brian head

Tuckered out from our hike at Cedar Breaks, the girls took a long afternoon snooze and Grammy and Grandpa took off back to Utah County as the thunderstorms rolled in full blast. There was a flash flood warning in the area and they got stuck on the road waiting for the trucks to clear out the mud, but made it back safely. In the mean time, Jake and I watched a Nicholas Sparks movie marathon on the cabin TV and played Go Fish with the girls when they woke up. It was nice and cozy playing together while the torrential downpour roared on outside.

Later that afternoon, it was still sprinkling in Brian Head, but everyone was having major cabin fever, so we loaded everyone in the car and drove up the mountain toward Cedar Breaks, where it looked sunny and dry. Turns out it was sunny and beautiful on that side of the mountain, so we stopped to get our energy out hiking the Bristlecone Pine trail.

The girls were in much better spirits on this hike than they had been in the morning, and since we weren’t in a hurry to beat the rain or get back for lunch/naps, we let them stop and play with sticks or do whatever they wanted to do. Relaxing!

The girls asked me to play duck duck goose with them in a field. Why not?

These pines are some of the oldest living things on earth! From the top of the trail, we had a beautiful view of Zion in the distance. Another trip for another time!

Yoga retreat!

Meredith was not happy about something…I lose track over everything she gets mad about!

We made mac n cheese for dinner at the cabin and conked out from our long day of hiking. On Monday morning, we were hoping to check out some of the zip-lining and tubing activities at Brian Head, but found out they were only open on the weekend, and it was still drizzling anyway, so we made an early departure for home.

The road down the canyon to Cedar City was closed due to the flash flood the night before, so we had to go the long way around, and everyone was GRUMPY. We stopped at a park in St. George to let everyone run around and stretch their legs, but it was scorching and we only stayed a few minutes before everyone collapsed. The rest of the trip I’ve blocked out of my memory, but it basically involved Meredith screaming for hours on end, Samantha complaining she was uncomfortable and couldn’t fall asleep while everyone else snoozed, and endless bathroom stops in the scorching desert. After eight hours in the car, we were SO happy to be home!

This was Meredith in St. George/the majority of our trip home:

Lots of love,

Despite the looming thunderclouds and imminent rain, we made our way up the canyon to Brian Head for our weekend stay before continuing the journey home to California. At the last minute, Grammy and Grandpa accompanied us, which was a good thing, since all the girls were near the end of their ropes from being on vacation and out of their routines for so long, and we needed all the help we could get with them! We checked into our quaint Airbnb cabin and met up with Grammy and Grandpa at the Brian Head Resort Lodge for a quick indoor swim, just as the rain , thunder and lightning came barreling down.

We were happy to be inside and not in the torrential mountain downpour. Hopefully, the lodge gets their roof fixed by winter… it was leaking!

After wolfing down dinner as quickly as possible and whisking the kids back to the cabin for bed, we all recharged and woke up the next morning ready to experience some nature!

Well, at least I was… everyone else was GRUMPY! Look at that pout face!!

We spent the morning at Cedar Breaks National Monument, which was totally gorgeous and we were happy to beat the rain and crowds, having arrived there early in the morning. We stopped by the ranger station, where the twins picked up their Junior Ranger Guidebooks to complete (i.e. we did the writing for them) so they could earn their Junior Ranger badges.

Cedar Breaks! Apparently, none of the trees were actually cedars as the pioneers who named the place mistook the junipers for cedars.

Amelia and Samantha teamed up to be in a particularly bad mood that morning, so the peaceful commune with nature I had envisioned was punctuated with tears and various complaints (I’m tired! I’m thirsty! I’m hungry!) every five minutes, but the mountain beauty and wildflowers did manage to distract them into enjoying themselves every once in a while.

We hiked the Sunset Trail, and identified bristlecone pines, alpine currants, marmots and wildflowers along our trek for the girls’ junior ranger booklets. Jake and I were mostly forcing them to do it, but I’m hoping they at least learned something?!

The girls were disappointed they couldn’t actually pick the wildflowers since they are used to making bouquets and bringing them home, but they still explored the wildflower fields with glee.

They asked me to take pictures of them pretending to be flowers and the POPPING out of the ground.

Meredith is a total pro at pictures. After I had snapped a few of all the girls, she continued to sit on the ground, singing, “CHEEEEEEEESE!”

We went through SO much trail mix.

Samantha the wildflower sprouts up.

Their junior ranger books asked them to write down the smells of various flowers and plants. Their standard response was that they smelled “like bees.”

Apparently, we forgot to remove the chocolate from Meredith’s portion of the trail mix.

The girls found the PERFECT teeter totter log and were begging to try it out.

What should have been a thirty minute walk was turning into an hour, with the girls stopping every two seconds to either smell flowers, point out a squirrel or sit on a log with their trail mix to “rest.” After all three girls mutinied and refused to budge, I carried on with them.

While Grammy and I waited at the end, we could hear the banshee wails of the kids become nearer and nearer, until finally, everyone made it to the overlook. We the realized we could have driven and parked at the overlook which marked the end of the Sunset Trail (but then we would have missed the wildflowers and teeter totter!)

The decision to send Jake and Grandpa back to where the cars were parked to come pick three tired and hangry girls was a no brainer. While they were gone, Grammy and I hung out at the overlook with the girls and Meredith greeted all of the incoming tourists.

Back at the ranger’s station after being picked up, the girls swore their Junior Ranger oath and received their badges. On the way back, the most exciting part of Meredith’s day was petting some random old couple’s little dog!