weekend in st. george
We have friends that live in St. George and friends that live in Cedar City, both of whom have offered to let people stay at their houses, so I had been trying to find a good time to go down there, and #ashleysfun25 was the perfect excuse! I was a little bit worried about taking Ada on a trip because I knew it would mess with her schedule that was juuuuust barely seeming fully established, but she actually did GREAT! It wasn't perfect, and the times when naps got messy were a struggle, but all in all, she did great sleeping on the trip (as in perfect night sleep and a perfect first nap; only the second nap was ever wonky, and that's because we were either driving or hiking during that nap on all three days!) and got right back to her good habits the day we returned home.
**sidenote**
Man, in writing this post, I realized I'm very long-winded. So the short version is that on Friday we saw Russ's grandparents on our way down to St. George, and then we met up with Matt and Laynah for dessert. On Saturday we hiked Angels Landing and then hung out with Dani and Damon for a bit before we all crashed. On Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting, took some pics in front of Red Rocks, and headed home. We had fun and it was so nice to spend time with good friends! Now if you want {a million} more details (and pics), read on!
**end sidenote**
Friday
On Friday Russ worked from home and took a half day so that we could leave when it was time for Ada to go down for nap #2 (around 2pm). We were rushing around for that last hour getting everything ready to go (babies require so many things!), but we made it. She did fall asleep, but since she was in her car seat, she only slept those 33 minutes she is so fond of.
We left her alone for a while in hopes she would fall back asleep, but she did not. I ended up sitting in the back with her for most of the drive so that I could help her be happy if she needed any assistance in that department.
We met up with Russ's Holmes Grandparents in Parawan. They were headed to Provo area for a mini family get-together, but since we couldn't be there for the get-together, we just met up as we crossed paths. We chatted at a gas station for a bit and Ada met her great-grandparents!
When we got back in the car, it was really Ada's bedtime, but her eating had been messed up because her naps had been messed up, and we still had a bit of driving ahead of us, so I encouraged her to fall asleep with the intention of waking her up 20 minutes later and then letting her have a late bedtime. She woke on her own after 17 minutes, so it worked out.
When we got to St. George, we stopped at a little Hawaiian restaurant called Honolulu Grill. It had amazing meat! In case I ever eat there again, get the BBQ chicken and ask for a bigger green salad instead of all that rice.
After eating, we headed to Damon and Dani's house, where we said hello and then put Ada down for bed. I was worried she would have trouble sleeping because her room at home is pitch black and this room wasn't (because even at 8/9pm, sunlight was still coming in through an upper window), but she fell asleep in like 5 minutes and didn't make a peep til the morning. Late bedtimes=a zonked girl 😂
We chatted with Dani and Damon for a while. We were waiting to hear from our other friends, Matt and Laynah (the Cedar City ones, who were actually in St. George that night), because we were supposed to meet up for dessert. We didn't end up meeting til 10:15pm, but we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard (a fave of mine) and man, was it an event!
While we were there, this super weird guy (we'll call him Bob) came to get some custard. He passed this super buff guy (we'll call him Cody) and he just went ON AND ON about how amazingly buff Cody was, asking how he got that buff etc. Cody initially gave stupid advice, which was to "eat good foods." (I say stupid advice because simply eating good foods does not make you as buff as Cody was. He eventually said he works out for two hours every day and eats a gram of protein per pound of body weight, so that's really how he got that buff. Anyway.) So Bob seriously just KEPT GOING and it was so awkward. It actually seemed like Bob was maybe gay and was making a pass at Cody, but who knows. Anyway, everyone who was eating outside (our group of four and Cody's group of five, plus Bob) got kinda involved in this conversation because it was so loud and weird. So Bob turns to order his custard, and when he turns back, he says (to Cody) "You should just take your shirt off right now!" After which Matt (Laynah's husband) immediately stands up like he's about to fight Bob. My initial thought was, "Sit down, Matt! Cody can take care of himself!" And Laynah was pulling at Matt to make him sit down. Well, come to find out, Matt had thought that Bob said the "take your shirt off" thing to Laynah, so he was ready to punch Bob down! 😂 😂 😂 The whole thing was just so weird, and luckily Nielsen's was closed at this point, because the guy didn't get any custard so he had to leave. Afterward, the other group and our group laughed about how seriously odd the whole interchange was.
