Two months ago in the midst of Utah's bitter cold we decided to try our luck out with sunshine and warmth in St. George. The only snag in our plan was we picked the one weekend of the year that Mother Nature decided to pound Southern Utah with cold, rain, and snow. But since we'd already booked our hotels we decided we'd take 40 degree weather and rain over 20 degree weather, horrible air quality, and snow. Plus, for two weeks Pearl had asked if today was the day we finally got to go swimming and jump on the beds at the hotel. She loves, loves, loves hotels! Mostly because she thinks they consist of grandma and grandpa coming to visit and getting to run amuck in the hotel swimming pool and breakfast areas.We headed out Thursday afternoon, admittedly a bit worried that Pearl wouldn't make it the entire drive without having a meltdown and trying to squirm out of her car seat. She did awesome though! We didn't even break out the DVD player down or back.
We stayed in Cedar City the first night (with about two feet of fresh, wet snow) and as soon as we had thrown our suitcase in the room and jumped on the bed, headed over to the pool. Well, Jeff and Pearl headed to the pool. For some reason my swimming suit doesn't fit anymore (not that it was flattering beforehand) so I supervised the splashing from a lounge chair. We had a great visit with my cousin Bryan, his cute wife Chandi, and their baby girl Andlie over dinner. I totally spaced pulling out my camera while we were with them so you'll just have to go here to see how cute they are. Besides being able to jump on the beds and go swimming, Pearl's next favorite part of vacation is eating breakfast at the hotels. I must say the Abbey Inn in Cedar had one yummy breakfast and great rooms!
Since we couldn't check into our next hotel in St. George until the late afternoon, Jeff suggested we take a detour through Zions. We'd never been there in winter before and I must say, even with the cold and slush, the park was beautiful! The snow on the mountains really showed off all the different layers, rocks, trees, and ledges. The only drawback was not being able to hike around. 
We ate at the lodge and Pearl got to pick out a bag of rocks for being so good with all the driving. Then we drove through the tunnels at the park and Pearl was beyond herself with excitement! She kept jabbering about the tunnels for days and told us she wanted to back to them on several occasions. With only a few cars in the park, we were able to just turn around and go back through them a couple of times to satisfy Pearl's pleadings.
Realizing our delay to go swimming was quickly getting old for Pearl, we headed to St. George. When we got to our hotel we found out they didn't have an indoor pool like we thought! Talk about disaster!!! Seriously, when you've got a two year old with a new pink, polka dot swimming suit and little understanding of the word "no," it was quite upsetting for all of us. Jeff booked a new room at another hotel in St. George for our final night and we made a list of alternate activities for the evening. Bowling won out. I really thought Pearl would have found bowling more fun than she did but I blame her lack of enthusiasm to finish the game to hunger. She did pretty good though and told everyone she won (the scores proved otherwise). And she kept telling us her shoes were cute... ick gross! We jumped on the bed, watched a movie and once again battled Pearl to actually fall asleep.
Another delicious hot breakfast in the morning gave us just the energy we needed to do some shopping. Why is it that no one makes cute maternity dresses for anyone taller than 5'7"? At least I did find a fat suit as I refer to my new swimming suit. It's actually cute I think, that is if you're attracted to women with huge bellies, swollen ankles and faces, and that "glow" if you know what I mean. After shopping we visited my grandpa and grandma who have become "snow birds" traveling to warmer weather in the winter and then back to Cache Valley for the cooler summers. We had a bit of a mix up with schedules, more like a three hour mix up, and ended up not being able to visit with my Uncle Randal and Aunt Venice for more than a few minutes before hunger drove us to dinner. I wonder if Jeff and I will always want to eat at the Golden Corral when we're old? Oh well, at least there's a variety of food and Pearl can have ice cream. 
Another round of swimming, this time with me playing with Pearl in the pool and Jeff relaxing in the hot tub (boo to not being able to soak in the hot tub due to the risk of boiling The Boy), jumping on the beds, and eating an entire bag of popcorn (that was just Pearl... she is a popcorn eating machine) left us all pretty worn out. 
We got up a bit earlier than the previous three days to get in one last round of swimming before heading home. We drove to Kolob Canyon to check out some more gorgeous scenery. Jeff took this AMAZING photo (the first one at the top of the post, not this one below that I took, - wouldn't want anyone to miss it with my ramblings) that pretty much sums up the beauty of the parks in the winter. 
Four days of family fun about did me in. It was great to get away but man does it wear a pregnant woman out! We had a great time and Pearl told all her friends at school about jumping on the beds and swimming. At least this way she can't say we've never done anything fun when she's a teenager! Let's just hope that she still finds staying in hotels as fascinating then as she does now.