Mini Vacation

We decided last minute to take a short, local family vacation. We already had a vacation to Disneyland in January, but wanted some time away from the craziness of summer. It seems like we've spent all summer with friends and scattered here and there, so we took off for 3 days, a whole hour away :).

We started out at the Gateway in Salt Lake. We ate lunch at the Olympic fountain. It was so crowded that we had to eat our picnic lunch on the stairs in order to get some shade.

We also took a minute to find my name on the wall of volunteers. I can't believe it was 8 1/2

years ago that I volunteered for the Olympics. That was a great experience. It's also fun to show my name to the kids :)

Then off to the Children's Discovery Museum. We had a pass we had paid $20 for, so it was a fun, inexpensive activity. There were lots of cute hands-on things for the kids to do. Zach was especially enthralled with the place. I think I'll have to take him back during the school year when it's just him stuck with me all day.

After a surprisingly short drive to our hotel, we got dinner and took a swim. Gotta love a hotel with a good, empty swimming pool.. We got a mini suite, so we could put Zach's porta crib in the separate room, close the door, and let him take a real nap. YEA!

The next day we headed off to play at Lagoon. I haven't been there for more than 20 years, and the rest of the family had not ventured there before. We played hard for two days and found that while it wasn't our beloved Disneyland, it was a lot of fun! I was surprised at how many fun, cute rides they had for Zachary's age. He had a ball! Many of the rides were fun for Tyler to join him as well. By the end, Zach would get on a ride and hold on the best he could while holding his arms up and screaming "Yea, Yea, Yea!" He entertained us as well as many of the employees :) As time progressed and we all got sick of taking Tyler on the "white rollar coaster" (lots of fun, but way jerky), he got more and more brave and tried the bigger rollarcoasters. By the end of day two, he went on Wicked, which is an awesome, terrifying ride. What a brave boy he is. It was great fun to see the kids interact and have fun together. It was just the rejuvenation we all needed.

I'm afraid that the only pictures we have from Lagoon are from the little kid rides.

My two little guys having fun on the train. Yep, Zach is going to miss Tyler when he goes to first grade all day and leaves Zachy alone with me all day :(

Speaking of Zachary... he is the easiest 2-year-old I've had. He's pretty easy-going, and while he still has the stubbornness of being 2, we can usually talk him out of it. It may just be that I'm more relaxed, but I think it's him. So here is a documented case. He's mad that he can't join us on a ride, so he's sitting to the side with Dad (Note: it is way past nap time and he's way hot and sweaty).

One minute later: A quick check to see if Dad is still taking notice of his anger. Trying hard to continue the pout.

30 seconds later: Sees that Dad is actually taking a picture of him and finds that funny and more important than being angry. Oh, I wish you all could have this kind of two-year-old temper tantrum resolution, but alas, he's is my 5th, and the first one to be so easy.

It was a great trip and so much fun to be together as a family. I am so blessed and so grateful for my family. Tom and my kids are my everything and make each day a joyful adventure.

One final note out of frustration. I sure feel stupid every time I blog because I struggle so much with getting pictures and such where I want them in Blogger. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the program, but I'm frustrated that it took me so long to do one post (even though it's a long one). Enough said, have a great day!!!!!