Anyway. Besides that crazy story, the four of us just talked and got to know each other since the husbands have never really had a ton of interaction (Laynah and I met through blogging a few years ago, met up for a girls weekend in Vegas in 2015, and then we all briefly met up later that year when Russ and I were on our way home from Yosemite and we were passing wherever Matt and Laynah were vacationing at the time). When Laynah and I used to email, I thought our husbands sounded sooooo similar. Then the first time I met Matt, I thought they were soooo different. But this time, I could see their similarities along with their differences. It just felt like a good match, and again made me wish that they lived closer so we could see each other more regularly. But oh well, we'll just have to go down to Cedar City again sometime! :) We were only together for a short time, but I was happy that we made it happen because I really do enjoy my friendship with Laynah! :)
Saturday
On Saturday our plan was to hike Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I had hiked it 6 years ago, but I didn't hike it the last time I came to Zion (in 2015) because I felt like I wasn't in good enough shape. Since I lost weight doing Whole30 in April and since we've been doing a hard workout DVD in May, I felt like I was now in good enough shape to do the hike.
I wanted to get Ada at least one good nap (if possible) because I knew nap #2 would be messed up by the hike, so we didn't leave until after her first nap (which went great, again to my surprise since the room wasn't pitch dark!) This meant we got a late start, so after driving to Zion and then shuttling to the Angels Landing stop, we weren't starting our hike until about 2pm. Dani came with us (and did my hair so we were twinners! 😀 ) but Damon couldn't because of his work schedule.
We had a backpack filled with food and water, and we had Ada, so I opted to carry Ada because I figured the packs were about the same weight, but Ada was the cuter pack ;)
Holy crap. IT WAS SO HARD! I think it would have been hard without Ada. But with Ada it was extra hard! My chest/shoulder area was just dying the whole time, not to mention my legs! Haha so pretty much the whole time I was just hoping that the end would be right around the next turn 😂
At one point, a lady noticed that I had Ada on my back, so she asked me if we were taking Ada all the way to the top, to which we replied "yes." She was so concerned, going on and on about how dangerous it was, and how much sun exposure there is up there, so is Ada wearing any sunscreen? I feel like it was the first real taste I've gotten of a total stranger trying to advise me on what to do with my kid! Haha it was fine though; I knew I didn't have to listen to her :)
Anyway, after several rests (for Dani and me; Russ was just powering through!), we finally made it to the resting area before the chains. We ate some food, drank some water, fed the girl (who had napped for 30 minutes right at the beginning of the hike), and applied more sunscreen.
Before the long rest, I was ready to let Russ carry Ada the rest of the way, but after refueling, I decided I wanted to keep her so that I could say I carried her all the way to the top! I'm so glad I did because it was along the chain portion of the hike that I got lots of praise from people for carrying her 😂 Haha it really boosted my spirits and gave me the energy I needed to finish the hike! In all reality, carrying a baby isn't much different from carrying a backpack, but people really treated it differently! I loved when people wouldn't realize it was a baby back there until the last minute, and then they'd be so surprised. Idk, the whole thing was just funny and fun at the end there :)
Ada seemed to be afraid of heights because she only started crying when we started on the chains. Okay, so she wasn't actually afraid of heights, she was just really tired and couldn't figure out how to sleep for a while, so she cried until she fell asleep. I had to stop at one point and just bounce until she made it to sleep. I loved feeling her all nuzzled into me while I hiked, though 😊
After what seemed like 300 years, we finally made it to the top. Thankfully, Ada woke shortly thereafter so I could get her off my back for a bit.
Since we had depleted most of the food and all of the water, the backpack was now significantly lighter, so I decided I could now switch with Russ haha :) I had carried her all the way up, and I felt good about that. I also felt good about letting him carry her back down! The backpack was significantly easier to carry, and the hike down went a lot faster than the hike up.
