Three days, three hikes, two national parks and one national monument

We took advantage of the opportunity provided by Labor Day weekend to get out of the heat of Las Vegas and visit some amazing places in Southern Utah. Our first stop was meeting Grandma & Grandpa Brough in St. George for lunch. Nora loves them so much, and calls them both "Buff" (that's how she says Brough).

Then we continued to Cedar Breaks National Monument and took a 2-mile hike around the rim. It was windy and 64 degrees, compared to 104 in Las Vegas that day.

Nora absolutely loves riding in the backpack. She talks non-stop to her daddy as they go.  

We stayed two nights in a ski lodge in Brian Head, which is not far from Cedar Breaks, and about a 90-minute drive from Bryce Canyon. The lodge was great, and had an indoor swimming pool that Nora is still talking about.

We spent most of Sunday at Bryce Canyon National Park. It's characterized by red rock and hoodoos, tall skinny spires of rock. We hiked about 5 miles around the rim of the canyon.

Giving Daddy a hug.

At Sunset Point

Nora looks pretty tired, but Mike is the one who should be tired after carrying around this 26-pound toddler all day. (I had the comparatively easy job of carrying our water, lunch, sunscreen, and camera.)

On Monday we left Brian Head and drove to Kolob Canyon, a branch of Zion National Park that's between Cedar City and St. George. We hiked a couple of miles and it was just a gorgeous day.

There are several more national parks in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California that are all fairly close by. We're planning our next long weekend already. Will it be the Grand Canyon? Yosemite? Or Death Valley? So many options.