VACATION - LAST DAYS

Saturday we planned on going to the the Timpanogos Caves. First we stopped at a huge Cabella's store that Nathan wanted to check out. Surprisingly, I thought is was cool. This particular store had a ginormous display of stuffed animals and it also had a fish pond were you could feed the fish. TO Nathan's delight, we spend a good hour in there. Then we headed to the caves. When we got there, we were told that the waiting period was THREE HOURS. Nope, not waiting that long, so we drove to Park Place, where all the outlet stores are, and did some shopping. Then we sorta poked around Utah and by the time we got home the kids were exhausted and went to bed earlier than usual.
And Sunday was pack up, and start driving home. :( We weren't in Utah nearly long enough if you ask me, but duties called us back home. Well, Nathan anyway. So Sunday we drove from Salt Lake to Great Falls. Monday we drove from Great Falls to Edmonton and spend the night at Kayla's house. Tuesday we sent Nathan home on the bus and the kids and I stayed at my mom's house/the lake for another two weeks of fun and laughter. More on that later.
I really enjoyed the "just our family" time. Nathan and I got to know the kids better, and we re-introduced ourselves to each other! It had been a while since we had spend some good quality time together.
I think, all in all, the trip was a success.

VACATION - DAY 7

Thursday we went to temple square. Another fantastic experience. The kids were already amazed at how many chapels and temples we had seen so far. "Mom, they are everywhere!" "Look over there Mom, there are two chapels right beside each other!" "Is that ANOTHER temple?" But those were washed away from their brains momentarily, as we walked up to the Salt Lake temple. At first, complete silence. And then, as if they had practiced, they all asked if they could go inside at the same time. So cute. We somehow managed to make our way throught the maze of wedding people(sooooooo many wedding people) and went to the south visitor's centre first. This visitor's centre is all about how the Salt Lake temple was made. There is even a 7 foot replica of the temple with an outside wall off so you can see what the some of the temple looks like on the inside. (Of course, this just made the kids want to go in even more) Josh needed to know every detail about how they transported materials to the temple site and how they carved the stone. (there's a shocker). Merynn was entranced by the mini angel moroni. I say mini.......but it was about as tall as Alysha. Next, we made our way through the Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle, and then the North visitor's centre. This visitor's centre is more about the Savior. We spend ALOT of time in there. I was really overtaken by how interested the kids were to look and read and watch every picture, sign and video. Josh and Trentman's fav. video? The one about the 2000 warriors, of course. We then went and had a tour of the conference centre.
One word. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Truly, amazing. Everything about that building is beautiful. We even got to hear soemone playing the GINORMOUS organ. Again, amazing. We had two non members guys on the tour with us and they were from Poland. (Just a neat tidbit) Next we did the Joseph Smith building (awesome) and then our last stop was the beehive house. There was a few more buildings I would've like to have looked around in, but the day was getting quite hot and the kids were starting to show signs of loosing their cools. Guess we will just have to go back. So we went back to the condo and.........went swimming, had a late supper and went to another cheap movie.
This was a day I won't soon forget.

Just a side note. A couple of sundays ago Josh was looking through and Ensign and saw some pictures of the beehive house and was floored that there were pictures of a place that he had actually been in a magazine.

VACATION - DAY 6

Thursday was our "big spender" day. We went to a theme park called the Lagoon. I really love this theme park because not only does it have all kinds of rides, but it also has an outdoor waterpark as well. How fun is that!!?? You get all sweaty from the rides, you just walk over and cool off on the waterslides. Awesome. So off we went. Rides first. Now, I am not a "rides" person. AT ALL. Just the thought of spinning and dropping makes we a little uneasy in the tummy. Luckily, Josh and Merynn were tall enough to go on most of the rides by themselves and they were also allowed to take the two younger ones on the rides they wanted to go on. So, I lucked out. It is more fun for me to sit and watch them have fun anyways. Nathan was a real trooper and went on a lot of the rides with the kids as well, which was also a fun thing for me to watch. I did go on most of the "kiddieland" rides. (yes, I realize I am lame)But we had a blast. Smiles were on everyone. The waterpark was equally fun and they have some very unique waterslides that the two older kids couldn't get enough of.
For about two years now, Merynn has been asking to go on a ferris wheel. Not sure what put the thought in her mind but it has been something she would talk about ALL the time. It just so happens that there is a HUGE ferris wheel at the Lagoon, so after we did all the rides, and all the waterslides, we ended the day with a ferris wheel ride. Nothing but pure contentment radiated off Merynn's face as she sat through that ferris wheel ride. The middle picture I posted doesn't even do the moment justice. A tear actually crept down my cheek for my daughter and the fact that one of her wishes actually came to life. So,so magical.

VACATION - DAY 5

On Wednesday we went to the Hogle zoo. It was a very entertaining day. We saw every animal we were hoping to see except for a hippo. We might have missed it, or maybe there isn't one there. I think the funniest part of the day was when we were walking over to see the monkeys and all of a sudden,we could hear this strange noise.????? Turns out, it was a monkey "singing". Oh man it was funny. We also saw a cute baby elephant which was mesmorizing. It was great to slowly make our way around the zoo and enjoy the weather, the sights and the sounds. I did NOT like the "Night time Terrors" exhibition. Spiders, and scorpions and cockroaches........so freaky gross. The craziest thing was that there were bats just hanging from the trees!! In NO cages!! (insert barfing noise)
It was amazing to realize how majestic and peculiar some animals really are.

