WEDNESDAY
We started our annual summer trip to Utah after Ryan got off work Wednesday evening. We got on the road about 5pm and got in at midnight. The kids were great in the car, except for Kate's hour of shrieking. Unfortunately, they each got far less sleep than usual - which became the theme for our trip.
THURSDAY
Ryan and I had a rough time getting moving on our first morning, but we made it out the door at 10am to head to Thanksgiving Point to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. We really enjoyed all the indoor activities, especially the jungle climbing area. Unfortunately, we didn't get a map and only realized there was an outdoor area after the kids and I were about to collapse. It is a fun place. We ate lunch and headed to Kim's to sleep, sleep, sleep. I don't really remember anything else from this day. I think I was too tired to even function. Four hours of sleep just doesn't cut it for me.
FRIDAY
My sister, Kim, volunteered to keep the kids so Ryan and I could do a session in the new Provo City Center temple. So we got up at 5:30am and left at 6:15 so we could get into the 7am session. It was beautiful, and I'm so glad we got to go.
After we got back, we took my sister's oldest kids and our own to the Springville Splash Pad. Unfortunately, it was broken, so the kids just placed on the playground. Kim headed to the airport to get Rob, and we all met up at a park close to their home with McD's for lunch.
When we got back from lunch at the park, my parents arrived. While the kids napped, we got to chat. My parents and Rob left to meet up with his girlfriend in Provo, and we got ready for dinner. Just as Rob, Rachel, Mom and Dad got back, Jared surprised us by arriving with Sean, Jen & Julian. It was awesome to be altogether as a family, but we could already definitely feel the hole left vacant since Charlotte was unable to come. We ate a delicious dinner and toasted marshmallows. It was a great evening.
Unfortunately, Collin woke up in the middle of the night throwing up. He threw up 5 times over the next 12 hours. We are speculating that he's developed an allergy to pineapple (it started a few months ago with a tickley tongue and/or mouth sores after eating it each time), but we haven't confirmed it yet.
SATURDAY
I was worn out by this morning, but Ryan took Kate & Ethan to Kneader's for free Father's Day french toast. He brought some back for all of us. We all headed to the new Springville Reservoir, minus sick Collin, baby Kate and medically-restricted no-swimming Ryan.
Side Story: I might as well document now Ryan's toe injury. Two years ago we hired a contractor to build us a covered roof for our existing patio. It has been a nightmare. Some highlights include missing house siding, leaking rain water, wrong color of metal roofing installed, birds building homes INSIDE our walls, falling pergola boards, failure to pass city inspection, threats to sue us for failure to pay, etc. Calling the situation a nightmare is an understatement.
Anyway, with the contractor and his negligence behind us, Ryan climbed up on the roof on Memorial Day to remove the hideous green, metal roofing in order to finish the roof decking and waterproof our house and roof, as well as to put the roof in accordance with our HOA approval for brown roofing.
Unfortunately, one of the sharp sheet metal edges came down on the inside corner of his big toe (he was bare foot in order to better grip the roof) and sliced a big chunk off. Kate and I took him to the ER while a neighbor kept the boys. They stitched the now-dead chunk back on to act as a band-aid, and he's been seeing a foot specialist weekly for the last month.
Long story short, he isn't allowed to get his foot wet, and it looks like it might be the whole summer. This roof is cursed!
Anyway, I took Ethan & Brennan to the reservoir Saturday. Most of the extended family came too. It was so fun! My brother-in-law rented a paddle board, and the weather was beautiful. It wasn't even crowded until the very end. Ethan dug in the sand, and we even got him out of the board at the very end.
Janice is the oldest of the cousins. She took the board out a few times by herself, and then took all the cousins at the end. I was so proud of her!
That evening we were too wasted to cook, so we ordered pizza and did smores and sparklers outside. It was a great evening. Collin was even feeling better by this time. Unfortunately, Brennan had freaked out earlier and went to bed, missing both the sparklers and smores.
Ryan and Collin went up to Salt Lake with Rich and Janice and my dad for the special Father's Day performance of Music & The Spoken Word. When they got back, Ryan, Brennan and I went to sacrament meeting in Kim's one o'clock ward while Ethan & Kate napped with my mom, and Collin rested.
The last event of our weekend was meeting up in Provo with friends from our Madison days. We had great fun with Sheena (whose husband Johnny was unfortunately away at a Conference) and Dave & Jenn.
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| Sheena & Jenn are both expecting this Fall. And don't you love my baby pooch? I'm not expecting, but I guess after four babies I'm just always going to look 15 weeks along. |
We ate a delicious dinner, and Jenn even got Ryan a special cheesecake dessert.
We got home about 2:30, and Ryan promptly fixed two lawn mowers (ours to sell and my parents' to keep). I put the kids to bed at 6pm and mowed the lawn. Nothing like a vacation to make you feel more overwhelmed and tired than usual. Despite the exhaustion, we loved seeing my family and some Madison friends. It was a great time!
