For the last vacay of the summer, we took a Ford family trip to Brian Head, UT. All the siblings were there except for Casey and Tianna who were closing on their new house. We all stayed in a really nice cabin at the ski resort. One of the evenings we took in a play at the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City. We saw School for Wives. Not Shakespeare, i know, but it was pretty funny and really well done. Ari had to stay at a day-care center across the street that the festival uses each year. I was anxious, but she did great, of course and I got to go check on her during intermission. They were showing a Baby Einsteins video when I got there at intermission and I started to say something, but I decided that her language and social skills wouldn't be delayed too much by just one. And you can't blame the staff for showing it when they have a bunch of little ones they've never met and that are only with them for a couple of hours. On one of the days we headed over to Bryce canyon and even though a lot of our group are direct descendants of Ebenezer Bryce we still had to pay to get in! Oh, well. While in the area we split up into groups and a few people went horseback riding while others rode quads. Me? I shopped! Heather, James, Jeremy and I stayed around the touristy area. We ate at a buffet place in a hotel that was pretty good and spent the rest of the time in the shops. I got a T-shirt, of course, and a really cool piece of petrified wood! I'm a nerd, I know! We also picked up a Christmas ornament. (We get one each time we go somewhere as our mementos.) Back at Brian Head we rode up a ski lift that they open for the summer for mountain bikers. It was really relaxing just looking at the beautiful area and during the ride we watched two storms come straight at us from different directions and listened to the thunder so it was a little exciting too! It was starting to rain by the end so we had great timing. Ari did a great job until I said, "I'm glad I have such a good baby that I don't have to worry about doing things like this with her." Jinx! She started crying about half way up so we sang to her, which helped, and Daddy rubbed her forehead just above her eyebrows and she fell asleep when we were half way down the other side. It went a lot higher than it looked and I think her ears may have been hurting. Poor baby! We also got to see lots of wildlife. The first morning we were there Jeremy, Mom and Dad went fishing and on the way saw dozens of deer including quite a few babies! They said they were all over the road like cattle. We had a few that would visit the cabin also. Down the road a little ways there was a colony of Southern Utah prairie dogs living under the storage units of a set of condos. We hung out with them for a little while. Then on the quad tour of Bryce canyon there were antelope! We all had a blast on the trip and Ari was perfect on the whole trip. Such a big girl!
