Emily did the math and figured she wouldn't be visiting her family in Utah for like a year. So when we found a deal on flights that was too good to pass up, we jumped on it.
I dropped Hadley and Emily off at the airport Saturday morning, and they hopped on down to Utah. I would be flying down later to join them.
Hadley enjoyed hanging out by the window and watching the planes takeoff and land.
"Dada makes those."
It's always stressful flying with an infant, mostly because they are so unpredictable. You hope they will behave, but you fear they will just cry the whole time and bother those seated around you.
There was a little of the fussiness, but ultimately she crashed in Emily's arms.
As for those around them? Well, they had their own row.
Adding Hadley to the bunch meant Meemaw Bennett would have all her grand babies for the week. They sure look like a happy bunch.
One of the nights the girls went out to dinner and movie. That meant Dwight was going to watch his two boys and Hadley. Spaghetti was on the menu, with some chocolate pudding for dessert.
She didn't seem to mind the carrots in the spaghetti, and definitely didn't mind the pudding. She really enjoyed spending the evening with her cousins and uncle.
Mostly glad we didn't have to clean that up.
The next day they discovered a park nearby Emily's parents' house where Hadley could run around and swing until her little heart's content.
Also, she wouldn't let go of that plastic turkey leg, so it went to the park with them.
She seems to really love being outside and enjoying the sun. Which makes it easy to take her to the park on nice days.
It also makes it easy because it wears her out. Still, even asleep she isn't letting go of that turkey leg.
Visiting Meemaw also means spending time with Vinnie. Emily and Hadley love Vinnie. Hadley will harass him all day long, and he is very patient with her and just lays there while she pulls on his ears and lays on him.
Living in an apartment makes it hard to own a dog, but as soon as we are able, we're getting Hadley a dog. I mean, look how happy she is.
On Memorial Day everyone geared up and went to the Tacoma Rainiers game against the Salt Lake Bees. Hadley looks absolutely adorable in her little M's hat. Too bad she will only keep it on her head for 30 seconds before trying to take it off.
Hadley was able to have a lot of bonding time with her cousin Thane. When they went to Costco he held her hand for most of it.
Hadley got a lot of Meemaw attention.
I showed up late Wednesday night. Thursday morning we headed down to Panguitch for the rest of the weekend. Emily's sister-in-law, Andrea (Dwight's wife) has a family cabin on a ranch down there where we stayed. After the four-hour drive we got settled in.
Try and guess what she's doing in this photo:
The correct answer is pooping.
We didn't have baby gates for this trip, so we had to improvise.
That evening we drove 10 minutes to a nearby lake. Hadley enjoyed the view, as well as the playground.
"See, Dada, the trick is to not forget to utilize your legs."
It was a little big for her and spaced too far apart, but being the climber she is, I expect her to love something like this in the future.
Friday we piled into a couple vehicles and headed East to Bryce Canyon National Park. We made our way along the rim of the canyon and took in some great views. You can call it a hike if you want, but it was pretty much all downhill.
I don't want you to think I'm some sissy, so I'm going to give you a little background for context. About a week before this trip I had a pre-cancerous mole removed on my upper-inner thigh. The mole was the size of a penny and will leave a 2" scar. I was told not to lift more than 20 lbs for the next two weeks to prevent popping the stitches.
Okay, back to the trip. Hadley hitched a ride with her Pops for this trip.
Remember the cooler baby gate? Hadley fell into it and scraped her face. She would later face plant into a wooden foot rest and bruise her forehead. Oh, the joys of learning to walk.
One of the nice things about these hiking baby backpacks is Hadley falls asleep almost immediately.
"Over there in that pigpen I found a couple Shoshone arrowheads."
Needless to say it wore us out. Emily snapped a photo of Hadley and me catching up on our z's.
More kisses from Meemaw. Hadley got a little attention this trip.
Here's a look at some of the scenery we enjoyed at the ranch. Behind Emily is the fire pit where we had hot dogs the first night, and tin foil dinners the next. Also s'mores.
Hadley enjoyed going around and picking all the dandelions. One even made it in the back of her ear.
Just look at that adorable face. Hadley's too.
Pops made sure to get some raspberries in while he could. It may not look like it, but Hadley is laughing.
Saturday morning we crammed in the cars again and head out to Escalante National Park just a few miles farther East of Bryce Canyon. After driving for what felt like too long on a dirt road, we finally came to where we thought we wanted to go, even though we didn't even really know what it was.
Turns out, this trail took us through little slot canyons. Not as tall or big as what you will find at Zion's National Park, but still pretty cool, nonetheless.
While many were trying to avoid the water, Thane figured it would be easier to just splash his way down the trail.
Had we known we would be walking through water we would've come a little more prepared. As it was, we got a little wet, but our shoes dried up pretty quickly.
Some still tried all they could to avoid getting wet.
It was a very successful trip, something we would definitely do again or recommend.
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