plan this trip for a long time and this turned out being the perfect week to do it. The weather was nice- not too hot but warm enough to swim. We had to wear jackets a few times, but that was okay. And, we aren't sure how many more vacations we will be able to take this summer after the baby is born so thought we'd take advantage of this break when I was only 29 weeks along.

It got kind-of stressful a few days before the trip when we tried to reserve a campsite and realized that every site in the whole park was reserved- through the whole summer. I had no idea that it is so popular and hard to reserve! So, we got panicked and ended up calling a few of the RV parks close by and Aaron landed the LAST site at a place called "Zions River Resort" in Virgin, Utah, only about 6 miles from the park. We considered ourselves very lucky. The RV park costed a little more than a regular campsite in the National Park, but it definitely had it's perks. The main thing was that it had a really nice heated pool for the kids to swim and we took full advantage of that! I think this was actually one of the kids' favorite parts of the trip.

Erika and Heidi relaxing after a good swim

Kyle was like a little fish- loved the water!

Erika and Kyle had fun having
Lucky pull them on their scooters.

Going to Zion National Park, a place with beautiful hikes, we knew we probably weren't going to be able to do most of them with 4 little kids, but we were able to do 4 that were fairly easy- Emerald Pools, Pa'rus trail, Canyon Overlook, and Weeping Rock. Most of these were pretty easy hikes, on two of which we were able to push the two little ones in the stroller.

One of our first hikes- on the Pa'rus trail, about 2 miles and almost flat- perfect with the stroller!

The Canyon Overlook trail was the most strenuous, with steep uphill trails. Aaron carried Jared most of the way and Heidi was such a trooper. I held her hand the whole time and she was so tough. She kept saying, "I'm tougher, mom! I'm a good climber!" I think I enjoyed that hike the most, simply because it was so beautiful! And, there was a beautiful view at the end.

Yes! We made it to the top!

Man, you guys are strong!

Celebrating Easter this year was a little different than in the past. The kids were glad that he was still able to find us while camping. He hid eggs and baskets outside our trailer that morning. The older kids also got to go on a flashlight easter egg hunt in the dark the night before. We were able to attend a nearby church at LaVerkin, Utah and enjoyed a nice, quiet Sunday together.

On our last day we went on a short hike up to "Weeping rock". It was a beautiful evening and we actually saw at least 7 deer around where we were walking.

Can you see the deer in the background? The kids wanted a picture with it.

Erika got pretty close to this deer!

Weeping Rock is really unique as it is constantly dripping with water and was really beautiful.

Our trip to Zion National Park was definitely a vacation to remember for us. It was so great to get out and enjoy God's creations and to explore a new place. We loved spending quality time with the kids and making good memories.

On the "Emerald Pools" trail

1 comment:

VickiMay 7, 2012 at 8:46 PM
WOW, great pictures. I loved feeling part of your vacation. Thanks Amber
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Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."