The Real Land of Zion

Grandma and Grandpa Sellers stopped by for a few days on their journey east for the summer, and we took a little drive down to Zion National Park to see the sites.  Down in the southern Utah desert, Zion is basically made up of a giant canyon with towering cliffs on either side and a number of beautiful hikes to take.  We didn’t get to do all of the more famous hikes, since we didn’t want our small children to fall off any cliffs or drown in any emerald pools or flash floods, but we did get to see some pretty amazing stuff.  Here are a few pics from the mini-vacation.

Right down from the campsite was a small reservoir we took the boys to almost every night.  Adam is quite fond of throwing rocks in the water, and there were plenty of rocks.

Down along the river, Paul can't get those shoes off fast enough... the boy was made for water.

Adam, on the other hand, will stay safely ashore throwing rocks.  But he did enjoy the hikes and the friendly ground squirrels.

We hiked down to the beginning of the Narrows, one of the famous hikes in Zion, but the water got deeper and taking the boys along didn't seem to be a good idea.

Back there is where the cliffs get closer together and the hike gets tighter, hence the name.

Paul with the elders of the Sellers family.

The cliffs were pretty impressive, and not something I personally would attempt to scale.  We took a lunch break at the lodge under the shade of the trees in the 90 degree heat.

Adam, always goofing around.

And a Padre's fan, as usual, harassing his father.  But a pretty amazing park with incredible views!  We'll make it back someday when the boys are old enough to challenge the dangerous hikes... we just won't post about those, since their grandmothers read this blog...

Go Sea the World!

One of the things you’ve got to do when you go to San Diego is go to Sea World, apparently.  As Paul has always been a big fan of sea creatures, this seemed like a good place for him to go while he was visiting the golden coast.  So Grandpa Bill took the boys to see Shamu, some sting rays, some crabs and all sorts of other things that swim or crawl in the ocean.  They even got to enjoy the shows and get splashed by the jumping whales.  Sounds like a fantastic time!

Off they go, on their Sea World adventure!  I think they're going to need a bigger boat...

Paul seems a little uncertain about feeding the seals... and the pesky seagulls trying to steal the fish only made things worse...

Just let me in there and I'll show those seals how to do tricks... or maybe I'll just starting crying and scream for mom...

Paul James, the Human Sting Ray, a boy superhero!

And what could be better than enjoying a big bowl of popcorn after the shows and the all the fun!  Doesn't get much better than that!

To the Golden Coast...

Grandpa Bill stopped by at the end of May and let Becky and the boys tag along on his way to San Diego.  It was a long drive, especially for Adam, but they made it safely and got to enjoy the sunshine in beautiful Southern California!  They spent some time hanging out with Great Grandma Unbehend around the house, lounged in the pool, at the beach, and of course the playground.  Gotta love summer vacation! 

 Adam made his first trip to the Pacific Coast and the great state of California!

 He spent his time riding this duck.

 Paul, on the other hand, has become quite the accomplished monkey.

Gotta take time to play around, especially on vacation... from his normal... difficult... life...

And as always, Adam found someone willing to carry him around.

Paul cheating in the pool with his water wings!

And even Grandpa took a dive off the board to cool off in the California heat.

Just lounging by the pool on a sunny afternoon... what a life those boys live...

And they made it safely back home in the end, thanks in part to these super heroes they met in Las Vegas on the trip back! 

Short and steep...

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but I’m really, really far behind on blog posts.  It’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks, at least for Becky and the boys.  They’ve spent a lot of hours on the road seeing a lot of people, but now, they’re safe and sound back in Utah and here to stay... at least for a while.  It may take a few days for me to catch up, but I’ll start with this one.  Before they left, all the way back in May, we took another hike, this time up Bell Canyon to a small lake that sits in between the mountains.  Good hike, short and steep, but we did see some cool wildlife.  There were quite a few lizards, some geese, and we came only a few feet from stepping on a snake crossing the path! 

We crossed the bridge over the rushing water about halfway up.  Adam was happy.  But of course, hikes are very easy when you get to ride on shoulders.

Paul and I headed up to a higher spot after Adam fell (again) and scraped his knee up.  Thankfully, we didn't see any rattlesnakes, though I was worried for a minute that we might be in their territory.  We did get a good view of the lake and the valley!  Another good hike here in the Wasatch Mountains!

Here comes another one...

In case you didn’t know, Adam is going to be the next big brother around here.  And who would have guessed that he’s going to get a little brother of his own?  Well, the way things go on my side of the family, this is no surprise.  As of now, Becky is almost 20 weeks along with an official due date of October 8, 2012 for the next Sellers boy!  And his mom is feeling severely outnumbered around here.  Maybe we’ll have to get a girl puppy for her or something.  Anyway, here are a few of the ultrasound pictures we got the other day.

Check out those ripped biceps!  That kid must be pumping some serious iron in there!  I guess he's gotta find something to pass the time.  Looks like he's ready to punch his way out...

And here is the profile picture.  Notice the traditional Sellers boys' abnormally large head.  And notice that the hospital didn't spell our name correctly.  It is pretty difficult. 

And here is the future size 13 foot... just give it some time.  So there you go, another boy around here.  Just what Becky wanted to hear!  Ha!  But thankfully everything looked good in there, and he's already 11oz.  Probably going to be another big one!