Did we mention cousins?!

COUSINS!!!!! What's better than playing with our cousins that live here? Getting to play with our cousins who don't live here because they come down for a visit. Okay maybe it's not better, but we sure love it.

They were here when we got home from school on Thursday which was perfect because we had a long weekend break because it was Easter!

Iva calls Chase "her buddy"

Friday we headed out to the beach again. There was a lot of sunscreen, digging, and giggling.

We borrowed the stand up paddle board from Grandma and Grandpa. I love the paddle board.

Everybody took turns on it. Including, Dad and Aunt Rachel...together!

Sam loved Mom's early birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa. It's a sand wagon that pulls really easily on the sand. It's fantastic.

Aunt Rachel took these DARLING photos of Iva. They are so cute!

Chase was a good big brother and took us out on the lake. Of course, he was stung by a scorpion later, but luckily it was a tiny sting.

We also dyed Easter eggs which seems to be a tradition that we do with the Preslars each year. 

Mom set up the tent for us to sleep, but then ironically only Cara and I slept out there the whole time. Iva tried, but woke up in the middle of the night. None of the Preslars hung with us for more than an hour. (We loved it so much, we begged Mom to keep up the tent for the next two nights!)

A visit to the lake

It took us much longer than normal to sneak out to the lake this year. But it was worth it! The water was a little chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind at all.

In fact, Sam was angry that he couldn't just go and swim off into the middle.

Managed to get a timed photo of us, Sam was super cooperative.

We figured out how to keep Sam happy. We dug him a hole and filled with water which made him supremely happy.

I tried to get out as far as I dared. The water was fairly shallow so I got quite a ways out.

Cousins...we are so lucky

Living in St. George is pretty great in the spring time, but it's also amazing because of our cousins being so close. We enjoyed a trip to the park one sunny Sunday afternoon.

Even Mom and Aunt Angie got a little silly!

The SHAC triathlon

I competed in my fourth? Fifth? Third? Millionth? Triathlon. I asked Mom to let me do the beginner distance this time and I loved the whole thing. Although it was REALLY hot this time.

Random Cuteness

Most of the random cuteness is Sam. He's at a fun yet totally impossible age. He prefers to snuggle with Mom at all times during the night, during his naps, when he's at all upset. Truthfully, he hates to wake up. Especially if he discovers he's alone. 

All four of these cute first grade smiles are in the same class at school!

Sam doesn't love hats so it was a very random day when he went around as Woody.

And of course, this photo was just because he's so handsome.

Messy face!!!!

Mom attempted to take Iva, Allie, and Sam to Chili's on a double date with Dad and some friends. It was DISASTROUS . She ended up going home and sending this photo to them about 30 minutes later. (To be fair, it was a really late date night!)

Conference Weekend

Oi vey. We will never be caught up on blogging, but that's okay because the (two) people who I know that consistently blog also complain about the same thing! Ha! I have given up all semblance of back posting my blog too.

Conference weekend (the very first weekend in April) was delightfully beautiful. It was warming up and it felt like Mom and Dad just had time for us.

We ate bacon and hot dogs. Okay only some of us did that. Cara won't touch most meat, but the girl loves her bacon.

Mom figured out how to hook the trailer up to her bike that she's been borrowing from a friend and we got some time in with Sam and Iva coming along.

Sunday morning we walked our dogs down to the new park that's near our house. It was a magical morning and we had a good thirty minutes to ourselves which was unheard of. Dad hadn't been there yet and it was just a good time.

We enjoyed some yummy ice cream treats when we got home. Mom had ended up taking us home rather abruptly because she suddenly got it in her head that we should go visit the Grand Canyon. We hurried home and loaded up the car.

Mom had the forethought to check the roads to the North Rim though and discovered it was closed until May 14th. We ended up risking Zion National Park which was a great idea. We beat the huge afternoon rush and were able to make it on the East side with very little difficulty. We loved going through the tunnel.

Mom was trying to take pictures of the mountain goats that kept crossing our path. 

We pulled off to the side kind of on a random pullout and just started hiking. We came across a fun path. It crossed a wash that was flowing with water.

We managed to get a family photo!

These cool rock formations were why we stopped to hike here. It was fun to get on top although it was a little dodgy on the edges where it looked like the flakes could break!

And of course the best part of conference weekend:

Cara lost her front teeth!! Woohoo!! This is Mom's favorite kind of kid smile!