The very last week of Summer we spent on Vacation to Utah. Chris’ dad had let us use his Timeshare so we spent the week in Park City at the Marriott Mountainside Resort. It was a very fun, family friendly resort. The kids were very excited about our vacation because they had waited all Summer for it. They were also excited because their cousins The Herrera’s were going to be joining us in Park City for the week! Grammy and Grampy were also coming too.
A couple weeks before we left Francisco had a seizure and it was discovered that he had a brain tumor. After much thought they decided to send their kids to Utah and California with my parents to enjoy the vacation and to give them some time to get things figured out at home. Luckily Francisco is doing great and just had surgery to have the tumor removed last week. He is expected to fully recover and continue a normal life. It was a blessing that they were able to send their kids during this stressful time. Their kids arrived home a couple days after his surgery.
We left on our trip on a Friday at 4 o’clock. What were we thinking? It took us 5 hours to get to Vegas when it normally takes 3! We made the best of it and the kids were great. When it was my turn to drive I made sure all the kids had headphones on so I could listen to music. Notice the pool noodles attached to their headphones? Well the piece inside that makes it fit on their little heads broke. So when they would wear it it would fall off. Well my brain got to thinking and I cut a pool noodle into pieces and voila it fit perfectly on their heads. It looks a little funny but it works! We drove through the night and pulled into Park City 5 o’clock in the morning, checked into the hotel and pulled the drapes and went to sleep. The kids were great and slept until 11 o’clock the next morning.
Saturday we went shopping and went swimming at the hotel. We were pretty low key since we were still tired from driving all night. Sunday we got up early and went to church with my roomie Meagan who lives in Park City. It was great seeing her and her adorable baby. On Monday we decided to drive down to Salt Lake for the day and spend some time at Temple Square. The weather was iffy and it rained on our way down the canyon. Once we got out of our car it was sunny and hot!
We couldn’t believe how gorgeous the flowers were on Temple square, they were exquisite.
We had lunch and the Lion House Pantry. We enjoyed their famous rolls!
We met my cousin Brian and Carrie and their kids who were also in Utah visiting, at the Beehive house. The kids enjoyed looking into the rooms and seeing how they looked during Brigham Young’s life.
It was so much fun seeing Brian and Carrie and catching up with them. Chris hadn’t seen them in years so he enjoyed visiting. We had so much to catch up on we let our kids play in the grass and we just walked around temple square visiting. Sadly I didn’t get any pictures of us with Carrie and Brian but I did get this one with Caden and McKenna (in the center).
As we walked towards the huge reflection pool I noticed a flip flop floating in it. I commented, “How funny someone lost their flip flop, I wonder how that happened!” As we got closer we discovered it was Kallie’s. Luckily it drifted to the edge and the kids were able to retrieve it. Our boys got a little wet playing in the water.
We thought it would be fun to walk up to the Temple door and take a picture. Libby wanted to go inside!
My mom and dad were married here almost 37 years ago. We had them take a picture with their grandkids (who were there) in the same spot they took pictures so many years ago.
We said goodbye to the Warnicks as they had to head back to Colorado. We took the kids over to the Church History Museum. It was so much fun for the kids to see all the neat things there.
They especially loved the children’s area. I couldn’t believe all the fun things they had for the kids to do there. We could’ve spent hours there. They had an area where you could dress up like a Mexican dancer and follow a large screen that had a person dancing on it. They had a blast.
Even Libby got in on the action. She loved the flowing skirt and refused to take it off.
Carter and Davis enjoyed these huge building blocks.
On Tuesday we went shopping at the outlets in Park City and finished our school clothes shopping. It sounds fun but it was stressful making sure I had the right amount of clothes for each kid and stayed within budget. Our kids were starting school the day after we got home so we HAD to have everything ready. My mom watched Libby for us so it was nice to not have to worry about a cranky toddler while shopping. That evening I got together with my roommates Meagan and Megan. I feel bad I didn’t take any pictures. We had a great time catching up and just being together. I miss them so much and wish I could see them more often. Its amazing to me the bonds that are created during college years. I’ll never forget the times I’ve spent with my roommates and they will always hold a special place in my heart. I can’t wait until we can see each other again. It was too bad Carrie left the day before and couldn’t get together with us. We have yet to all 4 get together since our days at Liberty Square.
