It is the first week of April and finally Spring Break but this is what it looks like outside:
Yes you guessed it, another blizzard came through and dumped 18 inches of new snow on top of what we already had. This was not the way we thought our Spring Break would be. In fact we had planned to take a trip to St. George to thaw out and enjoy the sunshine but the blizzard came through on the day we had planned to leave so we we decided not to risk driving in the snow storm. This has definitely been a long winter and one of record snow fall through out the state. This is good though because when summer finally does come, we will have enough water to get us through the previous drought years.
So rather than calling this Spring Break, we are calling in it our Second Winter Break. The kids, especially Emily, were bummed about not be able to go to St. George and see family but we told them we would make the best of the situation and do some fun things around here during the week. But first we had to dig ourselves out and play in the deep snow.
There was so much snow on the roof we had to cut it off in slices so it didn't fall on our heads or create too much weight on the rain gutters and roof. It was crazy.
Well we were going to plant some flowers or garden things this week but instead we did some Spring planting in the snow.
After burying each other and building a giant fort, we decided to head to town for some indoor fun. We headed to the Jump Zone a big indoor trampoline park.
The kids loved running around and jumping on all of the trampolines. The whole place was full of trampolines, foam pits, a climbing wall, basketball hoops, rope swings and more. It was a great place to get the energy out.
Logan was a monkey doing trick after trick and flip after flip on the trampolines. Colby liked the climbing wall and he and Emily had competitions to see who could climb the highest. Charlotte loved the rope swing and liked to pretend she was Tarzan. Brooklyn just liked running all over the place bouncing off everything.
After the Jump Zone, we went to Al's Sporting Goods to kill time and just look around. While we were there we saw that snowshoes were on sale. The next day we decided to impulse buy 6 pairs of snow shoes and head out on some trails. If you can't beat the snow and winter, you might as well join it for some outdoor adventures.
Snowshoeing is actually pretty fun and I am sad we didn't try it out sooner. For our first hike, we headed up Green Canyon. The trail was pretty well packed which made the trek a little easier. The kids had a good time and even Charlotte kept up and liked the hike. I thought it was easier to go without the poles but the kids liked the poles for balance.
This was also a good workout for our legs! The best for me was being outside and seeing nature in its winter coat.
Yes these snow shoes were an impulse buy, but it was way worth it. We all had a good time and I think this will become a new winter hobby for us for years to come.
The next day we decided to hit the trails again in the snowshoes. This time we went up the Blacksmith Fork trail. This was a more difficult hike because the trail had not been blazed and was pretty deep. We were the trail blazers so we did not go very fast. It was still a fun hike though.
It sure is different hiking in snow than hiking in the summer. The cool thing was we were not even cold. A few minutes into the hike we stripped our big coats and were walking in short sleeves. It was definitely warmer this day than it had been the last few days.
We saw a lot of wildlife while on this hike which was nice. First we saw some cow elk on the mountain side opposite from us. A little farther up the trail we saw a whole herd of deer on the opposite hillside. These guys were just right out in the open enjoying the warmer side of the mountain. On our way back to the truck, we saw this beautiful bald eagle flying around and then it land on the top of the cliff. It was cool to see this big majestic bird.
When we finished our hike, we drove to the American West Heritage Center to pick up Emily. She decided to volunteer at the Baby Animal Days instead of going snowshoeing with us. While we were there we decided to check out all of the baby animals. Because of all of the snow and muck, the big Baby Animal Days festival was moved to Memorial Day so there were just a few baby animals at this smaller day.
Brooklyn's favorite had to be the baby ducklings. Charlotte also loved the chicks and ducklings. The bigger kids liked the baby turtles. Brooklyn did not like the baby turtles I think because their little claws scratched her hands. We all liked watching the baby bears play around in their cage. They were all so cute!
Some fun news we received this week was that we found out Tyler and Ashley are going to have another baby girl! She is due in October and Mavis is so excited. Congratulations Tyler, Ashley, and Mavis!
Well there you have it, our snowy "Spring" Break.
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