After we were done at the zoo, we came back to the condo and went for an afternoon swim. I am pretty sure we could have spend each and every day of our vacation at the pool only, and the kids would have not been happier. They just loved swimming in an outdoor pool. After our swim and supper, we took the kids to go do a little shopping and see a movie.

Another wonderful day.

VACATION - DAY 4

We woke up VERY early tuesday morning and drove. We drove and drove and drove some more. We drove all the way to Utah. Stopping of corse at anything we thought would be interesting. We crossed the border and were officially in the United States.
The kids did surprisingly well for the 12 hour drive we did. Yes, apparently we are crazy. But we wanted as many days in Utah as we could get. We stumbled upon an army surplus store in Idaho which I am positive was Nathan's highlight of the entire trip. He was giddy with excitement as we walked around. Ridiculous, I know. The kids each got a camouflauged shirt and then we kept on driving. We arrived at our condo in Utah at 7:00 at night and quickly unpacked the van and went for a more needed swim in th outdoor pool. The kids were amazed that even though it was dark out, the air was so warm. They had already decided that this trip was awesome.

VACATION - DAY 3

Monday morning we woke up and drove to Drumheller. I had only been there once that I remembered and Nathan had never been, add that to the fact that Trentan is obsessed with dinosaurs and you get an excited crew. As we drove into Drumheller and we started to see all the dinosaur statues everywhere our excitement was seaping out of every crack. First we just HAD to go see the GINORMOUS t-rex that you can climb up and look out of his mouth. So cool. Then we headed to the museum. It was fantastic!! We somehow split up with Nathan taking the younger two and me taking the older two at a slower pace so we could actually read all the information and inspect all the cool experiments. It was fun to hang out with just Josh and Merynn but it would have been fun to see Trentan's expressions too. We eventually met up with each other and did the last bit of the museum together. There were so many neat things to see and investigate. The kids really liked the scale that told you how much you weighed in animals. Example: Rynni weighs the same as a beaver. Nathan weighs as much as a deer. All of us together weigh as much as a moose. Drumheller is really a neat place. I wish I would have researched it a little more cause besides the museum, there are still all kinds of things to do there. We could have easily spend another day there. I guess we will just have to go back one day.
After we were done at the museum, we drove to Lethbridge where we stayed in the Ramada hotel which had a wave pool and two waterslides.
The perfect way to end the day.

(I will eventually post pictures. Nathan downloaded them onto his laptop and he has it with him on the road. So they will have to wait)

VACATION - DAY 1 and 2

Alright, here it goes. Our big trip summer 2010.

We left Saturday and arrived at Wabamun lake to hang out with my fam. It was super exciting cause my lil' sis Rachel was back for a visit. (she lives is Hawaii......I know right?)So after a great day of tubing and kneeboarding and hanging out with cousins, aunts, sisters and parents, we drove to Edmonton to spend the weekend with Nathan's sisters Kayla and Sarah. Sunday we got up and went to church with Sarah and Shawn. It just so happens that they are in the ward that Nathan and I were in when we lived in Edmonton while Nathan was going to school. It seems like so long ago that we were there last and it was really good to see some good friends and catch up. After church, we went to the park while Nathan had a nap and we waited for Kayla to get home from church. After a delicious, yet unfortunately short, supper.......(if you want details you'll have to ask)Kayla had the great idea to take the kids to Hawerlak Park and feed the ducks. So we did. It was a really fun, relaxing afternoon. We took a frisbee and a football and enjoyed each others company. I loved it.

HOME

We are home at last!!! Well, actually we have been home for a few days but who's counting? We had a most wonderful and memorable trip to Utah and then to the lake (which I will get into later) and are back home in one piece. As the weeks passed and I continued to live out of a suitcase, I realized how much my house is a sanctuary for me. One of the best parts of the trip was walking back through my front door. The familiar furniture, the familiar smells, the familiar mattress....Now, don't get me wrong, it was fun to spend a week in the little condo we booked in Utah, and it is ALWAYS fun to be at the lake, but I was definetely anxious to be on my own turf again. The kids could have stayed at the lake for the rest of the summer I'm sure, but I was done. If only I could have brought my sisters and momzy home with me. Then life would be perfect.
It was good to see all of the familiar faces at church today. I love that so many kids came and gave me a hug today. Maybe I make a little bit of a difference?? I feel terrible though because all I wanted to do was visit with my galpals instead of paying attention. There will be playdates this week for sure!!! I need to catch up with my peeps!
So, because I need to write down our trip so we can remember it, I am going to do it throughout the week cause I'm pretty sure I can't do it all in one sitting. So that will start tomorrow.

Just one other thing before I sign off for today:

CONGRATS TO KAYLA AND CURTIS!!!!!

We are so very excited!!!