Just hang onto the chains...

So I’d heard from a friend who’d been to Zion National Park that the Angel’s Landing hike was the hike to do down there.  I looked it up, and it seemed pretty incredible and slightly terrifying, and ultimately it did turn out to be those things.  But Grandpa Jim and I decided to head up early on one of the days, and though there were a few times where I thought to myself, “I shouldn’t be doing this…” it turned out alright and neither of us fell 1500 feet to our death… thankfully.  Here are some pictures from the hike.

The start of the hike... going to go all the way up there to the top of the ridge!  Right before here was the sign that said six people have fallen to their deaths since 2004... so try not to be seven and eight.

The first half was all paved and winding switchbacks, so we took a break before the scary part began.  Nice hat, by the way.

We're going up there...?  And in some places, the path just wasn't that wide...

Hold on to the chain, and if you fall, try not to hit me and take me with you!

The incredible view of Zion's canyon...

We made it!  And now we have to go back down...

The pictures don't do it justice, but somewhere down there are some tiny tour buses.

And we survived so Grandpa could take Paul for some fine refreshments at this lovely establishment!  Hopefully they served ice cold Mountain Dew...

So if you ever go to Zion, and you feel like putting your life on a few links of chain... you should definitely check out Angel's Landing.  Awesome hike!

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!