I realized that I go on big hikes like this for two reasons: 1. Because I know Russ likes them, and I want to participate in things that I know he enjoys. 2. I like the feeling of accomplishment.
However, I do not go on big hikes because I enjoy them. Throughout the hike I felt empowered by what I was doing, but I didn't get, like, intrinsic enjoyment from the hike. Oh, well. Can't force it, I suppose!
When we finally got down from the hike, shuttled back to our car, and drove back to Dani's, it was nearly 9pm. In place of a regular nap and regular earlyish bedtime, I think Ada took two 30-minute naps and a little 5-minute nap, but she was ready for bed for sure! She fell asleep real quick and slept like a rock again.
After she went to sleep, Dani and Damon went to pick up dinner from Black Bear Diner. I got cinnamon roll French toast, which was delicious. I really wanted to go to the pool, but it was late and we were all tired, so nobody else was really in the mood. We all chatted for a bit before deciding it was time to crash. Russ took a shower before coming to bed, so I was already in bed when he texted me something from another room. I was literally falling asleep mid-text and waking up to find that I had typed a bunch of random letters 😂
Sunday
Ada slept in until 7 on Sunday (she woke at like 6:10 the day before), but she still seemed sleepy, so I pulled her into bed with us and tried to convince her to sleep (just by cuddling with her and sleeping myself. She kept getting so calm and sucking her thumb and cuddling into me, but I think she only briefly went back to sleep. She kept rolling over, but always the same way, so I was literally half on/half off the bed with her cuddled up right against me. Haha it was so cute! :)
We went to Sacrament Meeting and then came home so Ada could take a good first nap before we headed out. While she napped, Russ and I played games with Damon and Dani -- World Series Yahtzee and Liars Dice. It was fun :) We got all packed up and then drove to some nearby red rocks to take a few quick pics since we were looking all fancy in our church clothes, and since my whole family just happened to match (okay, Ada and I were on purpose, but Russ just happened to match!).
We then said our goodbyes and were off! Ada gave us one 30-minute catnap in the car, but other than that, she was kinda cranky. Oh, well. What can ya do? I'm still just so impressed that she got one amazing nap each day and slept so well at night despite late bedtimes!
It was so fun to get away for the weekend and spend so much time doing out-of-the-ordinary things. Our first trip with Ada was definitely a success and we're already talking about when we can take another one!
**sidenote**
Man, in writing this post, I realized I'm very long-winded. So the short version is that on Friday we saw Russ's grandparents on our way down to St. George, and then we met up with Matt and Laynah for dessert. On Saturday we hiked Angels Landing and then hung out with Dani and Damon for a bit before we all crashed. On Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting, took some pics in front of Red Rocks, and headed home. We had fun and it was so nice to spend time with good friends! Now if you want {a million} more details (and pics), read on!
**end sidenote**
Friday
On Friday Russ worked from home and took a half day so that we could leave when it was time for Ada to go down for nap #2 (around 2pm). We were rushing around for that last hour getting everything ready to go (babies require so many things!), but we made it. She did fall asleep, but since she was in her car seat, she only slept those 33 minutes she is so fond of.
We left her alone for a while in hopes she would fall back asleep, but she did not. I ended up sitting in the back with her for most of the drive so that I could help her be happy if she needed any assistance in that department.
We met up with Russ's Holmes Grandparents in Parawan. They were headed to Provo area for a mini family get-together, but since we couldn't be there for the get-together, we just met up as we crossed paths. We chatted at a gas station for a bit and Ada met her great-grandparents!
When we got back in the car, it was really Ada's bedtime, but her eating had been messed up because her naps had been messed up, and we still had a bit of driving ahead of us, so I encouraged her to fall asleep with the intention of waking her up 20 minutes later and then letting her have a late bedtime. She woke on her own after 17 minutes, so it worked out.
When we got to St. George, we stopped at a little Hawaiian restaurant called Honolulu Grill. It had amazing meat! In case I ever eat there again, get the BBQ chicken and ask for a bigger green salad instead of all that rice.
