Tulip Festival

I finally got to go to the tulip festival this year. I've been dying to go all spring, so Stephen took us last Friday. We were afraid it was going to rain on us as soon as we got there, but we got lucky and it didn't start raining until we were near the end. I loved looking at the gardens! They were so beautiful and fun to look at. We also happened to go on the day they were having Dutch Days so there were little game centers, kids activities, and food vendors. We also got a discount if you wore orange, but I don't have any orange clothes so I didn't get to match the boys. What a fun weekend!

Zander Update

Zander is five months old today. He weighs 16 lbs and is getting taller everyday. He has mastered rolling over from his belly to his back, and is working on doing the opposite. He is the most patient baby I have ever seen, and he loves to smile and laugh and kick his feet.

He does this thing with his legs where he'll lift them both up like an inverted crunch and slam them down on the floor. I'll wake up in the middle of the night to this thumping noise and it's just Zander slamming his legs down in the crib trying to go back to sleep. He'll also just lift his legs or just one (usually the left leg) in the air and hold it there for a long time for no apparent reason. Silly boy!

His bald spot is finally starting to grow back in. He laughs every time I kiss his hands or give him Eskimo kisses. He loves the feeling of the wind in his face. He is talking more and more everyday, and eats his oatmeal like a champ. We're going to start him on more solids pretty soon. He loves playing with his toys except for one that he just got for Easter that vibrates. He's scared of it because it moves by itself.

Everybody just loves him, everywhere we go he is always getting compliments from someone. I love shopping with him because he is always so happy and fun to play with. We can't get enough of this sweet boy!

Zion's Cont'd

Our hike to Weeping Rock

 Zander looks quite comfortable

 Our hike to the Hidden Canyon. This one was long and hard. We actually didn't finish it because there were parts near the end where it got really narrow and you had to use chains to hold onto to stay on the edge of the cliff. We didn't want to take Zander on those parts.

 Taking a lunch break

 Our hike to the Emerald Pools

  Tuckered out

Zion's National Park

I've been wanting to plan a family vacation for a year, but since I got pregnant last year we didn't get to go. Now that Zander is a little older I decided to plan our camping trip to Zion's. I figured the sooner we went in the spring, the less miserable it would be in the heat. So we went last weekend for three days.

We left Wednesday afternoon so we wouldn't be setting up camp in the dark. Somehow I managed to snag the very last camping site in the park. I looked everywhere, but the park camp sites were completely full. I found one spot in Sand Hollow which is a 40 minute drive from the park, but at least we got in on the weekend we wanted to go. We were a little nervous about how Zander would do, but I figured he'd be fine since he's so easy going.

Wednesday came and we didn't the early start we wanted. We had to run to the grocery store before we left and pack the car. It was a four hour drive to our camp site, and Zander had been in his car seat for six hours straight, so when we stopped for a break and some dinner he did NOT want to get back in his car seat. He cried for about an hour until he finally fell asleep. We didn't roll in until after dark, so we had a tent we've never used before trying to set it up in the dark with a crying baby to boot. We got out our flashlights and began piecing together the tent. Once we figured it out it was easy to get it set up, but Zander was overly tired and fussy so I had to quickly get our beds set up so I could lay him down.

That night was horrible with no sleep. It was freezing cold with drunken campers hollering and riding atv's around camp, and I was worried Zander was too cold because I packed the wrong size sleep sack for him (it was newborn) so I had to squeeze him in it and I couldn't find all of his blankets so he had only one on too of him the whole night. His face and hands were cold as ice so it worried me a little bit to go to sleep. I had to make sure he was still alive, haha. Amazingly he slept through the night and woke up a happy boy. We ate breakfast and headed to the park for the day.

The next night was the same as before--lots of drunk people and wind, blowing sand, and tent rustling. No sleep. I did fix Zander's bed though so he kept warmer. He was SO good our entire trip. Just happy and cute and glad to be outside exploring. We spent another day in the park hiking. We had so much fun! It turns out, though, that you need to be in shape somewhat to do most of the hikes. I had to keep pushing myself to keep going on some of them. I took lots of breaks in between, but I did every one of them.

We're going to have to go back several times to experience the entire park. We could've spent a week there and still not done everything.

On the way down we had to stop for a potty and dinner break.

 We literally camped in a sand pit. I hate sand; it got into everything! It's pretty though

I had to take this picture of Zander's chubby little legs. LOVE!