The Preslars: Epic Trip to St. George

As you know, our family really loves driving to St. George and spending weekends with my brother and his family. The weather is always nicer, (unless we go in July, which we never seem to do), we get to sprawl in the sun and chill out and have movie nights and just relax. That was true, that is, until we decided to go down to help Sheri celebrate her 30th birthday. Now we know that there may be times when a trip to St. George will kick all of our bums and include exactly 0 movie nights. (Well, for the kids. The grown ups did actually watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty but we had to break it up over two nights because we were too tired from accompanying Sheri on her adventures to stay awake for a whole movie.)

Sheri, may you never turn 30 again. We are too tired and lazy to do that with you ever again.

Just kidding! It was actually one of the most fun trips we have ever had. Not that I don't want to relax ever again over one of these weekends, but it really was a blast and I loved being so active with the kids.

Let's see, the itinerary. What did we do? We started by arriving in Dixie at 2:00, and were all changed into swim suits and into a pool by 3:00. (Sheri scored some serious deals for us - free trip to the Washington City Pool, free burgers at In-N-Out, deals on Zion restaurants....it was awesome!) So yes, we started the first day at a really fun community center pool and grabbed burgers on the way home. As we were waiting in the drive-through line I got a text from my dear old Next Door Neighbor of Yesteryear, The Other Troy, who noticed from my silly posts on Instagram that we were in St. George. He let me know that he too was in St. George with his family on an extensive tour of Utah. (They arrived in St. George from Seattle via Moab. Woah.) So after swimming and dinner and a walk to the park, My Troy and I took kids over to the condo where they were staying and we just chatted away on the balcony overlooking the beautiful city at night while the kids got to know each other and drew together. So heavenly. I wish we saw them more often. Next Door Neighbors forever!

Friday was Sheri's big day, and what a big day it was! Especially for HER! She had to get up and teach one of her gym classes (thankfully she didn't make me go with her....) at like 4:40 in the morning. Happily for her, she got visited in the night by friends and family who left chalk messages on the driveway and heart-notes stuck in the lawn and a big cooler full of water balloons with a message indicating that there would be a water-fight at some point during the day. That's what she woke up to. So sweet. But before any water fights could take place, Sheri first wanted to celebrate her birthday by getting us all into Zion National Park and up a really really big rock. After her class she hurried home to help us dress kids, fill water bottles and tie shoes so we could get out the door by 7:30 and drive to Zion. What a lovely place - been too long since I have been there. I don't think I've been since I have had kids.

Sheri's big plan for the day was Angel's Landing. If you don't know what this is, look it up. It's about a 2 mile hike up to a place called Scout's Lookout, where normal people stop and watch all the nutty people venture out another 1/2 mile out onto this rock with 1,000 foot drops on either side. I didn't think I wanted to do it - I was imagining being out there with my kids and it made me nauseated just thinking about it. Of course we didn't take all the little kids. But....Sheri did go with Siena (who is SIX!!!) and my Stomper really wanted to go and I kind of did too after all so the four of us went. There were a couple of spots where I almost turned around, mostly because it was too anxiety-provoking to watch my little son walking along just inches away from that deathly drop. At one point in particular I almost began to cry and grab him and turn around. My heart was pounding like crazy. But since Stomper insisted on going on and I wasn't going to leave Sheri with two kids I kept going. I'm glad we did it. Kind of like I'm glad I went through childbirth. That was great! So exhilarating! Amazing! And now can I never do that again, please?

Zion is beautiful and the day was well spent. One of my favorite moments was hiking down the last few meters of the trail and bumping into my PTA president from SLC - that was a fun surprise! Not that it's THAT unlikely to run into a fellow Salt Laker in Zion National Park over spring break, but still, to be on the trail together was pretty funny. We were both bummed later that we didn't take a selfie at the moment. Once we dragged our tired children and our tired selves back to our cars, we were led by the birthday girl to a yummy little spot known as Oscar's. Definitely going back there again. Such a nice waiter, such good food. Another burger, wonderful in its own way, and aptly named the Murder Burger. So good.

Upon arriving home, the neighborly water-fight began and I took my place as the photographer. After that I hauled Sheri off for a birthday pedicure. (No, no, I didn't have ulterior motives, not at all!) In the evening we ate ice cream bars and surprised Sheri with a gift she had no idea she was getting - Peter wanted to give her a Kitchen-Aid Mixer, and Sheri loves giving new life to 2nd-hand items, so Pete found this great mixer at a Pawn Shop in SLC (it was not a bad place at all. I know. I'm the one who picked it up.) That was a fun surprise!

On Saturday the adventure continued but luckily it was all on Sheri - her family's gift to her was to go skydiving. That is not something I have ever wanted to do before, but actually I think I'd be more comfortable doing that than taking my kids up Angel's Landing. She looked like she had a great time and it was fun to watch her.

That day included more swimming and more walks/bike rides to the park and more trampoline jumping. We also had the mandatory Easter-egg coloring session which my kids seemed more excited for than anything else that weekend.