Vacation Chronicles II

Okay, so obviously I'm not THAT on the ball. But lest I leave the rest of you in suspense about how the rest of our Utah week went, I wanted to post a couple more pictures. To read more about our trip, you should check out my sis' blog, cuz she's pretty fabulous and recorded it all really well. You'll have to scroll down a bit since she blogs a little more frequently than I do.

Thursday we headed up to Huntsville, UT to stay with my SIL's amazing family. Seriously, there are very few people I know that wouldn't run away screaming from 2 moms with 9 kids in tow, but the Layton clan took it in pretty good stride. *Side story* When we were driving on the freeway, Caylee's door WHICH SHE WAS LEANING ON totally came open. Talk about a panic moment. And no, not totally swing open, thankfully, but all of a sudden the door ajar light came on and we could totally hear the outside noise of driving 70 mph. So I quickly had her move from the door and have Kenzie climb over Briggs' car seat to together pull the door shut. Crazy, huh. Anyway, I digress. Here are some of the things I love about Huntsville and the experiences we had up there:

*green grass, lots and lots of green grass * pets * decks * cool weather * horse rides with Kaylee * popsicles on the deck * cooler full of drinks * Briggs finally pooped (hey, that was a celebration for me, even if he blew out onto his car seat) * washing machine access * colorful flowers * balloons * basement preschool * basement lodging at Aunt Kathy's * train museums with no other patrons there so our kids could run around like banshees! * 2 more adults so we didn't lose any banshees * Ogden Shopko * beautiful backyards with swimming pools, play structures, GRASS, foliage AND a slide (yeah, pretty fabulous of the other Aunt Kathy!) * town convenience stores with icees * an afternoon where Brock AND Brooklyn both napped in a basement and Erin and I could veg and watch TV whilst the other kids played in Aunt Kathy's backyard and/or amazing toy room * small valley grocery stores where Erin gets hit on by drinking fishermen * movie night on the lawn complete with popcorn (thanks Rod, Teresa, and Cody!)

Pretty much Huntsville is a heaven on earth (in the summer) and I, again, have to thank the Laytons for such hospitality. Grandma Layton even said we could come up again (she has no idea what she has gotten herself in to!) Thanks, too, for Nate and Stac letting us hone in on the last bits of their vacation. Playing Boggle probably didn't make up for all the chaos, but I really enjoyed it up there and know my kids made tons of memories the couple days we were up there. We love you guys!

On Saturday, on our way back to Provo, we decided to spend the day at temple square with our kids. It was a "hot mess," and Erin and I had a bit of a full circle moment that I'll have to blog about later, but we survived and managed A) a tour of the conference center B) a walk on the temple grounds C) lunch at the ZCMI center D) the art and history museum's "I am a child of God" exhibit and E) two visitors' centers.

(Yes, I know, could Brock BE any more happy?)

When we were waiting for the second Christus presentation (the first was in Spanish), Brevin leaned over to me and said, "Mom, see that Jesus? He makes me feel really good inside right now." SOO, maybe it was all worth it to schlep them through the experience.

We headed back to Provo for one more night at the condo where I actually ended up getting all the week's laundry done. Can I just say how great that was to have it done when we got home? Spending time with Erin and Jennie was a real treat to my soul. Thanks, again, to Erin and her HUGE sacrifice of squeezing me and my kiddos into her trip. I love ya, sis! Upon reflection on the ride home, I decided I needed that trip. It was enough spontaneity to be exciting and fun, they had great ideas of things to do, and my kids LOVED being with their cousins doing fun stuff. As we drove back into the 100+ temps in Vegas I was already dreading real life. I looked forward to my husband and my own bed (er, in my own bed . . . either way), but school and running around and all the other normal craziness wasn't so exciting. The good news was we were headed back to Utah on the following Wednesday for a camping trip to Fish Lake, Utah. And oh, yes, the Vacation Chronicles III will be up next. As soon as I can download my pics.