Summer Vacation Part I

We had the chance to take a trip to Utah a few weeks ago, and I'm already starting to forget the details so I better document it now. It all started out with my parents inviting us to go on vacation with them using their timeshare. No cost for hotel? Okay, we're up for it. So we helped them pick a place that was close enough to drive and would have some good places to visit, and Utah it was. (The number one question we were asked while there: Are you visiting family? We might be unusual in the fact that we really have no family living there. Joey maybe has one uncle there, but that's it.) So that was all decided back in January.

Of course you remember that in March my dad had open heart surgery, leading to many complications that required a total of 5 surgeries and much stress! Since he is just going back to work tomorrow for the first time since March, my parents really couldn't make the trip because it just wouldn't be wise considering that my dad had only been off his IV antibiotics for a few days and my mom just couldn't take any more time off work than she already had. But since it was too late to cancel the reservation, we drove up without them. (Sorry Mom and Dad, we know you really wanted to get away, and you deserve a vacation!)

I was absolutely dreading the drive, which ended up being a total of about 14 hours including our stops. I just wasn't sure how my kids would handle it. I tried to be as organized as possible so that they would stay entertained. I did a little shopping to have some "surprises" in the car, we had the DVD player ready to go, lots of snacks and CDs, each kid packed their own backpack of car activities, and I made an activity packet of things I printed from the internet, mostly common car games and age appropriate activities for each kid. Then I tried to structure the time and only let them watch a movie at certain times, give them a snack at certain times, work on their packet at certain times, etc. I wasn't sure how it would go, but they were so great on the whole ride. I couldn't believe it. (We have an unfortunate vacation history over the last few years, which I'll save for some future blog, so now I always anticipate the worst when it comes to vacation!)

As it was getting dark we finally arrived at our destination: Wolf Creek Village in Eden, UT. It is north of Salt Lake, you have to drive through Ogden and then through a canyon and past a reservoir, a really beautiful drive to get there. We checked in, unloaded the car and set out to find dinner before every place in this little town was closed for the night. Thankfully we found a pizza place willing to serve us when they were only 15 minutes from closing time. After that we settled in for the night and assigned beds to everyone. There was a huge loft upstairs with a king size bed and a bathroom, which of course was for the grown ups! Hannah and Kendall shared the downstairs bedroom, and Noah got the pull out couch. We would have to start the real adventure in the morning because we were definitely tired!

(Is anyone still reading this. Wow, I just wrote a lot didn't I?)

To hear about our 4th of July including some unforgettable photos, click here.