Camping in Bryce Canyon

I have wanted to camp in Bryce Canyon the last few years and we were finally able to make it a reality last week. We spent a few days camping at Ruby's Inn outside Bryce Canyon and had a lot of fun! Sof loved spending time in the tent and chasing the squirrels (chipmunks).

We arrived Wednesday in time to set up camp and make dinner. Sooo yummy! We also found a fun train shuttle and I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of the trip for Sofi.

She found a walking stick.

She loved hanging out in this tent. We joked about setting it up in the front room and maybe she would play by herself back home ...

On the train. Greg has crazy eyes ...

She slept good the first night. She rolled off in the middle of the night and her head sounded like a huge rock being dropped on the ground. Luckily she was so out of it, it didn't wake her up and she slept through me shoving her back in her sleeping bag while trying not to die of laughter. 

Sof if getting the hang of taking pictures

Sexiest raccoon hat wearer I've ever seen.

Thursday dawned bright with Sofi waking up at 6:30 am, but it gave us plenty of time to make breakfast and get ready to hike before the crowds. We parked at the Visitor's Center and were bused up to Sunset Point where our hike the Navajo Loop started.

These little guys were everywhere! Including our campsite where they chewed a hole in our tent.

My happy place!

Spritzing her Daddy. 

It's not easy hiking while 30 weeks pregnant.

It was so hot in our tent, but she took a short nap anyway.

Lucky Greg was able to go on a super awesome mountain bike ride all by himself. Sof and I were 40 min late picking him up, but based on his pics he rode through some beautiful country and even had a run-in with Smokey.

True to rainstorms in Southern Utah, when it rains it floods fast. We had just barely finished cooking dinner and loading our plates when the heavens opened. We ate inside the tent while we watched the tarp outside fill up with water. Luckily, our tent really is waterproof. 

Sof was happy to listen to music while her daddy stripped in the background. I had no idea I got him in the shot! 

Friday morning Sofi amazed us by sleeping in until 8:30 am When this little girl wants to, she can sleep! Greg and I were pretty must laying there staring at the ceiling waiting for her. We spent the morning in the park driving around to the different view points. 

Where is Sofi?

This is the town of Tropic. I spent many summers there growing up. it's where my Grandpa Jolley is from and such a fun little town. Just like Cedar City, I'm related to 1/2 of the people there.

Greg had the brilliant idea of taking the bikes into Bryce Canyon and riding the mostly downhill trail back to the Visitor's Center. It was so fun! Sof got her thrill on the bus and we got to cruise past the Europeans stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures of deer. I'm convinced there is no wildlife left in Europe, with how enthralled those people were by the deer and chipmunks.

Greg was tricky and managed to get us all in one shot. Let me just say, that it is not easy to bike uphill 30 weeks pregnant.

Halfway through, we stopped at one of the campgrounds in the Park. 

The original plan was to eat dinner Friday night at one of the restaurants, but due to the fact that they were way too expensive, we ate dinner back at camp and it turned out to be really good! Why does food always taste better while camping? Insead, we went to Old Town and splurged on ice cream. It was worth it.

Saturday was our day to leave. After waking up around 8:00 am, our morning was spent making breaking and packing up our muddy gear as quickly as possible. We then decided to take the bikes back into the park one more time to ride the trail before heading out. We also stopped to get some more ice cream. Sofi was not happy to leave and kept asking to go back and stay "in the tent" (Apparently the french group across the way hadn't bothered her as much as Greg and I). Sof was a trooper and eventually succumbed to a nap, which allowed her to sleep until we got home. 

We had so much fun and I'm so glad we were able to take this little family trip before we become a family of 4 in 10 short weeks.  

Back In Town

The Jolley Reunion was on Saturday, and the last time I think I went to one was when I was 16, and since we were in town I told Greg we were going. He tried to complain, but due to the fact that he's never been to any of my family reunions, he didn't get very far. Lucky for him, Sofi was in need of a nap after eating lunch so he got to take her back to my parents house.

