Everyone always looks their best on Sundays. It is the only day of the week that I can get it together enough to style everyone's hair. Because we were actually early getting ready for church yesterday (this hardly EVER happens) I took a few pictures. The one of Rachel made me look twice. I felt like I was looking into the future. She looks so grown up in that shot. I'm hoping that it was just a trick of light and camera. I'm not ready for such a grown up girl!
Allie attended a summer ballet workshop. The theme of the workshop was The Wizard of Oz and she had her performance this weekend. She danced the dual role of munchkin and flying monkey. As part of the workshop the ballet students made all the props they used for the performance. They made headbands with ears to represent the flying monkeys. After the performance Allie commented that the ears on the headband made them look more like flying mice. She was right.
I sort of felt like a modern day Pioneer as I loaded up my Honda Pilot to make the 700 mile trek across the desert to Salt Lake City, Utah. We kissed Lance good-by and started off. Since I moved to Los Angeles 10 years ago, I haven't had the opportunity to drive to Utah and back in a car with three kids, by myself. It wasn't too bad on the way there. Jackson didn't scream that much, unless he was awake. We met up with with Lance's sisters Jamie and Jill who were also driving to Utah without their husbands so I wasn't afraid of blowing a tire or having engine trouble. The only semi-scary incident was in Fillmore where Rachel stepped into a mud and hornet infested patch of grass. Luckily, she didn't get stung, just dirty. We finally made it to my mom's house and I was SO GLAD to be home at last. I hope that is the closest thing to a pioneer trek that I ever have to experience. We had a fun-filled two weeks and then loaded up again and drove back to Los Angeles, this time with my mom with us to help ease the pain. The following posts chronicle our adventures.
Thanksgiving Point is so much fun, when it isn't 2 dollar Tuesday. We decided that we were there trying to save money on 2 dollar Tuesday along with about 2 million other Mormons. We went to the dinosaur museum and the children's gardens. The kids loved both places and I only felt like running from the building screaming about 20 times. Do you notice a 2 theme in this post? Oh yeah, it was also about 200 degrees outside.
If you like to jump on trampolines, or if you like to tire your kids out so they go to bed really early, JUMP ON IT is the place for you. Located in Lindon, UT they have about a billion trampolines all lined up next to each other so you never have to stop jumping if you don't want to. You probably will want to after about an hour because you will be all sweaty.
We found two really fun places in Utah County, The Lindon Aquatic Center and the Lehi Aquatic Center. I don't think these places even existed when I lived in Utah County many moons ago. They both have lazy rivers, water slides and places for the little babies to play in ankle deep water. My kids LOVE the water so these were some of their favorite days.
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My sister in law Cara helped plan most of the fun we had on this vacation. She knows all the haps in Utah County and informed us of half price specials, and fun activities we never would have known about except for her. She invited us to their house for PIE FEST 2009. This was a potluck dinner where everything we brought had to be in pie form. We ate a feast of pies from The Pie Pizzaria, and Marie Callenders. Our arteries will never be the same. After Pie Fest, we went into their back yard where my brother Grant had set up an outdoor movie theater and we watched Kung Fu Panda on the side of their house after it got dark. Brave Cara invited all the girls to have a sleepover at their house. So much fun.
My parents and I took the kids to Park City to the Outlets so we could pick out school backpacks and school shoes. We had marginal success finding what we were looking for.
Next we went to the Alpine Slide at the Park City Ski Resort. Last year we tried the Alpine Roller Coaster and it got mixed reviews. Rachel, Allie and I LOVED it. Grandma and Grandpa HATED it. My mom thought she was going to die and I think my dad did too. They weren't really going to DIE because the car is attached to the track. I think it's fun to FEEL like you are going to die when you KNOW you aren't really going to. This year we decided to try the other attraction there in PC, the Alpine Slide. Grandma declined to try it, even when I offered to stay with Jackson. I guess the memories of the Coaster were still too fresh in her mind. We all liked the slide. My dad says he didn't, but I know that deep down, he did. We got snowies afer the ride. My dad poked a hole in his and got pink juice all over his white shirt. I tried to get a picture of it but he wouldn't let me.
The night before we began our journey home Jim and girls came by to say adios. We went to Crown Burger for dinner. If you haven't tried a Crown Burger while in SLC, you are missing out. I highly recommend them. We had Jackson who refused to sit in a high chair crawling all over the table. A soda got spilled and my brother Jim had a small meltdown. I saw my old friend George who owns the place and he gave the girls ice cream cones on our way out. Good times.
As a side note, I have eaten many hamburgers in my lifetime. It seems like when I go home I eat more than usual. For those of you planning a trip to Utah, I would like to share my favorite hamburger places in Utah, rated on a scale where 5 is REALLY GOOD and 1 is AWESOME.
1. In N Out- You might be saying to yourself, that there isn't an In N Out in Utah but I heard that there is one in St. George. So, if there is one, then the In N Out wins this constest, hands down.
2. Hires-Next to In N Out, the Hires Big H is the best hamburger out there. Sometimes I think it might even beat In N out but, for now, I'm putting it in the #2 position.
3. Crown Burger- They put pastrami on the actual crown burger and I don't like pastrami so I just order the cheeseburger. Very delicious.
4. Five Guys, Burger and Fries- I ate there for the first time this trip and I LOVED IT. No wonder Barak Obama goes there for lunch. There is a long list of things you can order on your burger and you don't even have to pay extra. They also tell you where in Idaho their fresh french fries came from that day. I don't know about you, but I always like to know where my fries came from.
5. Training Table- Training table has always been one of my favorite places to eat since college. How cool is it to pick up a phone at your table and order your meal? The mushroom swiss burger is SO GOOD! If you ever order it, ask them to cut it in half because it's very messy eating. Also, if you like fries, they have the BEST fries and mayo-barbeque dipping sauce ever.
We stopped at the same gas station in Fillmore UT on the way home to LA as we did on the way to SLC. It was still hot. There were still wasps in the muddy grass. This time Grandma stepped in them instead of Rachel. We stayed at the Excalibur in Las Vegas and got up early the next morning to get out of the Excalibur in Las Vegas. I guess there is a reason why it only cost $35 a night. A big thanks to my mom for putting up with all the screaming and seat kicking that she experienced on the way back. She is a real trooper.
