Lava Hot Springs Weekend

We just came back from such an awesome weekend in Lava Hot Springs!

Tyler's grandparents (Tyler is my sister Staci's husband) invited us to stay in their cabin up by Lava. They told us we were welcome to use it anytime. How generous! 

Tyler & Staci helped us to plan a weekend when our family could go and this last weekend was the one!

It only took us about an hour from Tremonton to get there. The cabin was built by Tyler's mom's family and it's so beautiful. I can't believe they built it themselves. We had gobs of room for our family and we all agreed that this is our perfect idea of camping- a cabin with plumbing, TV, kitchen, beds, and A/C out in the woods! No tents for us! :)

We got there Friday and spent the evening relaxing.

Such beautiful scenery. It was so peaceful to sit back and relax and hear the birds and bugs all around us with the fresh smell of the woods in the air.

Drake quickly fell in love with the outdoors, and loved this porch swing on the cabin.

Sasha was in heaven there and was so happy to finally be invited on a family vacation (she usually gets left home)!

Dad immediately got the Razors unloaded and took some of the family for a ride.

 The boys made a fire for dinner and Drake was a great helper. 

 What a breathtaking view for dinner (hamburgers, hot dogs, smores- yum!)

Saturday we slept in and then made a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and OJ.

Then, we headed on a long 4-wheeler/Razor ride around the mountains. It was so much fun!

We were covered head to toe in dirt and dust!

Ty took us to a gorgeous pond on our ride. Drake would only put his feet in at first and was throwing rocks from the bank into the water. My dad said, "I bet in five minutes he'll be soaked." He was right!

Drake had the time of his life playing in the water and finding bigger and better rocks to throw-

What a fun place to wash up and relax. Dad was complete with his Diet Coke in tow. Drake got stripped down to check for leaches (Staci and Hannah had them on their feet!). Rob was the sweetest hubby ever and switched me sunglasses since mine weren't blocking the dust on the road. Good times!

We planned on heading into Lava that afternoon to raft down the river, but we all crashed to sleep after our ride. When we woke up, we decided to skip out on the river and go to the Lava hot pots that night instead. So we played games and enjoyed the outdoors, then made a dutch oven dinner.

While dinner cooked, Staci & I took Drake on a walk. We spent half the time stopping so Drake could color in his notebook and the other half stopping because Drake wanted to throw rocks. haha. We were kind of laughing the whole way and finally decided to just turn around and go back to the cabin.

Then, Aunt Katie helped Drake perfect his rock-throwing even more.

This is ACTUALLY what Drake spent all of his time doing- shooting "Rar-rar bears" and "Rar-rar elks" and rabbits and birds and Sasha and trees, etc, etc. We found little Nerf darts everywhere!

Our dutch oven dinner was so yummy- BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes, salad, french bread, and peach cobbler for dessert.

 We ate outside and enjoyed our beautiful surroundings...

Saturday night, we went to the Lava Hot Pots (I think that's what they're called) which are basically natural hot tubs heated by the earth's core. Some of them were burning hot- it was crazy! We loved it though. It felt so good to soak and get clean after a dirty, dusty day 4-wheeling. Definitely, one of the highlights of the trip. I didn't take my camera so no pictures of those though :(

Sunday, we played games, relaxed, lounged, and enjoyed time together as a family!

Drake! What happened to Grandpa?!

Playing "Fill or Bust"! (Mom & Hannah passed out in the corner)

 Staci is always the best sister to give us all pedicures! 

 We headed home Sunday afternoon and called it an amazing, relaxing weekend!

The easy, quick, little getaways always make for some of the greatest memories!

(This was the first vaca without Hunter and I think everyone did quite well- way to go Mom & Dad!)