Sofi decided not to nap, so we all ditched the reunion and went to get snow cones. Sooo good! Sof was cute enough to ask, "How's your snow cone Greggy?"

While we were basking in the setting sun, Greg was entertaining himself on my parent's tramp. All of the sudden we hear a pop and Greg's legs are gone. Here is the result.

Skid marks

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! It took everything I had to laughingly tell my dad the story, while he laughed too. He's been trying to find a way to get rid of that tramp for years. Who knew all it would take was one big bounce on Greg's bony knee's. My Dad's only regret is that Greg didn't hit the cat too.

My little sister Shelby was heartbroken, and that may have added to the hilarity of the moment. Shelby was crying, Sofi was crying, Greg was trying to decide if my Mom would kill him or not, and I was laughing like a crazy person. This incident alone made our whole trip worth it.

On another note,

My dad purchased a 1918 Model T and busted it out to wash it Saturday night. It's so cute, that I've already dibsed it. Take that sisters! According to him, I am the first one to "drive" it, which means I sat in the drivers seat to man the brake while everyone else backed it out of the trailer.

'Ruby'

Annual Thorley Cabin Trip

We made the Annual Summer trip to the Thorley cabin, and it did not disappoint. It was high time all of us left civilization for a few days, off the grid in the middle of the mountains.

Per request of Greggy, I snapped a pic of this super awesome corndog catering truck.

As a belated Father's Day 'gift,' Greg braved the Cedar City Megaplex to fall in love all over again ... with another woman. I'm pretty sure he's never looked at me like this.

One of my fire buddies snapped this pic from the Brian Head Fire, and I loved it so much I'm posting it to my blog. Just know that no, it was not super smoky or hot in Cedar City or at the cabin (contrary to Greggy's belief). The wind was blowing in all the right directions.

Greg was thrilled to mow my parent's lawn for my mom and whipped it out like it was nothing. Sofi was thrilled to help. Along with watching the garbage truck every Monday, she has also added staring at the lawn crew. The same poor guy awkwardly avoids our eye contact every week.

Once we leave the pavement and hit dirt roads, it's always tradition to get out of the car seats/seat belts. She was so excited to drive the car "all by 'self."

She napped really well.

"Giddy up Cactus!"

Washing the Ranger after picking Greg up from his Mtn. bike trip

I'll let you guess what Greg is doing here. It inspired Sofi so much she wanted to try.

Watching Moana. All day, e'ery day.

It took a lot of coaxing, but she finally got to ride this little beauty.

Greg is pretty proud of himself for this picture.

Rocking back and forth on the kick stand. The video is funnier ....

Sof helping find the hole in the pond.

Playing in Grandpa's backhoe. Those blue eyes!

Greg was happy to finally have something productive to do. My dad is up there teetering on the edge of the pond in his backhoe. He's much braver than me.

Running back and forth 'so fast!'

Cousins on the swing!

This is the 3rd picture on the bench I have of her. Sadly, she did not want to sit. Oh well.

Super blurry, but 2 pregnant sister's showing our pregnant bellies.

Yummy treats!

She loves her aunt Jess.

The next morning, everyone left but us so we were back to enjoying the solitude while driving the Ranger around. I love Sof in her cute sunglasses.

Checking on the pond.

Super unflattering of me, but Sofi looks cute.

Greg kissed the ground "like he was kissing his sister" going down the zipline. If you can't tell, he's yelling "Think light" the whole way down. "It about ripped his crotch off."

Greg likes this cabin better than ours. Probably because he can sit on this bench and get service. Big Whoop.

My poor dad was on a role. He popped a front tire on his backhoe, broke a window on the same backhoe, and ruined a tie rod on his Ranger. He pulled back up to the cabin right as we were planning to leave, so Sof's bedtime got delayed by about 3 hours. By the time we stuck her in her carseat at 8:00 pm to go back to Cedar, she was beside herself but proved that she is still able to sleep in the car, just has to be dead tired to do it. #WeCanDoHardThings.