Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Day 2: Thanksgiving Point and STADIUM OF FIRE!!




Each morning I couldn't wait to get up and going because our week was chalk full!
No time for sleeping!
Luckily our hotel had an amazing complimentary breakfast.
We would wander down about 8:30 in our jammies (classy).
Eat our waffles, eggs, bacon,
cereal, oatmeal, muffins, bagels, yogurt, and juice.
Seriously, we sampled it all each morning!
Then go back up to get ready, fill our water bottles with ice and water, pack the diaper bag
and head out to our destination around 9:30-10!
Unfortunately, Della woke up with a fever:(
She didn't seem super grumpy but you could  that she did
not feel well. Poor baby!
I gave her some Tylenol and figured  she was the best child to have a fever since
she could just chill in her stroller all day.
But still super sad about it.

Thanksgiving Point was hard for me to picture how it all worked.
The website was confusing and I wasn't sure what to expect.
I knew it was all museums and a big garden and people loved to visit there!
Somebody told me that the museum of  Natural Curiosity was super fun for kids so I decided to
start there!
We ended up buying a pass to get into all of the museums, more bang for your buck!
Christopher, my brother, and his daughter Lucy came to play with us for a bit!
We love to sneak in cousin time with them as much as we can!
We started on the bottom floor and would work our way up.
We were there not more than 20 minutes when Lane came running up to us crying with BLOOD
spewing from his head all down to his back and all over his shirt, UGH!!
I guess he was climbing some web thing and fell and landed on his head?!
We are still not completely sure exactly what happened.
Casey took him into the bathroom to clean him up.
The bleeding stopped and he seemed to be ok.
She I gave him some ibuprofen and on we went!
Crisis averted!!

This museum reminded me a lot of the children's museum in Phoenix.
Very hands on with mini stores, a big tree house like jungle gym.
This room was all dedicated to water.
They had rain boots and ponchos for the kids to put on while playing with
water activities.



The girls ate up the theater room with a stage and costumes and
put on many shows for us!



Outside they had a really fun play area with teeter totters, a zip line,
slides, spinning things, and these "tractors" you can dig with.
I think Casey missed being at work and couldn't resist digging something!

Sick girl still wanting in on all the action!



We played at that museum for a couple of hours before our bellies started getting rumbly.
I had a huge list of restaurants I wanted to hit along with activities.
Lucky for us, Cubby's was just down the road AND it was on our list:)
Super bummed I didn't take pictures of the most amazing maple drizzled sweet potato fries.
Finger licking GOOD! And I mean that literally.
I was scraping the glaze from the bottom of the basket, no wasting that good stuff!
I'm crossing my fingers Cubby's finds it's way to AZ like all the other UT inspired restaurants.


Christopher and Lucy left for home so we were on our own for the next 2 museums.
This dinosaur museum was super interesting!
I was thinking it would be a snooze fest and the kids would run right through it.
 I was WAY wrong.
They had some amazing, legit dinosaur bones donated from BYU.
They were HUGE!
I have no doubt they cost big $$.
I had no idea BYU was big into paleontology.
I didn't know my tithing was going towards dinosaurs.
I KID!!
They even had a big glass window where you could watch paleontologist working to unearth
a 150 million year old long neck Barosaurus. Say Whaa?!
I tried looking for Dr. Ross Geller, but I couldn't find him:(


At the end the kids could do their own fossil dig.




They could have stayed at the museum for hours but we were running out of time and
needed to hit one more museum!
I went to check on Della who was asleep in the stroller.
I peeked through the top and these eyes caught me off guard!

We just had to walk down the street to get to the Farm!
Not so much a museum, but still fun non the less.
Casey has a thing for horses.
Me, not so much.


That blue sky with white, fluffy clouds and rolling mountains... it was picturesque!


Casey was going to feed Rusty to the duck, lol!
He sure was squawking at us... get me out of this cage!

You could tell the medicine was starting to wear off.


Free pony rides!






After the kids ride, Casey hopped the fence and let Della have her own turn.
It was the cutest.
It was like she knew she was being a big girl.


I cropped this picture and sent it to my family to make it look like
she was riding all by herself.
Can't ride a horse without your paci clipped on your outfit!


 High five, girl!


