Zion's

The annual Tucker/Eliason reunion in Zions is one of my favorite summer vacations.  After our fun filled 4th of July we followed my mom and dad to Springdale.  Sam is obsessed with two things at the moment, "bampa" (grandma and grandpa), and "gycles" (motorcycles).  He had 5 hours in the car to watch his two favorite things.  I think he said "bampa" "gycle" about 500 times.  Too bad he couldn't ride with grandpa, it would have been much quieter in our car!  We headed to the pool the second we arrived at the Desert Pearl and Sam was stoked.

He is the comic relief in our family for sure.  He fell asleep for about 30 minutes and as he woke up, he resumed his fist pumping dance, eyes closed and all.  Sam will do anything for a laugh.  Such a little ham.

Randy, Hank and Max joined Robyn and Andy and their kids on a hike and I stayed back with Sam.  The brief rainstorm brought out this little toad.  

Sam was intrigued and immediately poked him in the eye.  Poor little toad.  Riley and Sam took the toad back to the river before any more damage was done.

Once Randy and the kids got back, it was a chaotic mess of ball and Frisbee throwing.  It's amazing no one was hit in the face!  After some catching up with the family we headed to bed because we had an early hike up the Narrows the next morning.  My mom and dad volunteered to stay back with Max and Sam. 

We were equipped with the proper shoes and walking sticks and excited for the upcoming adventure.

Hank, Phil and Tom at the trail head.

I've been to Zion's multiple times but never hiked the Narrows.  I've always wanted to.  I mean a hike that's 90% in the water is my kind of hike.  The crowds were minimal and we had some great cloud cover.  The water was also pretty low which was nice.

Since the conditions were so optimal, we hiked pretty far up the river.  Hank was such a trooper.  He never complained and carried on even after he tripped and fell in the water a few times.

Good thing he had his buddy Riley to hike with.  He became Riley's shadow for most of the day. 

We made a few pit stops, checked blood sugar, and grabbed and snack and a drink.

The best part of the day was catching up with my family I don't see very often.  I had some great conversations with almost everyone.

I've never been in a more spectacular setting.  The beauty of the rocks and the water took my breath away.  You quickly realize why it's so dangerous to hike the narrows when there is potential for a flash flood.

We capped off the end of the hike with a good ol' fashioned cliff jump.

I had to do it twice to convince Hank it wasn't scary.  He was a little hesitant but agreed to do it when Riley volunteered to jump with him.

The water was freezing!

It took Hank a good 30 minutes of hiking back down the river to stop shivering.  Randy sat the rock jumping out since he injured his foot the previous day doing a cannon ball into the pool.  

It started getting hot on our way down and Hank had low blood sugar so Randy and I took turns carrying him the last mile.  We were spent when we got back but it was so worth it.  I would do that hike again in a heart beat.

Joyce took all of the group out to eat later that night at The Spotted Dog.  The kids always make dinner at a restaurant exciting.  Sam hit his head on the fireplace and screamed loud enough to stop all the diners from enjoying their meal.  My mom and I took turns with him outside.  After that, I was ready to let the kids run wild back at the hotel.  My mom managed to snap this cute picture of our family.

Sam was mesmerized by Keith's musical ability.  He just stood there and stared at him in awe.

We decided to take it easy the next morning.  I got up a little earlier than the kids and went for a beautiful run.  Then we headed to Oscars for breakfast.

The kids were quiet for approximately 5 minutes.  I'm really surprised we didn't get kicked out.

I left the rest of the afternoon up to the kids.  They wanted to swim so that's what we did.

Sam and Monet made a connection on this trip.  He calls her '"Maaney".  He is smitten by her adorableness and so am I.  They played so cute together.

After the kids were sufficiently thrown all over the pool, my dad took them to Despicable Me 2 in Hurricane.  They needed a break from the sun and had a great time.  I stayed back with Sam while he took a nap.  It was a quiet, relaxing afternoon for me.  When everyone got back, we had a little social hour at our room.  

Sam snagged some of Monet's chocolate covered raisins.

And a cuddle with "bampa".

Hank played catch with Grandpa,

and Phil.

Then, Randy picked Joyce's brain for a few hours.  It started with a few questions about her life and ended up being an entertaining tell all Q & A.  I learned so much about her I never knew.  She has lived an amazing life and loved that Randy cared enough to find out about it.  Honestly, the best part of this reunion is the amazing conversations we have.  I just love my family.  They are simply the best.

My sweet mom and dad captured Sam's heart on this trip. He got panicked when he couldn't find them.  He is so affectionate with both of them.  They were so much help to me since Sam is a handful these days.

You can only imagine how mad he was when he realized they were leaving on the "gycle" without him.  He sat on the back seat in protest.

Grandma said her good-byes but Sam couldn't accept it.

I had to pry him out of her arms.

I guess I couldn't very well let him ride all the way back like that. He couldn't understand why.  We stayed  for the rest of the morning and let the kids play in the pool a little while longer.  I wasn't in any hurry to come home and resume regular life.  We've had a busy, fun couple of weeks.  I didn't want it to end.  I wish my sisters and their families could have made the trip.  Maybe next year!