Technically our anniversary is on December 20th, but the cool thing about being adults is that you can celebrate things whenever you want too. We knew getting married that close to Christmas would mean less extravagant anniversary celebrations so we've just decided to celebrate when works best for us. #adultlife
Anyway, for our 5 year anniversary we took a week long vacation down to southern Utah! We'd toyed around with going to Mexico, a cruise, or back up to Washington, but ultimately with me being pregnant (no thank you Zika!), and our kids being so little, we decided to play it closer to home. Plus, my exposure to southern Utah was woefully lacking. We wanted to check off the iconic Utah landmarks if possible and I think we did an awesome job! We flew my mom in and she took care of the kids for the week, with help from both my sisters. Sometimes it's validating to realize it really does take a lot of effort to take care of two kids ;)
I'm a FIRM believer in making sure you take time for your spouse. Quality time is something Kyle and I really work for each and every day, now that we've figured out what quality time means for the other. No matter how deeply I love my kids, I will always and forever love Kyle more and getting an extended period of time alone reminds me of that! Plus it's just awesome to stay up late and sleep in on your own time table haha.
We set out Monday with our Harry Potter audio books and drove down to Arches National Park. We found an awesome mobile home rental in Thompson for $45/night that we rented for two nights. It was perfect. Fully stocked kitchen, washer & dryer, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, and even wifi available in the middle of nowhere. 10/10 would recommend that place.
We hit up Delicate Arch, Fiery Furnace, Pine Arch, Double Window Arch, and Landscape Arch. Fiery Furnace was probably my favorite because we were scaling and legit climbing rocks, instead of following a paved pathway.
Wednesday we checked out of Thompson and drove over to the Natural Bridges National Monument. It's not nearly as popular as the other national parks in Utah but it's equally stunning!
After Bridges we drove through Monument Valley. We had every intention to stop at the Visitor's Center, but apparently they can close a half hour early whenever they want too. We're not bitter or anything.
We camped that night in Page, just on a beach at Lake Powell. The stars were stunning!
Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to try and get a tour through Antelope Canyon. When I called a few weeks prior they told me that I'd have to book the tour in person, but when we got there we were told we had to book it online? Idk. This is still on our to-see list! We had a slow morning and then headed over to Zion's!
That afternoon we hiked the Emerald Pool's (upper, middle & lower), ran into Kyle's parents and sister on the hike, then since we were racing against the sunset, we headed out to find another campsite.
Unbeknownst to us, it was Fall Break for most of Utah, so Thursday & Friday were way busier in Zion's than we anticipated. To beat the crowds, we got up early Friday morning to hike the Narrows. Kyle tried convincing me to do Angel's Landing but I think I'm gonna need 10 years to work up the courage for that one. The Virgin River running through the Narrows was like 51*. The first quarter mile was really cold, but then our legs went numb and we were good after that!
After the Narrow's we (and by "we", I mean, "I") were so tired, cold & wet, we decided to head on out. We stopped at the BEST Mexican restaurant we've ever been to in Hurricane, then drove up to a hotel in Cedar City. I took a nap, we went to see Suicide Squad at a discount theater and ordered a pizza.
We had plans to go up to Bryce Canyon on Saturday, but we were both pretty tired after a week of hiking. Instead we found an awesome Groupon for a couple's massage at a salon literally two blocks up the street from us, so we drove on home and did that. Now we're completely ruined and will never end a vacation any other way.
It was a great week and we felt ready to go home by the end of it. I think we struck the perfect balance of it being structured enough so we weren't bored, but unstructured enough to actually relax. We had moments of missing our kids, especially when seeing other kids reacting similarly to how our kids would've, but then we thought of trying to encourage them up a hike, or sharing a tent, and we were quite glad they were home ;)
Love you hun! Can't wait for the next adventure.
Anyway, for our 5 year anniversary we took a week long vacation down to southern Utah! We'd toyed around with going to Mexico, a cruise, or back up to Washington, but ultimately with me being pregnant (no thank you Zika!), and our kids being so little, we decided to play it closer to home. Plus, my exposure to southern Utah was woefully lacking. We wanted to check off the iconic Utah landmarks if possible and I think we did an awesome job! We flew my mom in and she took care of the kids for the week, with help from both my sisters. Sometimes it's validating to realize it really does take a lot of effort to take care of two kids ;)
I'm a FIRM believer in making sure you take time for your spouse. Quality time is something Kyle and I really work for each and every day, now that we've figured out what quality time means for the other. No matter how deeply I love my kids, I will always and forever love Kyle more and getting an extended period of time alone reminds me of that! Plus it's just awesome to stay up late and sleep in on your own time table haha.
We set out Monday with our Harry Potter audio books and drove down to Arches National Park. We found an awesome mobile home rental in Thompson for $45/night that we rented for two nights. It was perfect. Fully stocked kitchen, washer & dryer, 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, and even wifi available in the middle of nowhere. 10/10 would recommend that place.
We hit up Delicate Arch, Fiery Furnace, Pine Arch, Double Window Arch, and Landscape Arch. Fiery Furnace was probably my favorite because we were scaling and legit climbing rocks, instead of following a paved pathway.
Wednesday we checked out of Thompson and drove over to the Natural Bridges National Monument. It's not nearly as popular as the other national parks in Utah but it's equally stunning!
 |
| In the center of the picture there are some cool Indian ruins |
After Bridges we drove through Monument Valley. We had every intention to stop at the Visitor's Center, but apparently they can close a half hour early whenever they want too. We're not bitter or anything.
We camped that night in Page, just on a beach at Lake Powell. The stars were stunning!
Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to try and get a tour through Antelope Canyon. When I called a few weeks prior they told me that I'd have to book the tour in person, but when we got there we were told we had to book it online? Idk. This is still on our to-see list! We had a slow morning and then headed over to Zion's!
That afternoon we hiked the Emerald Pool's (upper, middle & lower), ran into Kyle's parents and sister on the hike, then since we were racing against the sunset, we headed out to find another campsite.
Unbeknownst to us, it was Fall Break for most of Utah, so Thursday & Friday were way busier in Zion's than we anticipated. To beat the crowds, we got up early Friday morning to hike the Narrows. Kyle tried convincing me to do Angel's Landing but I think I'm gonna need 10 years to work up the courage for that one. The Virgin River running through the Narrows was like 51*. The first quarter mile was really cold, but then our legs went numb and we were good after that!
After the Narrow's we (and by "we", I mean, "I") were so tired, cold & wet, we decided to head on out. We stopped at the BEST Mexican restaurant we've ever been to in Hurricane, then drove up to a hotel in Cedar City. I took a nap, we went to see Suicide Squad at a discount theater and ordered a pizza.
We had plans to go up to Bryce Canyon on Saturday, but we were both pretty tired after a week of hiking. Instead we found an awesome Groupon for a couple's massage at a salon literally two blocks up the street from us, so we drove on home and did that. Now we're completely ruined and will never end a vacation any other way.
It was a great week and we felt ready to go home by the end of it. I think we struck the perfect balance of it being structured enough so we weren't bored, but unstructured enough to actually relax. We had moments of missing our kids, especially when seeing other kids reacting similarly to how our kids would've, but then we thought of trying to encourage them up a hike, or sharing a tent, and we were quite glad they were home ;)
Love you hun! Can't wait for the next adventure.
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