st. george spring break

In the dark hours of one Spring morning, my workout crew and I discussed what we were doing for spring break on our ride to the gym. All our husbands had to work, so it was a stay-in-town-and-play kind of plan for all of us. But then we thought-- maybe we should just all go somewhere together. Our husbands could have the nights off for a week... Our friend Katie had a brother-in-law of a sister who rents out a place in St. George, so we went for it! It turned out awesome, and even better than I expected! There ended up being 4 moms, with a total of 17 kids! We thought it might get a little crazy, but it just seemed normal to us. Each mom took care of her own littles, and the big kids did their own thing. The only tragedy of the whole thing was when Ollie cut his thumb on the last day there and had to get stitches.

I was expecting a normal house with a pool and it turned out to be a beautiful, big house with lots of rooms and a full basement. It had a pool right outside the kitchen and a killer view. The house sat on a huge hill and the kids caught lots of lizards and other creatures down there. It kept them busy.

Our room- all the moms/families had their own. I put Franky's pack-n-play in the closet, and Linc and I slept in the beds.

The big boys all slept on the huge sectional- Elliott, Ollie, Ben and Nick. 

Fun dinner!

Smooshing in the hot tub. 

Ollie

Elliott & Ben

movies in the basement

Day 2:

Addie, Elli, Ben, Oliver, Linc, Will, Linds

Every morning we would go for a hike and then come back to swim the afternoon away. It was so nice to be warm in Southern Utah instead of freezing at home. I have never really explored St. George-- it seems like we just pass through it on our way to visit family in Vegas. I loved it! It is a beautiful place and I can't wait to go back! This was at Snow Canyon State Park. We had fun playing in miles and miles of red sand. Pictures never do justice. 

Elliott

Linc

Franky loved the warm sand. This is the first "shorts weather" of the year. We love shorts weather! And I always love when I can feel my babies' chunky legs that have been hidden under long pants all winter. 

Franky was so funny with the sand and loved to crawl around and even started to lay down and "swim" in it. He kept us laughing!

Ollie, Elliott, McKay and Nick- the lizard catchers. 

Most of the big kids climbed this giant hill to run down. 

exploring

Red sand and drool- ha!

Again- Franky just wanted to lay down.

Linc, Ollie, Ben, Elliott

Addie, Elli, Ben, Ollie, Linc, Willy, Linds

Such a pretty place.

The boys loved the pool and swam all day after our morning hikes.

One morning we went to Pioneer Park. There was so much to do there! I was glad we went with people who had been, because we had no idea where to begin. There were giant red boulders to climb.

This was an entrance to a tiny slot canyon the boys climbed. Franky and I stayed out and met them around the other side. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to fit...

Cute Franky at 13 months. 

Ollie and Linc

Linds and Linc

Linc and Ollie!

After hiking the narrow rock, they came out on top and climbed down.

Coolest little house built into the rock.

Inside the house. 

This is what happens when Linc trips and hurts his knee... every single time-- shorts become shorter. 

We hiked to the top of the rock that goes right by the main road. Right underneath us were the huge letters that say "St. George" on the rock. 

This is the dreaded picture that shows Ollie (who is right-handed) carving a stick with his left hand, with my good leatherman pocket knife. I had taken it out to get a sliver out at the beginning of the hike and Ollie kept asking to use it to carve a stick. I told him no while we were hiking, but at the top, I finally gave in. He had asked me the whole hike, and carried this stick with him the whole time so he could carve it. He cut his thumb big time seconds after this shot! He came running to me with blood dripping everywhere saying, "I hate that pocket knife!" over and over. Good thing there were 4 other moms there (Katie's friend had met us there with her kids,) who helped with the situation. We applied pressure and hiked back down the rocks to our cars. Then all the moms took my kids for me, fed them lunch and put Franky down for a nap while I took Ollie to the instacare. They stitched him right up. Poor Ollie. He started getting faint in the room for a second. I think he was hungry and maybe a little blood loss. He did great though. His right thumb will forever have an extra little lump and scar on it. 

Since it was our last night there- we let the kids do some night swimming- so fun!

The doctor said Ollie was fine to get his thumb wet, just not prune wet, super soaked. He chose to keep it out of the water. 

Instagram Pics:

17 great kiddies! 

Fun hanging out with these cute mamas- Anna, Linds, Sini and Katie

Sandy fun.

Love my happy little Franky!

Ollie

Lizard hunters!

Elliott's dream come true.

Crazy huge beetle at the playground.

After Ollie was stitched up.