We even got to milk a cow!
Casey had to bribe the kids with $5 to do it, dang city kids.
Afraid to get dirty!
Or just creeped out by the utters? idk!
But then the lady told them to open their mouths and she squirted the milk in their mouths!!
GROSS!! Haha, luckily not much went in.
It just got all over their faces.
It was pretty funny.



On the way back to the hotel this little one zonked out.
I was sort of happy because it would give her a quick nap before
STADIUM OF FIRE!!
Oh, and snuggling with her souvenir from the Farm, Jelly Bear.

We got back to the hotel and decided to hit up
 Shirley's cafĂ© in the same parking lot for dinner. It is just like Kneaders.
Bad idea though.
It was packed with everybody else wanting dinner before Stadium of Fire.
We got out of line because Lindi was having a melt down because she got woken up.
We tried Denny's that was close by, same thing. Too crowded.
So we sent Casey for fast food while I took the kids back to the room.
Stadium of Fire started at 8. The plan was to leave Della with the babysitter.
We got so lucky.
Our neighbors coincidentally happened to be staying at the same hotel as us.
They offered to watch the girls since it would go late into the evening and their daughter is our normal babysitter anyway.
Originally I was thinking we would take Lindi because she wouldn't want to be left out and
I had bought a ticket for her.
Well after melt down city, I asked her if she wanted to stay with Macy?
She nodded her head yes, with a big smile.
DONE DEAL!
And boy was I grateful not to have her there.
It would have not been nearly as fun with a tired, cranky kid!
I got the girls ready for bed while the boys ate Carl's Jr.
Lane changed his blood stained shirt.
Macy knocked on the door and we took off walking to BYU stadium!
That was the strategic part of the hotel we stayed at.
The stadium was super close and easy to walk to.
Trying to park would have been a NIGHTMARE.


I think we got pretty good seats.
For months, no joke, I fretted about where to buy our seats.
I checked website after website at different choices and prices.
In the long run I bought off of the BYU bookstore website because the fees were so much cheaper.
I was nervous we wouldn't be able to see very well but they turned out great!
We were in the end zone, row 18. I believe.
Anyway, it was a huge sigh of relief that it ended up being good spot!



My parents took our family to Stadium of Fire when I was 16.
I remember it vividly and how much fun it was.
Alabama were the main performers and I remember jamming to,
"I'm in a hurry to get things done oh I, rush and rush until life's no fun".
Haha!
I was super giddy to experience SOF with my own kids!
My how the circle of life turns fast!
My own kids... crazy!
They had skydivers to open up the show!





The most amazing intro with double F-15's  flying over the stadium and
this flag being raised by firemen on a hook and ladder.
All the armed forces with their horses,  Boy and Girl scouts, what a moment!
I can't lie and say I didn't get a little emotional.




This group of dancers did a jig to, You Can't Stop the Beat.

Before the main performers started, Rusty and I ran to crab us some treats!
The boys spotted Dip n Dots and I spotted cougar tails:)
I saw the cart for mine first and luckily the line was short.
I asked where the Dip N Dots were and the lady said right behind me.
Score! I wouldn't have to walk far.


Uhh, what the line for Dip N Dot's ?!!
I somehow talked Rusty into creamery ice cream, pure miracle.
Their hearts were set on those dang Dots!
So back to the same cart we were just at.


But a perk was that they had Graham Canyon!
It was sold out at the Creamery store and its their most popular flavor.
So it was a win in the end:)


Hunter Hayes performed first.
Confession, I like his songs!
I guess the inner Backstreet, NSYNC come out when I hear his songs:)
Then Brian Regan. The guy is as funny as they come.
The whole time SOF was going on, some other group was setting off their
own fireworks in a neighboring parking lot next the stadium.
I think they were protesters and trying to distract the show.
It was funny because the fireworks were throwing Brian Regan off.
You got a more raw version of him and honestly, it made him even more funny to listen to!
" Haters are gonna hate, hate, hate".



Little Big Town were the main performers this year.
I can't say that  I love their songs.
Pontoon was fun to dance to.
But they ended with Better Man, and now it is one of my favorite songs!
I don't know what it is with listening to songs live in concert, but it was AMAZING!



