We left the next Sunday after church and got to Vegas that evening. We stayed with Kathy and Don and it was nice to be there without having a million other things to do. We visited some friends that evening and then put the kids down. (Took foooorever to get them down - vacations with little kids are seriously rough when it comes to sleep! - but eventually it happened at like 10pm - ha!)
The next morning the weather was kind of mild (SAD that living in Phoenix has made me think Vegas July weather is mild!) so we took the kids to the park by Kathy's house. They loved it! Then we squeezed in a quick nap for Joshua before heading to lunch at The Shake Shack (yum!) and then to the children's museum. Kathy came with us and the kids loved having their grandma there for all the fun.
The kids spent hours there and could've stayed for like 3 days straight. They seriously had SO much fun there! It was great for all ages and it was fun to see how magical everything was to them. They had a TON of themed rooms and we had to drag the kids out of each one just so there would be time to see them all!
how adorable are these "raincoats" for the water room?!
After we got back to Kathy's we ate a quick dinner and then got the kids ready for bed while Michael went to a jiu jitsu class with a bunch of his Vegas friends. He loved being able to do something he loves with some of his oldest friends. I think it's safe to say that Michael is a big jiu jitsu fan. ;-)
It was another nightmarish night of trying to get the kids down (well, mostly just Kate and Joshua, ha) but eventually it happened and then the next morning we left for Utah! We stopped in St. George first to see my Hales grandparents. They are in assisted living there now and their place is actually pretty awesome! They even took us to lunch in the dining room there and we got burgers and chips. It was so so good to see them again. I wish I'd gotten a picture with them both in it, but I'm happy with these too:
We then stopped at Swig (yummmmmm) and headed up to Provo. We were going to meet friends for dinner at their house (between Provo and Salt Lake) but we had an hour to kill so we stopped at BYU. I was practically giddy being there again. It is so different (tons of new buildings!) yet so similar and familiar. We walked through the Wilk and the BYU bookstore and Michael ran into his favorite professor! Such good luck, especially since we were there in July! Anyway, we then headed to the Shipp's house for dinner. Trevor was Michael's first companion on his mission and his wife Alex is so fun and nice! They also have two kids similar in age to our kids, so Matthew and Kate had a blast playing with them in their awesome basement toy room. It was also so great to have a home cooked meal. I wish I'd gotten a picture of all of us.
After we left their house we headed up to Salt Lake, which is where we found a smokin' deal on a house to rent for a few days. Actually, let me talk about that for a minute. So when we were trying to figure out where to stay I was saying I wished we could find a hotel for a decent price with more than one room since my kids are the WORST at falling asleep in the same room and then always wake each other up in the morning. Well, Michael looked into Home Away (which is like Airbnb) and found us the best deal ever - we could rent a 2-bedroom house for 3 days for the same price as a middle of the line hotel room! Maybe even cheaper! I can't tell you how wonderful this was! We had a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms! SO SO nice. Joshua was with me and Michael, and then Kate got her own room because Matthew really wanted to sleep on the couch. Haha! Anyway, we put the kids to bed and I sent Michael out to get us some food for breakfasts and some lunches. (Hallelujah for having a fridge, microwave, and dishes!)
The next morning I let the kids sleep as long as they could (which admittedly wasn't that long, haha) and headed back to Provo! First I wanted to go back to Bridal Veil Falls since it's where Michael proposed and I knew the kids would enjoy it. The weather was beautiful and I was right - the kids LOVED it. The walk to the waterfall was the perfect length for them and they loved stopping to look at rocks, bugs, sticks, the river, etc. I also loved reminiscing about all my memories in the Provo Canyon. (Ward parties, hikes, tubing, drives, going to and from Heber/Midway/Park City, and of course the proposal!)
The water at the waterfall is COLD! Like, painfully cold. I'd forgotten that! It's only ever even sort of bearable at the end of August. When Matthew and Kate first put their feet in they started crying, bahahaha. Yikes. Luckily they learned to get through the water quickly and up to the rocks by the waterfall and that helped them enjoy the waterfall more. ;-)
Then we headed to Provo to meet my old friend/roommate Jaimie at JDawgs!! No picture again because I'm lame! But I got to meet her new husband (who's super nice) and it was so so good to catch up. I hadn't seen her in 6 years! Crazy!! Then we headed back to campus. First stop - the BYU Bean Museum! I remember going there as a kid and loving it, and going back a couple times when I was a student. Well, it's totally different now! Completely renovated! Still awesome though. And all the kids definitely loved it.
