Now that mom and dad are back from their mission, the Bryant Family summer vacation is back! We have been looking forward to getting back to St. George; we love it so much. Mom and Dad rented a gorgeous home that we have stayed in before. It is so spacious and accommodates everyone so well. We drove down on the afternoon of June 23 and stayed until the 29th.
After driving down on Tuesday, we spent our first full day on a beautiful hike through Red Cliffs. I have memories of coming here for ward picnics when I was a child and lived in St. George. Also, while in college I hiked this area several times. It was fun to be there with the entire family. Everyone had so much fun on our hike. We were pretty hot, but the scenery was beautiful.
In the afternoon we went to see the new Pixar movie "Inside Out." True to form, I nodded off a bit at the beginning of the movie, but woke up toward the end. The show was cute, and the kids all loved it. Adults gave it mixed reviews, but with it being so hot outside, a nice nap in the air conditioned theater was perfect.
After the movie, we found an awesome snow cone place and had a refreshing treat.
The next day we went to Sand Hollow Reservoir. Jake brought his boat, and we rented a wave runner, so everyone had fun out on the boats.
Jake and Becky Jo also brought a floating island so people could relax on the water closer to the beach.
The old man found a nice place to read his book. Dad was good to carry so many of our beach essentials from the truck down to the beach. There was a big wave runner race competition the next day and huge tents had been erected for the next day's activities. We were able to use one one of the big tents to shade us when we were on the shore. It was so nice.
The tube was a huge hit! Jill and the kids laughed and laughed out on the water. They really loved it when two tubes were going at the same time and they could bump their cousins. The kids also loved teasing Jill whenever she screamed.
Everyone took turns making dinners. Eating together was a great time and playing games in the evening made for a great vacation.
Day three was also spent at the lake. Kandis and Shanel rented paddle boards and it added fun to being on the beach. We spent the day at the north end of the lake and enjoyed trying out a different beach. There wasn't as much sand, but the water was really clear and beautiful.
Sadly after being at the beach in the morning, Landon got heat stroke (two beach days in a row was too much for him). I took him into the van and we went for a short drive to cool him down. We also got a slurpee to help him cool down. Sure enough he fell asleep and I drove around while he slept. When he woke up he had more energy, but wasn't ready to get back out on the lake. We headed back to the house with him and, after more rest, he was ready to swim again in the pool.
For dinner we made Slow Cooker Taco Chicken. It was delicious. Everyone was really happy to get home and have dinner. We made one of our favorite new treats for dessert, Astronaut's Surprise. It's a smoothie made with Tang and liquid creamer that tastes just like a creamsicle. It was a hit!
Jill and I slept in the nice cool basement. Our room was really nice, but outside our window we could hear rustling noises. Inside of our window well, we found two lizards. You can see them here, as well as a former lizard (RIP). They were there all week long, but sometimes it was a bit of an "I Spy" game to find them. The boys slept in the bunk bed room with Hudson, and Alyssa slept in the "girl's room" with all the girl cousins. She loved being with all of the girls!
Saturday, Jake's family had to go home so they could get Kayla and Jocelyn ready for girls camp. Mom and dad took Brook and Brin, and all of us went to Cedar City for the Bryant Family Reunion. At the cabin we met up with all of the Bryant family and had a nice lunch sponsored by the Jerry Bryant family. The kids played some games and then we walked up the road to our cabin. It was fun to be back, even if only for an afternoon.
After being on the mountain we went down to the University to look at Old Main, the first building that made up the campus of the Branch Agricultural College. Earlier in the vacation, dad had showed us a video about the building of this school. Some of our ancestors had helped so we wanted to show the kids the campus.
The kids enjoyed rolling down the grassy hills.
Old Sorrel is the horse that paved the way through the snow to get the wood that enabled the builders to build the school. Inside the school we could see one of the wagons used to bring the wood down from the mountain.
Dairy Queen in Cedar City is a family tradition. We ordered the classic Pecan Cluster and it was unbelievably good!
Kandis brought a show and tell! Having Brandon come down on Saturday was fun. He worked earlier in the week, but was able to come down on Saturday. They are going to get married in August and we are happy to have him part of our family.
Sunday we went to church (at the ward in which Brandon grew up) and enjoyed the day inside.
After church we went to the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara. It was such a hot day, but it was fun to see that bit of history. Jill really was listening, I just caught her mid-blink.
Sunday evening was really nice. Kandis and Brandon grilled up some delicious steaks and some of Brandon's family joined us for dinner. We met Brandon's mom and dad as well as his sister and her family. They all live in St. George and are really great.
Sunday night we played games and at one point we thought it sounded really quiet. After we couldn't take the quiet any longer, we had to go downstairs to see why the kids were so quiet. In an effort to make some money, they had created a spa and were pampering Kandis and Brandon. For fifty cents, they offered a back rub, arm rub, or leg rub. They were all having so much fun, especially Kandis and Brandon!
Monday was the last day of our vacation. We opted to hike up by the Dixie. We had a blast and hiked all over in the heat. Wow was it hot! These last few days my boys really got close to their girl cousins Brooklyn and Brinlyn. Usually my boys play together and the girls play together. These last few days of vacation, though, they really played well together. It was really cute.
I'm so sad I didn't capture a picture of one of the most exciting things that happened on our vacation. Alyssa is now a swimmer! She has given up floaties. It started as she was jumping to a noodle in the water and she would swim around with just it for a few minutes. Then, while Grandma was watching her she just started swimming. It made for awesome times in the pool. She would swim from the side of the pool to an adult, then we would step back further and she would swim again. It went on and on and she swam the length of the pool! This caused a fair amount of stress for her parents as we were worried about her drowning. Now that she can swim we couldn't get her to wear floaties again. She can be quiet stubborn. I did get lots of video of her swimming around, but no still shots. In the next several updates, Alyssa will get a significant amount of attention because she has begun doing a lot of "firsts." She is our adventurer who wants so badly to keep up with her brothers. She is such a beautiful girl and we love her so much.
We had a fantastic family vacation. We are so grateful that mom and dad made it happen. It was fun to spend so much time together in one of our favorite places.
