Great Vacation

So far, its been wonderful. There are so many things that I can point to which have made this fun for everyone. Zion National Park was lovely, as expected. We had dinner at the restaurant in the lodge. It was delicious and people were friendly. Aeryn was the biggest challenge. She didn't want to be contained, and who could blame her after being in her car seat for so long. On the shuttle bus, while eating and hiking, her theme song was "Born Free!" She wasn't interested in parental guidance. Oh well.
She was so dirty, the white shorts she was wearing turned brown. I'm talking completely brown-front, back and sides, not just a little circle on her tiny behind. All of the kids were dirty top to bottom. The hike was just wonderful, and absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed it, and although I'm not much of a hiker I was wishing we had more time to spend. There were some tense moments along the trail, but all in all it was very family friendly. We didn't get back to the room until about 10 p.m. and by that time, we were pretty well exhausted.
The next day, there was more driving, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. On the way to the canyon, you pass through the Kaibab National Forest. There was a fire there recently, I think within the last year or two. The forest was beautiful all by itself, and the burned portion was quite a stark contrast. I was just amazed when we got there. We didn't have anything specific in mind, but we started to wander, and ended up at a trail called Bright Angel Point. It goes out into the canyon a waise, and the views are spectacular. Before we even got onto the trail, we met a woman from Mississippi, and talked to her a little while. She and her granddaughter were enamored with our children. She asked if we were Mormons, and told me about some LDS friends that she has - but they aren't the same as you, right? It was nice to be able to clear that up for her. Many people questioned our sanity, due to the fact that we had brought so many small children out onto that trail. One man even said, when he had gone by, "You're crazy." To which I replied, "I guess we are." Another woman noted that I was bringing up the rear and said, "Oh, so you got stuck with the baby." I said, "Oh no, not stuck with the baby. She is a reason to live."