This bear was licking his lips so we made Matthew take a picture with it because Matthew has a horrible lip licking habit. Haha!
We then went back to the Wilk and the bookstore, and then showed the kids some of our favorite buildings, like the Eyring Science Center. (where I worked my sophomore year at the Pendulum Court Cafe) and the library. Both me and Michael had a few classes in the classrooms at the opposite end of the library, so we took the kids in one of them and Michael played "School" with them.
Professor Dad
We then got back in the car and headed back up to Salt Lake. We dropped off a few things we'd bought at the bookstore at the house and then went to Temple Square, which was pretty close to where we were staying. We parked at the new (well, it's a few years old now but it was new to us!) City Center Mall. Wow!!! Such a cool place! We ate at the food court there, which was good because they also have an indoor play place for the kids. Then we walked across the street to Temple Square. We went into the Conference Center and we didn't really have time for a full tour (it was already after 7pm!) but they took us up to the roof, and it was my first time up there. So pretty!
We also showed the kids the "castle temple," walked into the Tabernacle, (one day I'm going to feel SO old telling people that I actually went to Conference in there when I was a kid!) and went to see the Christus statue in the Visitor's Center.
The sweetest asian man took this picture and his entire (huge!) family was smiling and waving and calling out to Joshua to get him to look. Haha so cute.
And then we headed back to the house, but first stopped at 7-11 for a Sour Patch Kids slurpee. Michael was totally obsessed with them this trip and I think he got one every day of this trip. Haha!
this rug looks like hay in this picture. :-)
And then the kids CRASHED. They were such troopers!!! Joshua barely napped (just a short one on the way up to Salt Lake in the late afternoon) and Matthew had a lot of walking to do. (Kate and Joshua got the double stroller.)
The next day was a fun and busy day as well! After breakfast we headed to Thanksgiving Point, where they now have SO many fun things for kids. We bought a pass that would get us into 4 different venues. It barely cost more than the price to get into one venue, but you only had one day to go to all of them. We definitely had to rush from place to place, but this was the best way to go when you're trying to see it all on a budget... and also when you're pressed for time!
Our first stop was the Museum of Ancient Life. (AKA the dinosaur museum) Matthew had been DYING to get here. It didn't disappoint! So much cool info and of course tons of dinosaur bones and fun things for the kids to see and do. They also got to dig for dinosaurs and dinosaur bones.
Farm County was the next closest venue so we went there next. We didn't spend long here because it was hot and we wanted more time at the other (cooler) venues. We were pretty pressed for time! We did let the kids see the animals really quickly and have their pony ride though, which was free with admission.
We stopped for lunch really quickly at Zupa's (a family favorite) and then went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, which is a children's museum. So fun! Again, so many FUN rooms! Seriously, whoever came up with the idea of children's museums is a genius.
And then we jammed out of there so that we'd have time to go to Ashton Gardens. I wasn't sure how we'd feel about this, but MAN, these gardens are gorgeous!!! We only had time to see half of them but they way exceeded my expectations. It was sooo hot and Michael had to push that stroller uphill on the way back (and it was far!) but it was totally worth it! Ha, well, I guess that's easy for me to say since I wasn't the one pushing. ;-) But I think Michael would agree. So pretty! (The kids were pretty cranky by this point though - they'd been running on very little sleep, and we were constantly on the go!)
These picture don't do it justice. I so wish I could be here for the Tulip Festival in the Spring!
Thank goodness Joshua finally fell asleep for a bit - it was his only nap all day!
Luckily that nap lasted for about 10 minutes in the gardens and then another 20 in the car. Matthew and Kate also took a mini nap - they were SO exhausted!
We went straight up to our friend's house in Salt Lake - the Petersons! We love Mitch and Kelsie and their kids. Such a fantastic family. We met them at their house and then they packed up some food (they're so so nice to feed us!) and we all drove into the canyon for dinner. (I think it was Mill Creek Canyon???) The guys started us a fire and we roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Yummm! Josh's face here cracks me up - that's the sign of a dirty, happy boy! The kids loved exploring the campsite and we loved hanging out and chatting.
That night the kids slept so well. They were TIRED! :-) The next morning we packed up the house and headed for Vegas! We were sad to say good-bye to Utah - we had so much fun! - but excited to see my Winder grandparents, who we stayed with that night. It was so good to catch up with them. I was so happy that my kids got to see both sets of their great-grandparents on my side on this trip. Can you believe they have three living sets of great-grandparents when you include Michael's grandparents? So cool!
The next morning (Saturday) we drove back home. We had such an amazing trip and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go! Until next time Utah!