Time for fireworks!!
They lit this guy on fire and shot him across the field.
Which he then jumped his flaming body onto the wire that detonated the fireworks show!




They had the fireworks synchronized to songs that were all
fire themed.

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y'

'I fell into a burning ring of fire,
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns,
The ring of fire, the ring of fire'.

"Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire"

"Only in America"
and they had a cool laser show mixed with the fireworks

No words can describe how amazing it was.
It took your breath away.
They kept going and going.
And were so big and so close.
It ended around 11.
We took our quick walk back to the hotel and were greeted with 2 sleeping girls:)
I walked Macy back to her room and we hit our pillows!





Monday, July 10, 2017

Journey to Zion...UTAH!!




HELLO!!!!
Why do I feel like it has been forever since I have been on this blog?!
Oh wait, because it HAS!
And as you can see, I am still not private.
But I was so happy that I have 9 people who actually read this blog!!
Haha. No really, that was way more than I thought.
Some of you I don't know, which makes me excited.
I love making new friends! So hi new friends that I don't know!
Please introduce yourself and  how you found me:)

Don't you worry, I did have that baby!
Sorry to leave you hanging, lol!
A sweet, precious girl.
Della Stephanie.
She is a dream and life without her would be terrible.
After she was born my phone broke (thank you Lindi Lou).
My screen cracked and I could not get any pictures off of it.
Since I am so smart and amazing with technology (sarcasm), I never did get
an icloud account set up so no way to get pictures off of there, waaaaa.
Of course getting the screen replaced on my old phone just to be able to get the
800 pictures of off  it is still on my never ending list of things to do.
But when I do I will make sure to fill you in on the 8 month gap of where I left off:)
Hence my hiatus, no pictures to post.

In the mean time, I am still on a huge high from the most incredible vacation I just took with
our little family. I need to document this before I forget all the details.
This is the first trip we have taken with just US.
4 siblings and 2 parents.
A time to bond together and make memories!
The past probably 15 years we have always gone to Oceanside for our Summer vacation.
My heaven on earth, as you all know.
For different reasons, the beach trip with my family got moved to October again this year.
It freed up the Summer to be able to do something else.

In February Casey and I took baby Della to my nephews blessing in UT.
It had been a long time since I had been to Utah. We crammed a lot into
our 3 day trip (hoping to blog about that soon).
The whole time we were there, we kept finding ourselves saying, oh the kids would love this!
Or, they need to come here and experience this....
A little thought was planted that maybe Utah would be a good place to go as our vacation spot
for Summer! a couple of  things keeping me from jumping on board was the dreaded drive.
Our kids are OK travelers.
The farthest we have ever gone with them in a car is 6 hours to CA.
And by the time we get there, I am about toast with all the, are were there yet, questions.
Eesh.
And with an 8 month old who just learned to crawl, I was nervous.
 A lot nervous.
Also, were they old enough to appreciate a trip like this?
Did they have the stamina to keep up and even care about the things to do in UT?
But one day I had the strongest impression  that we needed to go.
Once we made the decision  and I started to make plans, the good vibes
kept coming.  I could hardly wait to leave and now that it is over,
I can tell you it was magical in every way!
It didn't go perfectly. We still had whining, melt downs, bumps and bruises.
But we sure played and we played HARD!
Every day was packed jammed, making sure to get it all in.
It was just what our little family needed and the memories will be our
favorites for a long time to come!


So let's get started on this journey!
DAY 1: the drive

We had the car packed and ready to go Thursday evening.
Our goal was to make it out the door by 5am.
The clock in the car said 5:01 while pulling out of the driveway!
Pat on the back to us:)
I made the kids wear their clothes to bed the night before so all we had to do
was throw them in the car and hope that they would stay asleep for a couple more hours.
It semi worked. I think they all dozed off and on,
but at least it was quiet and peaceful for the first leg!
I brought grapes and granola bars to curve our appetites
because we had a BIG brunch planned in
Las Vegas!  

