St. George Trip - President's Day

The rest of the world, outside of accounting, gets President's Day off. I guess April 15th is just a little too close for comfort to take work off for a national holiday. But, I am not an accountant. So I took the day off and we went on a day trip to St. George to visit Becky's family and my cousin Justin and his family.

We went to Chick Fil A, of course, and then on a hike through the desert that I can only describe as climbing boulders rather than walking. I guess I have a city definition of hiking :) We had fun though - Claire and Miles got a little nervous on the rocks, and so did I, but we all made it. I was glad Penelope stayed home to take a nap while Matt took a quiz online. She would have been tough to carry, though Justin and Alicia brought their two year old Lyla along. I got some cute pictures which was my main goal when I suggested a hike anyway.

Justin took all 13 of us in his ATV thingy and we drove out into the desert right near their house. It is pretty cool that they are so close to undeveloped land like that. We passed people having archery practice, playing fetch with their dogs, and other hikers out exploring. 

The kids had so much fun digging in the dirt in the backyard - if there had been grass back there they would have played 10 minutes instead of hours. Makes me want a backyard all the more. 

Miles got up and said, "Do I have any dirt on my jeans?" Um. Yes. 

I hope the novelty of seeing each other  doesn't wear off for these kiddos as we get together more often. Claire and McKinley are so similar that they end up butting heads a bit, but then again, I fought with my cousin Shelai over the silliest things (who had bigger feet!!) and we are still good friends today. And Penelope is just happy to be along for the ride (above). Her new "smile" is displayed below. Why do they start doing that fake photo smile??