Utah Trip June 2020 - Week 3

After our backyard camping days Dillan and Justin stayed over an extra night so they could go kayaking with Oscar, Tyler, and grandpa the next morning. Allison stayed with Martha while I took a nice long walk. I needed to exchange some stuff at Deseret Book anyway, so I walked there and had Oscar pick me up on his way back.

Later that day we went to Lagoon with just Ethan, grandma, and grandpa.

In the video on the right I thought I was taking a selfie. I hadn't realized I was taking a video. Now the kids giggle hysterically whenever I show it to them.

We had a delicious dinner at the Biergarten restaurant. The kids finished up before I did, so they played over by the fountain for a few minutes. Allison walked around it a few times then stumbled and fell right into it. She was completely drenched! Fortunately I'd brought extra clothes, but we had to walk back over to the pavillion to get them. She shivered an cried the whole time. I got her changed and we were still able to finish with the Terror ride before Oscar picked us up and we all drove down to West Jordan for the next two nights.

On Sunday we hiked the Living Room hike. It's a 2.7 mile hike with a great view at the top where you can sit on rock formations that look like couches and chairs. Rebecca came along too and did an excellent job motivating Allison to keep climbing.

Allison probably wouldn't have made it to the top if there hadn't been several dogs along the way. She was drawn to every one.

panorama from the top

Here are pictures of Tyler that Oscar took. I also took a picture of Oscar taking those pictures, and Rebecca took a picture of me taking that picture.

The kids had no problem going back down. They practically flew down with daddy. Rebecca and I couldn't keep up. I've never been fast at downhill. I slide too much.

Rebecca wanted to swim, so we did. It was 7pm, meaning the sun was no longer shining on the water, and it was cold! Allison didn't mind. It was too bad the hot tub wasn't open. Being in the water was okay as long as you were moving, but it was freezing when we got out.

The next morning after distance learning we took the kids out to play at cousin Nolan's house.

From there we went over to the Sierra Newbold Memorial Playground and splash pad. We'd picked up lunch at Arctic Circle, but it was super windy while we ate. Our stuff kept flying everywhere. After eating the kids played on the playground until the wind let up then splashed around in the splash pad.

Then we went back to aunt Kathy's house for a swim at her pool. Allison and Nolan spent well over an hour in the children's pool. The became fast friends.

That evening we went back up to Marcus and Martha's house. In the morning Oscar and I walked to the pond where the boys had kayaked.

Here's Tyler using his shoes and Zoob container as part of his obstacle course. Grandma made us tasty cookies while we worked on distance learning.

Allison loved the stuffed tiger and the kids had fun goofing around with daddy.

On Wednesday I took the kids to the dinosaur park in Ogden. They loved it! Here are the T-Rex and parasauralophus right at the beginning. This is the kind of thing I wish there were more of in Washington - fun outdoor places where social distancing is easy to do. Because we get so much rain in Washington, most of our kids' stuff is indoor, and most of it's still closed for the pandemic even now in August.

Here's the Maiasaura and other prehistoric creatures.

I couldn't get a great picture of the apatasaurus, but it really was HUGE!

So many dinosaurs! Tyler loved all the ceratopsians.

We were a bit disappointed that the dinosaur themed playground they have was closed. I thought that was a bit odd since it was outdoor and all of Utah's public playgrounds had already reopened. The kids were bummed, but I promised them we could go back whenever we have a vaccine for Covid.

I liked all the prehistoric aquatic creatures. The baryonx spearing fish from the pond was particularly impressive.

The brachiosaurus made for a nice arch to walk under on our way over to the other side of the park.

Here the kids are with some big dinosaurs. I think this one's the giganotasaurus. 

I'd given the kids ringpops on our way, which totally colored their tongues, especially Allison's 

Spinosaurus!

And a few more before heading out. 

From there we went to High Adventure park in Ogden. Tyler made a friend.

This double swing thing was pretty neat! Even I tried it out. It was a bit challenging to hoist myself and the kids all the way up onto it, but totally worth it.

On Thursday we had our last Lagoon day. In spite of spending most of the day there, I really didn't take many pictures. We got there early, and I let the kids stay as long as they wanted to.

Here's Grandpa watching Blippi with the kids the next morning. That day they had some more cousin time and water play while Oscar and I did laundry and got packed up.

Allison wanted to sit on the couch without the cushion for some reason.

Here's Allison and James reading together behind the recliner.

On Saturday morning we woke the kids up early for breakfast before beginning the long drive home. It's the first time we've driven the whole distance without stopping since Tyler was a 3 month old baby.

We met up with Emma and Kaylee at the same park we'd stopped at on the way down while Oscar went and picked up some lunch.

On the way out Tyler took a surprise nap in the car. He'd already been given his tablet but was so tired he gave it back and fell asleep.

Along the way our car hit 100,000 miles.

And back home the kitties showed me how much they'd missed me on our 3+ week long trip. If it weren't for the cats we'd probably have stayed even longer, but we'd sure missed them too.