After 5 hours (and no stops, score!) we could see the Vegas skyline.
We were going to the brunch buffet at the Wynn.
It was at the end of the strip so we started at the other end and slowly made our way down.
I loved this vacation because it was all "firsts" for them.
I loved to see their excitement and wonder as we kept experiencing new things together.
Especially Lane as he is the oldest and has heard about these places.
It was fun describing all the different hotel themes.
Of course the boys wanted to hop out and do all the roller coasters.
We rolled down the windows and the smell of Vegas instantly hit me.
I sent this picture in a group text
to my family saying that I swear  Las Vegas has a distinct smell to it.
Instantly Stephanie replied: the smell of regret and STD's.
HAHA!
I was going more towards cigarettes and hotel lobby incense.
But hers is more correct:/


We parked in the garage at the Wynn and of course the first thing you walk into is the CASINO!
I'm not sure what the kids thought of this.
I tried telling them that gambling is something we don't do.
People sit there and waste all of their money. You hardly win anything.
I think to them they thought they were games like what you would play at FatCats??
You never know what kids walk away with in their minds after you try explaining it to them!!


Lane jumps up and down begging me to take pictures of him.
I kid, as you can see in this picture... he's not in  it! Eye roll.
It actually reminded me how he is EXACTLY like me!
I hated pictures growing up.
So I couldn't get too mad at him since I was the same stinker like him.
He slowly warmed up to the fact that I would be taking lots of pictures on this trip:)


In line waiting to get into the BEST BUFFET IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!
Can you tell I am passionate about this buffet?
We went to Vegas when I was pregnant with Lindi and I haven't stopped thinking about
it since! It is voted top buffet in Vegas, and I believe it!
Casey looked at me strangely when I told him that's where we were eating.
It's not the cheapest buffet, but I didn't care. YOLO.


The first thing you see when you walk in to eat.
It is GORGEOUS inside!
I think the Wynn is my favorite hotel. It doesn't scream sleaze.
All of the lobby's have the most breath taking floral arrangements.



We scored because we got there right at the end of brunch and the beginning of lunch!
So first round we loaded up on just about any breakfast item you could think of!



Lane was in heaven because he loves hot chocolate and he knows that they
are unlimited at buffets:)




Then we loaded up on lunch after they switched everything out.
A little background: they have 15 different food stations. They went on and on and on!


The dessert stations were unbelievable as well!
Here is just the gelato you could choose from.


One of my many plates.
Shrimp and grits, sushi bar, egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, fish and waffle chips, and the best street corn cob I ever had!


Rusty tried sushi for the first time!

I looked over and Della had grabbed this candied apple from the table!
She is at that fun age of swiping any food she can get a hold of!
I let her suck on it but it dyed her whole mouth red!!

We rolled ourselves out of the hotel and on to St. George we went!
It was the first of spotting many, MANY temples on this trip.
It was neat to see it clear as day from the highway then pull up and look at its beauty up close.







We decided to let Della free range it for a while on the grass.



We let them play, have races, wrestle ,and took selfies.






I had a "life is good moment" right there in that grass.

 
We needed to use the restrooms so we went inside the visitors center.
They liked playing this game where it tells you a temple and you have to
point to it's location on the map.
You get points for how accurate you are.
 I did not do well at that game!
We also let the sister missionaries share a message with us by the Christus statue.



Then on we went for the last long jaunt of the road trip!
We made it to Provo by 6pm.
12 hours it took us, but it honestly didn't feel that long at all!
It really was a pleasant drive. No hysterical crying by anyone. I for sure thought half way through
I would be booking a flight home for me and the girls! I felt we truly were blessed to have such a smooth drive there.
We checked into our hotel, Springhill Suites. That hotel was strategic, I'll share later!
Then our buffet must have worn off because we were hungry, I don't know how!!

We went to the Creamery on Ninth.
This is where we learned what UT is made up of,
FRIES, FRY SAUCE, and ICE CREAM!!
It is in abundance and we were not complaining one bit!

We ordered our food first.
Super tasty and CHEAP!


Then we got back in line for our dessert, lol!!
There were too many flavors to choose from, I knew we would be back for more!
We need to watch Heavy Weights to motivate us to lose all the pounds we gained last week.


Oh, the other crazy thing about UT, the sun doesn't set until 9:30!
It totally throws you off. We had late nights the whole week but I loved it.
It extended our days to squeeze in more fun and goodness.
Just like that, our first day had ended.
I knew this week would fly by too fast.