Utah

We left. We drove. We played for 4 days. We drove some more. We’re back. We’re sad.

As “summer” comes to a close around here (school starts in just a few weeks), we finally took our first vacation of the season. It was well overdue. We hadn’t had days off as a family since last September, so when my parents invited us to Park City with them for a few days, we couldn’t wait.

For Christmas, my mom and dad had given all the couples in my family a 7-day trip with just the two of them and they were to take place over the next 2 years. Well, for those of you who read my other sister’s blogs, know that 3 out of us 5 girls ended up taking their trip with my parents this past May for a week long cruise in Alaska. To tie Austin and I and my other sister and her husband over until our trips next year (we can’t WAIT to find out our destination and itinerary), they rented a time share in Park City and invited us to come stay for a few days. We tacked on a few more days to spend some time with Austin’s parents and brothers and sisters and off we went.

I wasn’t sure how the car drive would be with TWO boys. Luckily, I packed the three things that ended up being a surefire way to keep Dax happy: a DVD player, an Aqua Doodle, and ring pops. He couldn’t be happier. Wyatt had a few minor melt downs, but all in all he did a great job for his first road trip.

I love Utah in the summer. I definitely miss those mountains. It’s strange how Utah is still a little more familiar to me than AZ, but that is slowly changing. I love how we still run into old friends at Magelby’s, at the carnival days in A.F. and see familiar faces in Park City. We almost did a drive-by our old house in Lehi, but couldn’t quite bring ourselves to do it. I loved that house; I loved living in Utah; I miss our old friends. It was good to be back.

The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect chance to ditch this crazy AZ heat. We had a great time with our family. Austin’s parents spend half the year in Utah and the other half in Arizona. It was great to catch up with them! Wyatt met a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins for the first time, and Dax made fast friends with his cousins that he doesn’t get to see very often. It made us even more excited for our annual beach camping trip coming up next month to see the kids running around after each other. Lucky for us, we even had a few hours with my twin, Jamie, and Joe and the girls as they made their way home from a stay with Joe’s family.

Park City is so beautiful. We had some great meals at our favorite Mexican food restaurant that Jamie, my mom and I swear we discovered more than 10 years ago before it turned into a local hangout. We love walking down Main Street and seeing all that has changed since we first had our condo there in the early 80’s. Austin and Dax rode the Alpine Slide for the first time and that was, of course, a hit. Austin even got in a little karaoke at the club house.

We wish we could have played for a lot longer than 4 days. They went by way too quick. I was so glad to have come back on a Wednesday and only have to face a 2 day work week. We are so glad we will always have family and wonderful friends to visit in Utah.

Anyone who is reading this and lives in Utah that we didn’t call or come see, please don’t be upset. We seriously devoted our short 4 days to family and promise to make it up to you on our next trip which is already being planned and is without a doubt, longer than 4 days!