St. George trip

There is an old high school friend of mine that is a great photographer (click here to see her website). The only problem is that she lives in St. George. I really wanted her to photograph Anna for her one year milestone, so my mom and I decided to make it a girls trip. Last week we headed down south for a few days of shopping, swimming, pictures, and fun.

On the way down, we stopped in Cedar City and visited one of my best friends Jana. I have known Jana for half of my life, and we have some great memories of drill team and high school together. She is the kind of friend that even though I live miles away from, and even though I may not talk to her for months, we still can pick up a conversation like we just talked yesterday. I love that! I wish I did get to see her more often. Here is my cute Jana with my baby girl.
Jana has a cute daughter Kinley that I know well (she was the flower girl at my wedding), but there are new additions that I had never met. Jana adopted 2 kids (siblings) last year making her family of 3 a family of 5. It was great to finally meet both Tatum and Zac. Here is that spunky little Zac playing with Anna. I had to capture a photo of both Jana and I and our kids (although Tatum is MIA - she was off playing with friends). Love you Jana! It was great to see you!!
Then it was off to St. George. In true "girls trip" fashion, we went shopping before checking into our hotel. Gymboree...Children's Place...Osh Kosh...the outlet stores were calling us!! We found some good bargains and a few way cute clothes for miss Anna when she is older (because God knows she has enough for right now!). My mom found this vest in Eddie Bauer that Anna definitely approved of - she snuggled into it like it was her blankie.
Then it was off to locate our hotel. When we finally located our hotel (my mother had a little trouble with the roundabouts...and there are a LOT of roundabouts in St. George!) we were very excited. I highly recommend staying at the La Quinta in St. George if you get a chance. What a beautiful hotel! Spacious rooms with a fridge and microwave, complimentary hot breakfast, pet friendly, and a great pool area. All for $100 per night! Thanks for paying for the hotel, mom!
Anna thought the hotel room was great. I got her jammies on and she just walked around the room for about 30 minutes checking things out. She loved the mirror on the wall. She kept looking at herself and smiling. Here is her new favorite thing...brushing her teeth...all 9 of them!
The next morning we beautified ourselves and headed off to see Kellie. This is the only picture I got of her cute outfit...hopefully I will have her pictures from Kellie soon! This is one of the first outfits I ever received for Anna - Laci gave it to me when I was hospitalized. It finally fits...and I love it!After pictures, we wanted to enjoy the beautiful sunny day. We had a scrumptious lunch at 25 Main (an awesome little restaurant in the historic district) and then we headed back to the hotel pool. All ready to go swimming!
I think Anna could have stayed out there all day. She had a great time in her floatie.
We rested up and then headed back downtown for a little more shopping and dinner at Brick Oven (yes, there is one in St. George now!! Wahoo!) for the best salad bar, soup, breadsticks and root beer in the world. Then it was time to head to Tuacahn. I had purchased my mom and I tickets to Aida, one of my favorite musicals. If you have the opportunity to attend a show at this venue, TAKE IT! What an amazing theater! Instead of a 2 dimensional back drop like a stage has, this has a phenomenal real life backdrop of red rock cliffs and desert. The open air made for a slightly chilly night, but the whole audience came armed with blankets and snuggled in for a great show. Here is a glimpse of the stage...it was dark when we got there so all of my pictures didn't turn out. I had to steal this off the website.
We had someone snap a picture of the three of us before the show started. We had a few looks when we were bringing Anna in...(you know, the look that says "God I hope they don't sit by me with that baby!")Tuacahn does not recommend taking children under age 3, but they don't forbid them either, and they don't require a ticket. So we decided to be brave and see how Anna would do. She has been very squirmy and busy since learning how to walk, so I really didn't know how she would last for 2 1/2 hours. We came armed with a few quiet toys, raisins, goldfish crackers, and one of the great big lollipops that Brick Oven sells. Well, other than shoving a few raisins in her mouth when she was trying to sing along, we didn't need anything to entertain her. She did AWESOME!! I am still completely amazed at how well she did. From the moment that the stage lit up, she was mesmerized. Even the people around us complimented her on her amazing behavior. She loved the music, singing and dancing - that's my girl!! At intermission, she provided the entertainment for all the senior citizens by walking up and down and up and down the stairs. She was trying to take those wide steps in one single bound.

Anna did just as well through the second act, snuggled with my mom under a cozy blankie. After the show, the cast was waiting to greet the audience. The woman who played Aida was so excited to see a baby, and asked if she could hold Anna. So I had to get a picture! She was gorgeous and had an incredible voice.
After the show...
The car ride back to the hotel was about 20 minutes, so obviously Anna fell asleep. At the hotel, I got her out of the car seat, carried her to the room, laid her down on the bed, and proceeded to change her diaper and put her PJ's on...all without even a muscle twitch from my sleeping beauty. I think we wore her out!
The next day we got up, checked out, did a little more shopping, and then of course had to stop at this place...What a great little trip! I think we might make this a girls trip every year!