Family Vacation June 2012

Ok so It wasn't really a vacation... it was a stay-cation. But I don't think the kids really knew the difference. And to them they completely understood what it was all about. They knew it was about spending time together and having fun. Doing things that will help us bond and strengthen our relationships. How do I know this? Well... a few reasons. #1: because they kept calling it our Family Home Evening E-cation! And reason #2: They made sure that we dealt with as much whining as possible, staying up late and not going to bed when they were told, lots of laughs and giggles, etc. 
Anyways we decided to just go to Salt Lake and do a lot of the things we've been wanting to do with the kids. It started out on Sunday after church we decided we'd go and stay with Patrick's Grandma and Grandpa Williams. They are being forced out of their home for a new road to go in where they live. They are pretty sad about it and Patrick has a lot of memories in that home. So we decided we'd take one night to spend some time with G&G Williams and build some lasting memories for Patrick. You know, one more big sha-bang! The kids had a blast playing with G&G! I KNOW the kids wore them out, but it was the best quality time ever! The kids were laughing and giggling so hard and so were G&G. Then in the morning Porter spent some good time outside with Grandpa. He helped him pick up some sticks and twigs out in the yard so  Grandpa could mow the lawn later that day. Then Grandpa paid porter $5 for helping him. And Kinley got money too, so she wasn't left out. Isn't that what being with Grandparents is all about? haha No!! It's a perk but not what it's all about. The kids learned to jump rope. When I say learned they tried and enjoyed encouragement from G&G! Kinley was good at it. She and I turned the rope while Patrick jumped. It was cute and successful! She's only 2 years old. I'm very impressed.

Then after breakfast MONDAY morning we left G&G's and headed onto the rest of our vacation. We couldn't check into our hotel until 3pm so we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. The kids started out not being very into it, but then really got excited to see all the cool things, and had fun there. Patrick and I touched the sting-rays, Kinley put her hand in the water but was too afraid to touch the sting-ray. Porter would only look.
After the Aquarium, we went over to a park and had a picnic. Ate our lunch and let the kids play on the slides, etc. Rested as much as we could in the scorching sun. It was 99 degrees that day. So it was pretty hot. And we don't have Air conditioning in our van so we were dying of heat! Patrick had invented a fan system to blow on the kids and we kept a squirt bottle in the car to keep us cool. Ok back to telling about our Monday! We then went and got checked into the hotel. Relaxed and hung around because we found out that our hotel offered not only continental breakfast but also dinner. So we ate dinner there and then went to the Salt Lake Bees baseball game! The kids were beat and the Game started at 7pm and their bed time is at 8pm. So we were worried with how the game was going to go. Turns out they had a blast being at the game. We left the game in the end of the 7th inning. That was by Patrick and I's choice. The kids could have lasted the rest of the game and been just fine, but we had plans for the next morning. Kinley LOVED looking for the Bee mascot! It entertained many of the people sitting around us, because when she would find the bee she would shout and squeal and get so excited that she found him! The kids also loved the train that rode around the field! We really enjoyed going to the game and were happy the kids did well!

The Picture of the BEE is really supposed to be Porter giving him a Hi-5, but the camera was too slow, if you look closely you can see Porters head beneath that little girl! 

TUESDAY: Since we had a late night the night before we decided not to go to the zoo that morning. So instead we took our time to get breakfast and then went swimming at the hotel for a couple hours. went back to our room and had lunch and got ready. We then went to the movie Brave. At the beginning both kids were really into it, Kinley lost interest about 30 min into it. Porter enjoyed it though. He was very into it and worried about the bears. After the movie we went to a place called Jungle Jims. It's like a Chuck-E-Cheeses, but they have like kid lagoon rides. We just bought an all day pass for the kids to ride the rides as much as they wanted. The first ride Kinley was a little worried, but after that they were running from ride to ride and super excited to do all of them. They loved the bumper cars and Kinley really liked the jungle cars and the carosel. By the end Patrick was joining in on the fun! The one that Patrick rode with the kids was FLYIN! It went sooo fast! Kinley didn't like it so much, but Porter kept begging to ride that one over and over again. We were there for 2 hours which felt like 3 to Patrick and I, but the time was totally worth it!

WEDNESDAY: We woke up early and went to the Hogle Zoo. We got there right at 9am and went straight to the Tigers. Those are my favorite and it was awesome to see them up and moving. They were fighting each other and scaling trees. Then it was almost feeding time for them so they would pace the doors where their food would come out! It was so AWESOME to see them playful and moving around. After that we went and saw the new Rocky Shores exhibit with the Polar bear! That Polar bear was so fun to watch. He would dive into the water and swim up to the window and then come up and float on his back then he'd flip over and swim back to the window and do the same thing over and over again! It was really cool! We then went and saw the Elephants and the Bird show. The kids really thought the bird show was neat. After that we took our time to see the other things we wanted to. Then went and got lunch and Porter had spotted the train. We couldn't pull him away from that train! Wherever he was he HAD to see it and be able to watch it go around on the tracks! It was very hard to pull him away from it, EVEN after we had ridden on it. It was adorable. He told everyone his favorite part about the zoo was the train, But he quickly learned to say all of the animals were his favorite! So the kids had a blast at the zoo. We were there from 9am to 3:30pm. An adventure full of fun and very worth while. That night we treated the kids to ice cream and they loved that! Obviously we don't get out and do even the simplest of things much!

Kinley also got one of the best Kool-Aid lips I've ever seen! 

THURSDAY: We woke up and had breakfast and went swimming again. Then checked out of the hotel and we went up to the Capitol. Had a nice tour of the capitol and thought it was pretty cool. Of course I quickly realized what I was doing to my children. Exactly what my parents did to me on all of those LONG trips to Washington DC that I now wish I would have enjoyed more! It was classic when I saw Kinley tilt her head back and look up at the cieling and roll her eyes and give a great big sigh then drop her head with boredom! LOVED IT! We saw the Governor walking inside from being outside giving a press conference about all the fires we are having. I guess you could say it was pretty cool.

We then drove home and got unpacked and quickly learned how dead tired we were but also how bored we were just being home. It was quite the adjustment the next week or so getting back into our routine. The kids had a really hard time not having Dad around to be with them 24/7.  They kept saying they didn't want to end our Family Home Evening E-cation. They had so much fun! Patrick and I could look at each other and say our first Family Vacation though simple and small was a SUCCESS!