Day Hike and Picnic

We met up with the Eddingtons for a small day hike and some lunch.

The kids loved playing the in the water, especially the boys, even though it turned out to be a pretty chilly day.

We told Chase and Becky to say cheese. This is the pose we got.

Take two. Muscle flexing is much better.

The three big girls.

Our Final Day in Utah - Donut Falls and More

Sadly all great things must come to an end, and so must our trip. The final day.

Caden showing off his climbing skills on a tree in the backyard of our rental.

The final day we took a hike to Donut Falls. The whole hiking crew.

The last part of the hike to the actual falls was a bit tricky. It was steep and through a stream in some parts but all of the kids made it (some with a lot of help).

These next couple of pics are borrowed from the internet, so, sorry if they look familiar.

The water coming through the hole in the rock.

Here is another view where you can see the water falling into the hole on top and coming out the bottom.

Kailyn, Jenessa, and Jordan

Ava did pretty good, especially on the way down where she could jump.

We celebrated mine and Heber's early birthdays. We were both born in the same year which made it easy for the candles. Unfortunately, we got the camera out too late and didn't get a picture of Heber blowing out the candles.

Relaxing after the kids have gone to bed.

The place we stayed in was really nice...glad our kids didn't break anything.

I think every single one of our kids picked up this spoon to play with. We even caught one child starting to take it downstairs.

Utah, Day 2 - Thanksgiving Point

We had a bit of a slow start on day 2, as the kids played with each other and the parents were able to chat and catch up.  In the late morning/early afternoon, we went to Thanksgiving Point and checked out the dinosaurs. It was a bit crowded because it was $2 Tuesday ($2 for general admissions). 

First we watched a movie about woolly mammoths. Don't you love the stylish 3D glasses?

He's got the whole world in his hands.

They had this room filled with sand where kids could dig for bones. It was so incredibly dusty in there, as you can tell from this picture.

Chase

Caden found something.

Ava was a bit grumpy and didn't want anything to do with the sand but soon jumped in. Then when it was time to leave she did want to stop playing.

We had also planned on going to Timpanogos Cave for a day hike, but it was too late by the time we got done at Thanksgiving Point.  After Thanksgiving Point, we returned to our rented home and barbecued some delicious Costco rib eye steaks.

Utah - Lagoon

I went to Utah for a girls' weekend and then the rest of the family joined me for a vacation with our friends the Phillips. Ken not only watched the kids while I was gone, but he hosted his parents and packed the kids for the trip and drove them all the way to Utah. He is Amazing!  We rented a home in the Salt Lake City area. We have been friends with the Phillips for a long time now and it is amazing how the kids can pick up their friendship.  One the first day together, we went to Lagoon.  It was our kids' first time on roller coasters.

Chase was sad he couldn't go with the big kids. He really wanted to go on the bigger rides. We eventually found some rides that were a bit more thrilling and made him happy (he is a brave kid). Here he is on the kiddie rides he thought were just not thrilling enough.

Ava really wanted to do this ride. The line was longish and really slow, so I tried to talk her out of it, but it was all she could talk about. Hope it lived up to her expectations.

Bumper cars were hilarious. The first time I had Ava ride with Chase but Chase forgot to let Ava have a turn steering. Ava was completely devastated. The next time they got their own cars. Ava started pretty good but was soon spinning in circles and couldn't figure out why. I tried yelling from the side to try and help her but it was no use. All of the other rides she has been on do everything for you even though you pretend to steer so I think she was a bit surprised when she actually had control of the car.

After awhile in the hot sun, we met up and spent a little time at the water park.

Kailyn

Jenessa

Buddies Taiya and Jordan

Caden an Taevin drying off so they can go and do some more roller coasters.

Jordan and Taiya

Some of us got really wet on this ride.

While others some how missed the majority of the water.

One ride the kids loved was the roller coaster. The three oldest, Kailyn, Jordan and Caden, did it a few times. We had to pull them from it in order to go and get some dinner (it was way after dinner time), they didn't care about dinner they just wanted to do it over and over again.