Zion, Kolob and Bryce Canyons, fall 2011

Well it's been a while since we updated the good old family blog.  We figured with gorgeous pictures of Southern Utah's National Parks well worth sharing, now was the time.  

Over school fall break we took the kids to visit the wonders of  Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.  On the way down we stopped at Kolob Canyon - the norther part of Zion NP.  We did a short hike that evening. Stunning views. 

 The Virgin River, Springdale Utah at sunset.

 Hike to Emerald Pools

 Lookout at Emerald Pools.  The last time we made a trip to Zion as a family we took a picture in this same spot:

Things have changed a little in the past 12 years.

Here's our recreation of that picture in the same spot.

Stop for ice cream at the Zion Park Lodge

We were lucky to be able to meet up with my parents, my brother Jim and my sister Laura with husband Bret and baby Ethan for our time in Zion. Made it very fun.

Hike to Weeping Rock 

 

A swim at the motel pool after a day of fun hikes.

 

Saturday morning before we headed to Bryce we went on one more hike in Zion to the overlook of the canyon.  

We were so glad to have my dad with us one the hikes to help corral David who was a very enthusiastic hiker.

 Stunning view from the top.

After leaving Zion we made a quick stop in Kanab where many of my (Amy's) ancestors settled. This is a statue of one of them, Levi Stewart. One of his daughters married David King Udall.  It's appropriate that his great-grandson, Stewart Udall (who was Pres. Kennedy's Sec of the Interior), played a big roll in preserving a lot of land in southern Utah as National Parks.

Another stop at Bryce Canyon on the way home.  By this time our kids were kind of 'hiked-out' so we just admired the spectacular scenery.

I definitely want to make another trip and just focus on Bryce. One thing we noticed at both parks were the variety of license plates from all over the country + Canada, not to mention the variety of foreign languages we heard spoken.  People from all over, and this is all in our home state. We felt pretty lucky.

Good times had. And the kids were awesome on the hikes AND in the car. I foresee a 'golden age' of road-trips in our future for the next few years.  Looking forward to it!  If you just can't get enough of  these pictures there are more in this web album. :)

Summer Trip to Maryland

I am incredibly behind behind on family blogging. So I'm going to start doing web albums to catch up a bit.

We just got home from our family trip to visit Michael's parents and brothers in Maryland! We loved it!

There are many more pictures at this web album (click HERE).

Mr. Smart goes to Washington. . . and takes his family

During our trip to Maryland we decided to take the kids on a day trip to Washington DC. And of course the day we planned to do it was by far the most hot and humid of our visit. Oh well. I think that's part of the aura of the National Mall in August. Sweaty tourists. Glad we could blend in.
Me trying to take a self-portrait in front of the Supreme Court building across the street. No major protests while we were there. In fact Congress had gone home, so a lot of Washington was on vacation.
I purposely asked a guy carrying a nice camera to take a family picture in front of the Capitol building with our camera, figuring he'd do a good job. This is take #1.

Here's take#2.

By then our kids were getting restless in the heat, so we settled for this.

Then it was off to the free, air-conditioned fun of the Smithsonian Museums. The girls and I went one direction to the National Gallery while the boys headed across the Mall to the Air and Space Museum.

Mom in front of her favorites: the Van Gogh's.

The girls were great as we ran fast past a lot of famous art. I took them to the NG for the first time when they were 4 and almost 2. Then we went again two years ago. Each time I always love how much they enjoy it and their raw reactions to great art. Except now it is more familiar to them and they had favorites they were looking for. They are going to be quite the art officianados.
Can I just say how much I love the National Gallery? Not just because it's free either.

Then we met up with the boys and headed to:

The Natural History Museum!

Emma really liked the minerals and gems. Especially the Rubies - her birthstone.

By then most of the kids were museumed-out, so Michael dropped Catherine and I off to run through the American History museum for half an hour while they drove around the Mall in the air-conditioned car, eating sandwiches.

Our last stop was the World War 2 memorial. By this time Cath was done, no parking spaces to be found and so it was my turn to drive some rounds of DC [we waved to Sasha and Malia a couple of times as we drove past the White House] while Michael took the boys. This memorial is so gorgeous. We both had grandfathers who served in that war and we always feel grateful for them when we visit. And fortunately for Spencer, there was nice cool water.

And then, we went home before we officially melted.