This morning, after a delicious breakfast of pancakes and fruit, we headed off to Cedar Breaks and Cascade Springs to do a bit of hiking. (Mid post note here: Having the conference room at our disposal was great. We used it as a food prep/serving area, storing coolers, crock pots, cutting boards, and all our comestibles there. The only downside to the whole thing was that we had to do dishes in the bathroom, sneakily. But it worked.) Most everyone came along for hiking. The view over Cedar Breaks is terrific. Brandt and Blythe were pleased to be with their older cousins, especially the Brinkerhoffs. They are the cousins closest in age, and they miss them. Jace and Lydia were so good to them, including them, laughing with them, letting them tag along. Clearly, the affection runs the opposite direction, too.
Lots of bunny ears sprouting up.
Must be something in the Cedar Breaks air.
From Cedar Breaks, we drove over to the Cascade Springs hike, a short hike to a spring that is fed by Navajo Lake and spills out of the rock. Not a difficult hike, but a beautiful view into Zions National Park, and a hike the Barri have done since they lived in Cedar City lo these many years ago. It was cool, and so fun to be all together.
Small Blythe with big cliffs.
This was, perhaps, the most water we've ever seen gushing from the rock.
Not everyone did hiking.
Brenda, Alexandra, Michelle, and "babies" Alice and Mina, stayed behind and swam.
Having hiked and seen the view, we returned to the hotel and gathered on the outdoor patio to talk and play games. There were open gas fire pits we sat around, and we laughed and talked and talked and laughed, with Brandt and Blythe fully engaged with cousins. This time to connect was so terrific. It felt so good to share with nieces and nephews, sisters and brothers, cousins and loved ones all.
While most of us played games outside,
some of us played games inside.
After dinner, we gathered to do several more activities all together. Brenda and David has put together a Kahoot, a multiple choice game that can be accessed via web browser, so everyone was able to see the questions and try and answer the fastest. The questions were all about George and Merlynn, their marriage, family life, and history. Kent knew all the answers and was fastest on the replies.
After Kahoot, we had a wild game of Charades. We divided into three teams, and the team who guessed the most correct answers won. Sadly, Charades is not Brandt and Blythe's game. Yet. They looked at lots and lots and lots of cards, but didn't act out more than about two each. We should probably work on their creative acting skills a bit at home. We did have a great time and laughed and laughed at everyone's actions.
Cammie had brought six small puzzles, maybe 40 pieces each, and we had team races to see which team could put their puzzle together fastest. Cheating was rife! Some puzzles seemed easier than others, but everyone had a great time. I didn't get any pictures of the puzzle race because I was too busy doing puzzles!
Our last activity for the day was to put together personal hygiene kits that Alexandra and Joel will deliver to a humanitarian group in Mexico that's helping families stuck at the border, or something. But kits. It's always nice to give back to those less fortunate than we.
Round and round we go.
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