Trip to Utah

We made the long trip out to Utah last weekend so that we could join in the celebration of Grandma and Grandpa Cammack's 60th Wedding Anniversary and Grandma's 80th birthday. As usual we left much later than I would have liked ( I blame it on moving so much slower since I've gained pregnancy weight) but we still managed to reach Pendleton that night as planned. After a short stint in the hotel we were off again. The kids did great on the drive. We took the Arcadia with us because we had been told that the Explorer needed a new radiator at the garage and didn't want to end up on the side of the road overheating somewhere. I think that it worked out for the best though because the kids did a lot better not being right next to each other.

The cousins enjoyed playing together in Uncle Lee's backyard. The weather was pretty hot though (over 100 degrees) for kids who haven't seen too much about 70 this summer yet. We had lots of sweaty people!

Grandma and Grandpa Cammack giving a little speech

Enjoying some frozen treats and trying to stay out of the heat

When the party wrapped up we headed out to a pool in Tooele. They had a small water slide and some other things that sprayed water. The kids had a fun time together and it felt good to be wet and cool. 

I was glad that we were able to meet up with Chris and Amy for dinner on Sunday. It was so nice to see them and find out what they're up too. It felt like no time had passed at all since our college days, except of course for the 7 kids who were running around upstairs!

Chris and Spenser

We got to enjoy the 4th up in Kaysville. Even though it's a pretty big town they still have a small town feeling up there. The kids loved collecting all the salt water taffy that was thrown out, although we were all pretty ready to be done by the end of it because it was so long. 

Spenser found out about the 10 K fun run and of course couldn't resist signing himself up. He said that he found the change in elevation a little hard towards the end, but he still managed a pretty fast time.

Waiting for the parade to begin

Zach for some reason insisted on bringing his travel pillow

Crazy flag wavers (Jared has clearly reached that 'too cool' stage!)

Zachie

Olivia ready with the candy bag

As the flag passes by

Ready to collect the loot

Dad got out there and helped Zach

(some of the kids were a little aggressive about getting their sweets)

As the parade finished up it actually started to rain because it was so sticky. We enjoyed some pizza in the Bitner's backyard with a light refreshing rain. The sad thing is that the weather in Washington was prefect and we missed it!

Some small pools had been set up in the backyard for the kids. Since it had turned a little cool, Olivia was the only child of ours brave enough to get in.

Spense and Dusty

The Bitners were then kind enough to let us join in with their family activities. We spent some of the afternoon tie dying shirts.

It was my first experience tie dying and I would definitely do it again. I just think that I would make sure that the kids were wearing older clothes since I didn't like having to tell them again and again to be careful of the dye!

In the evening we were joined by lots of other Packer family members for a BBQ

Olivia and Zach enjoying the spread

Nathan and Thomas picked their own private spot

The sweet treats were of course a favorite

Popsicles!

The kids then went out front and enjoyed a game of 'never ending tag!'

When it got dark we headed back to our spot for fireworks

There was a little snapper throwing before hand

Olivia with Devin and Katrina

On Tuesday we headed out to Lagoon for the day. Everyone wanted to hit the water park first since they thought that it would become too busy later. Sadly, it wasn't super warm while we were in there so everyone was ready to leave pretty quickly. The older people just wanted to ride roller coasters, but Zach and Olivia had a great time together.

Happily enjoying lunch

My favorite people

Crazy is all I can say!

Ready to go have some fun!

Zach thought the bumper cars were pretty entertaining

Look at the delight on that face as they hit people!

Riding the carousel

Olivia insisted that I take a picture of them on every ride

While we were doing these rides, Spense and Thomas went off to do some of the bigger roller coasters. Noelene came and joined me for a while.

I had hoped that Zach would sit with grandma for the little roller coaster to keep him from banging around, but he preferred to be with his sister.

From his face I'm not sure he liked it too much!

After stopping for a short break and a needed beverage, Spenser came over to be with us since Zach was getting tired and we didn't have the stroller and so I couldn't carry him around. Of course we did a few more rides with dad.

Zach was adamant that he wanted to ride this ladybug ride, which was really similiar to the 'Cranky the Crane' he had hated at Thomas land. I had him watch it a couple of times, but he still wanted to go on and guess what - he hated it!

Olivia went on her first real roller coaster with Spense

From this picture I wasn't sure if she had liked it, but apparently she was just explaining how the wind feels on your cheeks from going so fast.

We rode the big ferris wheel that Olivia had been eying all day

Then it was back on the cable cars

I took Zach and Olivia home since they were both tired and got them showered and ready for bed. Thomas and Spenser of course had to stay until closing to ride all those big rides again and again!

We had planned on staying in Utah a little longer, but cancelled our trip to Southern Utah since we have had so many things break on us recently (that's another post) and didn't want to spend the money. We had also hoped to meet up with my old roommate Kim, but Thomas woke up with a horrible stomach ache on Wednesday morning and so we decided to head out instead of waiting to meet her after work that night. I felt horrible about it, but it really was the best thing to do. As we approached Pendleton we debated just trying to carry on to home, but we knew that the projected 2 a.m. arrival would probably be too much for us.

The last part of our vacation was spent around the house mainly playing with friends. Spenser also had to go into the office a bit to get cleaned up for opening on Monday. I was happy to be home. The warmer weather in Utah definitely hadn't been kind to my legs. I came home with some nasty varicose veins and a bit of swelling. That's what happens when you're used to the pacific northwest!