Hiking to Emerald Pools

The main place we wanted to visit while staying in St. George was Zion National Park. It was about a 45 minute drive from our airbnb, but we got gorgeous views of the red rock and fall leaves during the drive.

This was yet another outing where we felt really safe with all the COVID precautions in place, plus we were outdoors the entire time.

I loved their animal themed covid signs.

Beth had done a ton of research about all the best activities to do in the park with kids, she found this Emerald Pools hike which was a perfect length and difficulty for kids (and out of shape adults.)

The beginning of the trail followed this river and the views were gorgeous!

We kept our masks looped around one ear and would put it on fully when we passed by others on the trail. This hike wasn't too busy while we were there, but we did pass by a fair amount of fellow hikers who were going the other way.

Another super adorable photo Monty gave us of the three of us.

We saw so many deer while in the park, this mama and baby were hanging out pretty close to the trail.

Monty wanted to hold my hand most of the way, and it melted my heart. His hand is so little and chubby.

We hiked to the lower falls (there are middle and upper falls too, but the hikes to those are a little more strenuous) round trip to the lower falls is 1.2 miles and the elevation change is 70 feet, it was a really pleasant hike there and back.

The lower falls aren't huge, gushing water falls, they are more delicate, but still pretty impressive and fun to see.

Once at the falls, we sat to enjoy the view, and a couple of fun filters, for a little while.

This is so 2020, but I couldn't tell if I liked the photo better with or without my mask, so I included both.

V is an amazing hiking buddy, she did so great on this trail and had a wonderful time skipping around and finding fascinating things to show us.

After our delightful hike, we headed to the lodge to get some dinner! I always love eating in National Parks I think the food is always so delicious.

Because of Covid, the dining rooms were all closed and food was only available as take out. So we placed our order and waited outside until our food was ready. We waited by this grassy area and there were so many deer everywhere! 

This particular deer was super friendly and tame and would walk right up to people look for food to steal.

V and Monty had so much fun running around in the grass and playing ring around the rosies.

When our food was ready, we enjoyed it picnic style with an excellent view of the deer, the red rock, and fall leaves.

The park was getting pretty cold after the sun started setting, so we were excited to get back to the car and crank the heat for our drive home.

St. George Airbnb

From Palm Springs, we moved on to St. George. The airbnb we stayed at here, was Vienne's favorite by far, for a few reasons. 1.) She was excited that it was two levels and had a staircase, she really loves staircases in houses right now 2.) It had a room full of bunk beds 3.) It had a hot tub!!! V made sure we used it every night.

We, the adults, also really loved staying here, it was spacious, clean, bright and really comfortable.

This was my room, it had a huge adjoining bathroom that was super nice.

At the top of the stairs was another sitting/tv area

The bunk bed room! This room alone could sleep nine! While obviously this place slept way more people than we needed, it was available on short notice since we had to replan our trip in a matter of a couple of days. V ended up thinking the bunk room was a little too scary to sleep in at night, but she loved playing in here during the day. There were two more bedrooms, one with a king where Beth and V slept, and one with two queens where Reece and Monty slept.

There were two balconies, a smaller one in front of the house and this lovely one in the back.

The view was beautiful.

The kids and I took a little walk one day on the trail behind our place, it was a beautiful, warm day.

The view of our place from the trail.

We enjoyed the sunset, usually from the hot tub, more than once.

We had a lot of fun relaxing in our wonderful airbnb. One night the gals did face masks while watching An American in Paris. Beth's face mask made us laugh for days, it looked like lunch meat haha, thus it is not pictured below, but she had a good time with it.

One morning, while Beth was in class and Monty was sleeping, V invited me to spend some time at the  Calm Salon. She painted my nails, gave me a foot massage and did my hair, I felt extremely pampered. She even told me all services at her salon are free! I definitely need to go back to the Calm Salon. 

Beth's birthday was on the day we were driving home, so we  thought it would be fun to celebrate her a few days early. While she was in class, we put up decorations and made her red velvet cupcakes, her favorite! Monty was such a great little helper.

V could not wait to show Beth all the surprises we had for her, the anticipation was almost too much for her to handle!

When Beth came in, we all yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and then sang to her over lighted cupcakes.

On the morning of her actual birthday, we made cinnamon rolls for breakfast (another one of her favorites) and gave her cards V and I had made as a surprise in Palm Springs.

And as always, we had lots of fun with photo filters!

These filters with the face masks hit kinda different after 2020.