After eating, we headed to Damon and Dani's house, where we said hello and then put Ada down for bed. I was worried she would have trouble sleeping because her room at home is pitch black and this room wasn't (because even at 8/9pm, sunlight was still coming in through an upper window), but she fell asleep in like 5 minutes and didn't make a peep til the morning. Late bedtimes=a zonked girl 😂
We chatted with Dani and Damon for a while. We were waiting to hear from our other friends, Matt and Laynah (the Cedar City ones, who were actually in St. George that night), because we were supposed to meet up for dessert. We didn't end up meeting til 10:15pm, but we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard (a fave of mine) and man, was it an event!
While we were there, this super weird guy (we'll call him Bob) came to get some custard. He passed this super buff guy (we'll call him Cody) and he just went ON AND ON about how amazingly buff Cody was, asking how he got that buff etc. Cody initially gave stupid advice, which was to "eat good foods." (I say stupid advice because simply eating good foods does not make you as buff as Cody was. He eventually said he works out for two hours every day and eats a gram of protein per pound of body weight, so that's really how he got that buff. Anyway.) So Bob seriously just KEPT GOING and it was so awkward. It actually seemed like Bob was maybe gay and was making a pass at Cody, but who knows. Anyway, everyone who was eating outside (our group of four and Cody's group of five, plus Bob) got kinda involved in this conversation because it was so loud and weird. So Bob turns to order his custard, and when he turns back, he says (to Cody) "You should just take your shirt off right now!" After which Matt (Laynah's husband) immediately stands up like he's about to fight Bob. My initial thought was, "Sit down, Matt! Cody can take care of himself!" And Laynah was pulling at Matt to make him sit down. Well, come to find out, Matt had thought that Bob said the "take your shirt off" thing to Laynah, so he was ready to punch Bob down! 😂 😂 😂 The whole thing was just so weird, and luckily Nielsen's was closed at this point, because the guy didn't get any custard so he had to leave. Afterward, the other group and our group laughed about how seriously odd the whole interchange was.
Anyway. Besides that crazy story, the four of us just talked and got to know each other since the husbands have never really had a ton of interaction (Laynah and I met through blogging a few years ago, met up for a girls weekend in Vegas in 2015, and then we all briefly met up later that year when Russ and I were on our way home from Yosemite and we were passing wherever Matt and Laynah were vacationing at the time). When Laynah and I used to email, I thought our husbands sounded sooooo similar. Then the first time I met Matt, I thought they were soooo different. But this time, I could see their similarities along with their differences. It just felt like a good match, and again made me wish that they lived closer so we could see each other more regularly. But oh well, we'll just have to go down to Cedar City again sometime! :) We were only together for a short time, but I was happy that we made it happen because I really do enjoy my friendship with Laynah! :)
Saturday
On Saturday our plan was to hike Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I had hiked it 6 years ago, but I didn't hike it the last time I came to Zion (in 2015) because I felt like I wasn't in good enough shape. Since I lost weight doing Whole30 in April and since we've been doing a hard workout DVD in May, I felt like I was now in good enough shape to do the hike.
I wanted to get Ada at least one good nap (if possible) because I knew nap #2 would be messed up by the hike, so we didn't leave until after her first nap (which went great, again to my surprise since the room wasn't pitch dark!) This meant we got a late start, so after driving to Zion and then shuttling to the Angels Landing stop, we weren't starting our hike until about 2pm. Dani came with us (and did my hair so we were twinners! 😀 ) but Damon couldn't because of his work schedule.
We had a backpack filled with food and water, and we had Ada, so I opted to carry Ada because I figured the packs were about the same weight, but Ada was the cuter pack ;)
Holy crap. IT WAS SO HARD! I think it would have been hard without Ada. But with Ada it was extra hard! My chest/shoulder area was just dying the whole time, not to mention my legs! Haha so pretty much the whole time I was just hoping that the end would be right around the next turn 😂
At one point, a lady noticed that I had Ada on my back, so she asked me if we were taking Ada all the way to the top, to which we replied "yes." She was so concerned, going on and on about how dangerous it was, and how much sun exposure there is up there, so is Ada wearing any sunscreen? I feel like it was the first real taste I've gotten of a total stranger trying to advise me on what to do with my kid! Haha it was fine though; I knew I didn't have to listen to her :)
Anyway, after several rests (for Dani and me; Russ was just powering through!), we finally made it to the resting area before the chains. We ate some food, drank some water, fed the girl (who had napped for 30 minutes right at the beginning of the hike), and applied more sunscreen.
