Southern Sabbatical

A couple times a year we go on a family vacation down south to where the weather is supposed to be warm. It was spring break around here so we headed out. The weather forcast promised weather in the upper 70s and we packed accordingly.

Unfortunately for our vacation, too many people around us are praying for rain, snow, and an end to a massive drought. Because the forcast changed dramatically.....after we had left with only one sweat shirt and pair of pants a piece for a week.

Thankfully....you can re-wear sweatshirts a lot and most of the rain wasn't exactly on us...just around us.

So ....we finished our drive

And we enjoyed hiking to the second of the Emerald Pools at Zion National Park. (The enjoying part of hiking is new for some members of our family this year, and was one of my happiest moments.)

We played in the sand.

We flew a kite. (This was a new activity, and one we all enjoyed.)

The girls played with mom's camera.

And we did a girls only hike to the top of the Petrified Dunes. (Once again, hiking was an enjoyed activity. Yes, I am beating this very dead horse, but the years I have put in to get certain members of my family to enjoy hiking finally, finally paid off, and I am going to bask in the joy of it.)

And Dad and Nathan bonded.

For anyone who reads this, you know that these trips are an annual or semi-annual occasion for our family, for which we are very, very  grateful. We don't do much different than we do on previous trips but it is so fun to step away from it all and just enjoy time together as a family.