Utah Trip: April 2019 - Part I

For Tyler's spring break we took a trip down to Utah. We left Friday after Tyler was out of school then spent the night playing at Cambria's house. The next morning we continually heard something on the underside of our car scraping whenever we would make turns. We'd just had it serviced the day before heading out, so they must not have put it back in very securely. We also drove through snow going through the mountain pass in eastern Oregon. It's hard to believe we encountered worse weather this trip than we did when we came down for Thanksgiving! The average temperature was warmer, but we had far more rain and snow this time around.

We stopped for lunch at a Carl's Jr in Boise with a great play area. It's 4 stories high!

Allison had already had a nap around 10am but zonked out again after playing hard at Carl's Jr. We made one more stop at the Sinclair/A&W near the Utah/Idaho border before driving the rest of the way to Layton. It was General Conference that day, which we were able to stream a bit in the car. We only got about 20 minutes worth of the first session going through Oregon due to being in remote areas with poor internet service. In Idaho we were able to get the second half of the second session and coming through Utah we had all of the priesthood session until arriving at our destination where Oscar was able to finish it off live with the other guys in his family.

The next day we watched the remaining sessions of conference while visiting with Oscar's sister Melissa and family. Lily had such a sticky face that trying to wipe it just gave her a tissue mustache. Allison was all about cuteness and cuddles in the morning with daddy. She even cuddled with uncle Matthew for a bit during General Conference.

Grandma and grandpa Jinks came up with Ethan, Emma, and Sophie around noon. They played in the backyard and the big kids showed my kids how to stretch their shirts over their knees. It was predicted to warm up that day, and it did, but it took its sweet time doing so.

Grandpa turned on the water in the castle and everyone got wet. The kids' shoes had to be tossed in the dryer several times.  Grandpa Hunt actually has a collection of children's boots so that they can play without getting their shoes wet, but we didn't find out until too late.

The next day we visited grandma Hatch in the morning then met up with cousins at the Layton aquarium.

Here we're viewing the beautiful blue blubber jellyfish and a very well hidden octopus. Can you spot it? It looks like another rock.

This is an intereactive aquarium with several chances to pet and feed the fish. In this area there were some very eager sting wrays who'd climb up the glass trying to get your attention.

Sweet girls on a mermaid shell!

Allison loved this little rectangle inlet where you can walk deeper into the aquarium. So many smiles!

Projector games are fun for everyone!

Tyler did an excellent job holding still for his fish manicure. I squealed when they'd nibble at my wrist. It's ticklish at first, but you get used to it. They had a pedicure available for an extra cost, which I totally would have done if we hadn't had kids with us.

The best part, though, was feeding the parakeets. They'd swarm all over you even if you didn't have food. When they put food in your hand they'd all dive in at once. It was everything I could do to keep my arm up and steady. It costs extra to feed the animals, but this one was totally worth it.

The next day we took the kids to a trampoline park in Kaysville. We don't have a ton of pictures since we were busy jumping around too, and they didn't want us leaving our phones out in the structure. Martha got a few of Allison and Jane which I need to get from her. Tyler ran bouncing around and tried out some of the Ninja obstacles. I helped him across the tightrope.

Tyler originally fell on the Jacob's Ladder, but after watching Oscar do it he made it all the way across all by himself.

I love watching my boy flop around trying to shoot some hoops. 

That evening we met up with Mike's kids at a theater in South Jordan to see Dumbo. Tickets are only $5 on Tuesday nights. Allison was completely mesmerized at first watching such a huge screen, but she became progressively more difficult throughout the movie. We had to get her popcorn to keep her from talking out loud. She was disruptive but cute "he's flying in the sky like a flying bird!" Unfortunately there were way too many previews. It was something like 30 minutes. By then the novelty of the big screen had worn off for Allison.

Tyler made this purple craft at home and brought it all the way to Utah to give to his cousins. Then we forgot to give it to them. :(