Bring on the FUNNY!

I LOVE to laugh.  If laughter really IS the best medicine, then I am the healthiest person alive after this weekend.
We went to St. George for the weekend to see Brian Regan at Tuacahn and I have never laughed so hard in my life.  I was crying and unable to breathe for much of the night and by the time I left I had a whopping headache (lack of oxygen to the brain, I'm sure) AND a stomach ache.  By the end I thought I was going to have to be carried out on a stretcher.  I know that probably doesn't sound very fun but it was a good pain.
And, as if Brian Regan wasn't enough, his opening act was just as funny.  It was a double dose and it's a good thing there was a 15 minute intermission between the two of them so I could regain some composure. I also really appreciate that both of them tell nice, clean jokes so my whole family can enjoy (not that I prefer dirty jokes when I'm alone...but you get the picture).  After the show I made a solemn oath that never again will Brian Regan come to town that I won't be there!  It was sad when it was over...but in reality I was exhausted from all that laughing.
Overall, the weekend in St. George was a much needed mini vacation... We left Braden at home with Tessa (his respite caregiver) and went with my sister and her family.  It was a lot of fun but very short and fast and we were all a little sad that we weren't heading in the other direction towards Disneyland afterwards...

In addition to seeing Brian Regan (definitely the highlight) we discovered a new place to eat called Pirate Island Pizza.  The food was fairly good, but the real reason to go there is definitely for the atmosphere! 

The whole place is decorated up with an awesome pirate theme.  Unfortunately a lot of it was hard to capture with a camera because of how it was laid out.

We ate in a room called "the swamp" and it really did look awesome and swampy. There was even a broken down bridge overhead.  I tried to talk Colby into going up there so I can take his picture but he wasn't going for it.

There were all sorts of different rooms--caves, and a big pirate ship.  It was kind of expensive but everyone must have liked their food because there was not one scrap of it left when we were done.

On Saturday we went to Zions.  We have been there several times but we haven't gotten to ride the shuttle up into the loop because there is no real way to take Braden, so this was our chance.  Unfortunately, everything takes longer than we expected and we ran out of time to see everything...

There were caterpillars EVERYWHERE.  It's funny that Savannah (yeah, that's right...the GIRL) was the one fascinated by the bugs.  She was very worried we were stepping on too many but you couldn't walk without doing so.

Colby did a fabulous job holding up this rock while we all passed.

This was the end of the line...no viewing of the Narrows for us.  The water was running really high and the trail was closed...Not that I want to hike back in the Narrows anyway.  I'm not insane or anything. (Colby is always swatting at flying things...he's not a bug guy)

Saturday night we went Mini golfing in the dark.  Golfing in the dark is fun but lousy for pictures...and considering I am a photo fiend I was really having a hard time with that.
The funniest part of our golf game was the unexpected "guests" joining us on the green....cockroaches.  They weren't on every hole, but enough holes to keep you hopping.  The kids were chasing them with golf clubs...I'm sure as much fun as we were having, the roaches were REALLY having a good time...what with all the giant green mallets chasing them and all.  You'd think we would be horrified but actually it was really funny.  They were darting in and out of bricks probably scared out of their minds.  Casey said "This is fun in a really strange way"...And the highlight was when Parker put his ball down on the mat and didn't realize he was putting his hand down in a whole swarm of them and they all scattered like...well...like cockroaches I suppose.  There was lots of laughing, screaming and hopping around.  It was very entertaining.  And now that I think about it, the highlight was probably when we went to turn in our clubs and Ethan informed the worker that they had a "cockroach infestation".  The golf course was fun but next time I think I'll go during the day before the cockroaches decide it's time to come out and play.
Top the whole trip off with the extremely yummy belgian waffles that the Hampton Inn has added to their breakfast (and have I mentioned how much I absolutely LOVE the beds at the Hampton?), FABULOUS food from Brick Oven, and I can't forget the fountain drink from my favorite gas station in Scipio...they have the best ice ever...and it was a great weekend!