Before the long rest, I was ready to let Russ carry Ada the rest of the way, but after refueling, I decided I wanted to keep her so that I could say I carried her all the way to the top! I'm so glad I did because it was along the chain portion of the hike that I got lots of praise from people for carrying her 😂 Haha it really boosted my spirits and gave me the energy I needed to finish the hike! In all reality, carrying a baby isn't much different from carrying a backpack, but people really treated it differently! I loved when people wouldn't realize it was a baby back there until the last minute, and then they'd be so surprised. Idk, the whole thing was just funny and fun at the end there :)
Ada seemed to be afraid of heights because she only started crying when we started on the chains. Okay, so she wasn't actually afraid of heights, she was just really tired and couldn't figure out how to sleep for a while, so she cried until she fell asleep. I had to stop at one point and just bounce until she made it to sleep. I loved feeling her all nuzzled into me while I hiked, though 😊
After what seemed like 300 years, we finally made it to the top. Thankfully, Ada woke shortly thereafter so I could get her off my back for a bit.
 |
| i will forever think he is so attractive with a backwards hat 😍 😍 |
Since we had depleted most of the food and all of the water, the backpack was now significantly lighter, so I decided I could now switch with Russ haha :) I had carried her all the way up, and I felt good about that. I also felt good about letting him carry her back down! The backpack was significantly easier to carry, and the hike down went a lot faster than the hike up.
I realized that I go on big hikes like this for two reasons: 1. Because I know Russ likes them, and I want to participate in things that I know he enjoys. 2. I like the feeling of accomplishment.
However, I do not go on big hikes because I enjoy them. Throughout the hike I felt empowered by what I was doing, but I didn't get, like, intrinsic enjoyment from the hike. Oh, well. Can't force it, I suppose!
When we finally got down from the hike, shuttled back to our car, and drove back to Dani's, it was nearly 9pm. In place of a regular nap and regular earlyish bedtime, I think Ada took two 30-minute naps and a little 5-minute nap, but she was ready for bed for sure! She fell asleep real quick and slept like a rock again.
After she went to sleep, Dani and Damon went to pick up dinner from Black Bear Diner. I got cinnamon roll French toast, which was delicious. I really wanted to go to the pool, but it was late and we were all tired, so nobody else was really in the mood. We all chatted for a bit before deciding it was time to crash. Russ took a shower before coming to bed, so I was already in bed when he texted me something from another room. I was literally falling asleep mid-text and waking up to find that I had typed a bunch of random letters 😂
Sunday
Ada slept in until 7 on Sunday (she woke at like 6:10 the day before), but she still seemed sleepy, so I pulled her into bed with us and tried to convince her to sleep (just by cuddling with her and sleeping myself. She kept getting so calm and sucking her thumb and cuddling into me, but I think she only briefly went back to sleep. She kept rolling over, but always the same way, so I was literally half on/half off the bed with her cuddled up right against me. Haha it was so cute! :)
We went to Sacrament Meeting and then came home so Ada could take a good first nap before we headed out. While she napped, Russ and I played games with Damon and Dani -- World Series Yahtzee and Liars Dice. It was fun :) We got all packed up and then drove to some nearby red rocks to take a few quick pics since we were looking all fancy in our church clothes, and since my whole family just happened to match (okay, Ada and I were on purpose, but Russ just happened to match!).
We then said our goodbyes and were off! Ada gave us one 30-minute catnap in the car, but other than that, she was kinda cranky. Oh, well. What can ya do? I'm still just so impressed that she got one amazing nap each day and slept so well at night despite late bedtimes!
It was so fun to get away for the weekend and spend so much time doing out-of-the-ordinary things. Our first trip with Ada was definitely a success and we're already talking about when we can take another one!
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave some comment love! And if you're a no-reply blogger, check back here for my replies :)