The following day, Wednesday, we dropped Chris off at Promontory Club which is an AMAZING private golf community where Meagan works as an attorney. She was so sweet and lined Chris up with a few guys to golf with. While Chris golfed I took the kids to the Park City Farmers Market. It was fun just to walk around, eat samples of cheese, honey, berries, kettle corn and eat delicious corn on the cob.
The kids enjoyed Hula Hooping and Carter surprisingly has major skills!
Then we rode the gondola up to the Canyons resort and back down. The kids thought it was so cool that it was FREE!
Carter has a little obsession with License plates. Wherever we go (especially on trips) he is always on the lookout for different states. He even made a little list once while we were on a short trip. He was excited to see this license plate.
After we were all done at the Farmer’s Market it was time to pick Chris up from golfing. He had a great time and loved the course. It was just beautiful! Meagan made sure he was well taken care of!
The kids had been waiting all week to enjoy the activities at the Park City resort right outside our hotel window. Thursday was the day we had planned on going. We spent ALL day riding the lifts, alpine slides, alpine coaster, zip line, mini golf and rock climbing. It was a blast! The mountains were so green and lush, I enjoyed every ride up the lift.
Maddie came down REALLY slow the first time on the Alpine slides. None of us wanted to go behind her so we all went first and we ended up waiting a L O N G time for her to come down. Once she got used to it she ended up riding a little faster.
The kids all tried the rock wall but Maddie did the best by far. Who knew she was a little climber?
They also had a giant slide
My dad was a trooper and took all 6 kids mini golfing while Chris and I did the zip line which was really fun and definitely not as scary as it looks. My mom stayed in the hotel with Libby while we spent the day on the mountain. She brought her down for a little while so she could ride the merry-go-round.
She cried when it was time to get off.
The Alpine coaster was my favorite. You ride the little car up the mountain on a track that is pulled by a cable. When you reach the top you turn around and fly down on a coaster track. I just love whipping through the trees and winding down the mountain, it definitely adds to the thrill.
There was lightning a few times during the day so they closed the rides and waited 30 minutes for the storm to pass. It was great because everyone went home and when the rides reopened it wasn’t crowded at all!
At the end of the day we decided to make one more run and it was a blast. Here is Sawyer and I riding up the lift.
Maddie at the top. Look at that view!
When we were all done, Grammy made us some delicious hamburgers for dinner and we ate outside by the pool.
We checked out of the hotel Friday morning and headed down to Provo. It was a beautiful drive down the canyon. There is something about driving into Provo. I just have great memories there. It was my first time living away from home, meeting new friends going to BYU, it was also where Chris and I spent the first year of our married life together. There are many fond memories there and my heart feels home when I’m there. We spent the day at BYU and doing Provo things. First things first we stopped at J-dawgs, one of our new favorite food destinations. Then we went to BYU, walked around and went to the bookstore. Each of the kids had $20 to spend and got t-shirts and souvenirs.
Libby got a little stuffed cougar.
My future BYU students
Carter and Chris enjoyed playing with his new football out on the grass. He’s pretty good at catching Chris’ bombs.
We checked in at our hotel and rested up a bit before heading to dinner at our all time Provo fav- Brick Oven. The place has good food and even better memories.
The next morning we packed up and headed up to Alpine for the Davis Family reunion which is held once every two years. It was so much fun to see all my Davis cousins and their adorable kids.
Libby enjoyed her freedom and roamed around eating off peoples plates and finding candy. She was very good despite her lack of getting a nap.
We had a talent show and many of the little kids danced and sang. Maddie sang Maybe from Annie.
All the Brothers in law and Uncle Gary sang a satire on a song the sisters always sing, it was cute!
Here’s the women singing the real version of the song.
Then we had the traditional treasure hunt for coins in saw dust. (Is this a Mormon thing?)
Around 4 o’clock we gathered up the kids, said our goodbyes and drove ALL the way home. We drove into the garage at 1:30 am. Went to church the next morning and got all ready for the first day of school the next day! What a fun vacation it was!
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