We started our adventure this year with a stop at Cove Fort to tour this almost 150 year old, well preserved, fort.
We arrived at Mom and Dad's house in the afternoon and, to fill the afternoon, we went swimming at the Beaver Pool and then went up into the mountains. The water was coated with algae so no one even wanted to wade and there were a lot of bugs, but Erik had to go explore halfway around the lake so we hung out waiting for him to come back. It was a beautiful evening and nice and cool up in the mountains - a nice reprieve from the heat of the valley.
Pioneer Day always starts with the Beaver 5K. In years past the route has started from the mouth of the canyon and ended in the center of Beaver - mostly downhill - so we have nicknamed it the "Beaver Downhill". Last year, if you will remember, I won my age category with my best time ever. This year they played a trick on us all. They changed the route and it was half uphill! I wasn't prepared and only came in 2nd in my age group. :-) It was a nice course and I will be prepared next year! Nicolas and Yuki ran it too. Yuki came in 3rd in his age group. Jared's broken toe was not healed enough for him to really run the race, but he walked/ran with Nicolas. After he took this picture he stayed with Nicolas while I ran ahead. And yes, Nicolas did run in jeans and watershoes. We can't get those articles of clothing off his body.
After the run is the parade. A great small-town parade, the kids end up with a shopping bag full of candy. The fire truck signals the end of the parade, spraying huge streams of water in the air for all the spectators to play in. I love this picture because it is so joyful. It was a VERY hot parade day and the water was much appreciated. Even Jared got into it with the kids.
After the parade we go to the park in Beaver and have lunch and then we always head to the Beaver Swimming Pool for the "free swim". It was very crowded and we didn't get to stay too long because they had to have people leave to allow more to come in. We all had a great time though - even Dad came in the water with us!
After the run is the parade. A great small-town parade, the kids end up with a shopping bag full of candy. The fire truck signals the end of the parade, spraying huge streams of water in the air for all the spectators to play in. I love this picture because it is so joyful. It was a VERY hot parade day and the water was much appreciated. Even Jared got into it with the kids.
After the parade we go to the park in Beaver and have lunch and then we always head to the Beaver Swimming Pool for the "free swim". It was very crowded and we didn't get to stay too long because they had to have people leave to allow more to come in. We all had a great time though - even Dad came in the water with us!
The next activity on the agenda was a "barbeque" in the park with Alison's family. We have always had activities with Alison's family too and since this is "their" town, they run the evening barbeque and invite us. I love family and extended family and extended, extended family!! Yuki discovered exactly how big we grow people in America. This picture is so funny; it looks photo-shopped with the huge discrepancy in sizes - and Yuki is standing on his toes!! Jared Lowe is Alison's nephew and he is 6'8" at the time of this picture. At the time that I'm typing this he might be taller. ;-)
This year the highlight of the barbeque in the park was taking rides in the antique cars. Kitty corner to Pioneer Park is a house that had about 10 antique cars parked along the road. Christie took her boys over to see the cars and soon most of the family trailed after. The guy who owned the cars was excited for the attention and gave everyone ride after ride after ride. It was great. Meanwhile, Dad played soccer with Yuki, Jared and Jeff entertained Christie's youngest, Jack and Erik, of course, climbed trees.
Pioneer Day in Beaver always ends with fireworks. Mom and Dad's backyard is the best viewing loacation. Alison's family comes over at dusk and we hang out waiting for the fireworks. This year Mom has a very friendly neighbor horse that the kids had fun feeding. Even Yuki fed the horse a carrot. Bet he's never done that before!
We played with sparklers and, of course, had to make a pyramid. That seems to be the new tradition.
Erik wanted to be part too, but we only had Kennedy to be on the top so the pyramid is a little lopsided . . .
Sunday we were off to Bryce Canyon. Another must do - everyone has to pull off and stop at Red Canyon to take a picture. It's kind of funny. It's a beautiful little canyon, but we are always on the way to Bryce and don't want to take the time to explore so we pile out of the car, pose for a picture and jump back in the care to continue on. Makes me laugh. So here's our funny picture of Red Canyon this year.
And then we were at Bryce Canyon. This is our favorite place to go in the summer because it is a high canyon and so usually cooler. Not this time. It was so hot! We hiked Navajo Loop and although it was Mom that we were worried about, with the heights, it turned out that it was Dad who scared me to death. Mom was fine with the heights this time, not even getting nervous, but Dad was really showing his age and had to stop so frequently to catch his breath that I was afraid I was going to have to carry him the rest of the way up. Note to self, don't let Dad do that again.
After Navajo Loop we picnicked at Sunset Point and then drove to Bryce Point. It is a beautiful lookout and one end of the Rim Trail. I love the Rim Trail and talked Yuki, Jared and Nicolas into doing one last hike while everyone else drove to meet us at Inspiration Point. I ended up piggybacking Nicolas most of the way, but really enjoyed the hike and we got this great photo on one of the fins.
Our day at Bryce was over and it was time to head home. One more tradition, stopping to take a picture at the entrance to Bryce Canyon. I wonder how many of these we have now?
This year the highlight of the barbeque in the park was taking rides in the antique cars. Kitty corner to Pioneer Park is a house that had about 10 antique cars parked along the road. Christie took her boys over to see the cars and soon most of the family trailed after. The guy who owned the cars was excited for the attention and gave everyone ride after ride after ride. It was great. Meanwhile, Dad played soccer with Yuki, Jared and Jeff entertained Christie's youngest, Jack and Erik, of course, climbed trees.
Pioneer Day in Beaver always ends with fireworks. Mom and Dad's backyard is the best viewing loacation. Alison's family comes over at dusk and we hang out waiting for the fireworks. This year Mom has a very friendly neighbor horse that the kids had fun feeding. Even Yuki fed the horse a carrot. Bet he's never done that before!
We played with sparklers and, of course, had to make a pyramid. That seems to be the new tradition.
Erik wanted to be part too, but we only had Kennedy to be on the top so the pyramid is a little lopsided . . .
Sunday we were off to Bryce Canyon. Another must do - everyone has to pull off and stop at Red Canyon to take a picture. It's kind of funny. It's a beautiful little canyon, but we are always on the way to Bryce and don't want to take the time to explore so we pile out of the car, pose for a picture and jump back in the care to continue on. Makes me laugh. So here's our funny picture of Red Canyon this year.
And then we were at Bryce Canyon. This is our favorite place to go in the summer because it is a high canyon and so usually cooler. Not this time. It was so hot! We hiked Navajo Loop and although it was Mom that we were worried about, with the heights, it turned out that it was Dad who scared me to death. Mom was fine with the heights this time, not even getting nervous, but Dad was really showing his age and had to stop so frequently to catch his breath that I was afraid I was going to have to carry him the rest of the way up. Note to self, don't let Dad do that again.
After Navajo Loop we picnicked at Sunset Point and then drove to Bryce Point. It is a beautiful lookout and one end of the Rim Trail. I love the Rim Trail and talked Yuki, Jared and Nicolas into doing one last hike while everyone else drove to meet us at Inspiration Point. I ended up piggybacking Nicolas most of the way, but really enjoyed the hike and we got this great photo on one of the fins.
Our day at Bryce was over and it was time to head home. One more tradition, stopping to take a picture at the entrance to Bryce Canyon. I wonder how many of these we have now?
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