Family Reunion in Bryce Canyon

Last weekend we spent 4 days in Southern Utah with my extended family on my dad's side. These were much anticipated events when I was growing up. I remember many a summer spent at these reunions: We would fish for crawdads (which was really easy when you had a piece of bologna at your disposal), play around the camp fire, eat watermelon till my tummy would want to burst, play games in Aunt Willie's camper (spoons was my favorite), and explore underground caves (I think it's called Hole in the Rock).

This reunion was packed with fun memories as well. We took the scenic route to Bryce Canyon by way of Cove Fort. The kids learned about Ira Hinckley and the way of life for those living in the Fort.

We stopped at Big Rock Candy Mountain and bought rock candy of course. Then we continued our drive and enjoyed the scenery of Red Canyon. We finally pulled into Ruby's Inn and set up our tent and had dinner.

I doubt you want a play by play, but for posterity sake let me do a quick summary: We ate, swam, hiked, got stuck in a downpour in the canyon, did crafts, shot some clay pigeons, whacked some pinatas, visited with aunts, uncles, and cousins, swam some more, skipped rocks across the pond, climbed on the big rocks, went shopping, DH watched the sunrise over the hoodoos, hiked some more (this time it didn't rain and we hiked the Navajo Loop), then we drove home (only we took the short route this time). We got a little sunburned, I had one major panic attack (hiking with 5 kids is stressful), but most of all we enjoyed ourselves and made some great memories.

I couldn't limit myself to just a few pictures, so I made a slide show -