Utah Summer Vacation

We have spent the last three weeks in Utah and have had a wonderful time. It was about 100 degrees the entire time we were there, but coming from steamy Michigan, the dry desert heat was pleasant and not uncomfortable.  It made for a great trip not having to worry about our plans being rained out all the time, as I always worry here - of course except the one time it DID rain while we were out and left us all completely unprepared and soaked. ;)  But it all worked out.

The kids loved seeing their cousins, aunts, and uncles and being rough boys/girly girls together.  It was really cute and made me wish for the thousandth time that we lived closer.

A trip to southern Utah is also never complete without four wheelers and motorcycles, and this year - fireworks.  The kids were so excited that they got to stay up for fireworks for the first time.  Every other year they've fallen asleep before the show began (as did Christian still) but this year they were up until midnight nearly every night and got a great view of the show on the mountain from the back of the motorhome.

We also attended Richfield's 4th of July parade and festivities.  That was so much fun.  Parades are very much a part of Summer for me.  I have loved them ever since I was little.  I will never forget all the years my family set up their seats in front of ZCMI mall in Salt Lake to watch the Pioneer Day parade.  I'm glad my kids get at least a small taste of that too.

Richfield also has a summer tradition known as the "fish catch."  It's where bazillions of kids crowd into a tiny pool filled with trout and give all the trout heart attacks as they attempt to catch them with their bare hands. Benjamin had a blast AND actually caught one!  The animal lover in me was horrified, but I couldn't help but smile when I saw this face.  The family (not me) ate it that night for dinner, so at least it didn't go to waste.

We also celebrated Benjamin's 7th birthday in Utah with a big party in Liberty Park.  That was wonderful having so many friends and family members come for his big day.  It made it really special.

While we were in Utah, we also enjoyed local attractions like the zoo, the aquarium, city creek mall, temple square, the LDS church history museum, and all the beautiful canyons.  One particular day all the Utahns must have decided to hide out in their air-conditioned homes because we had the whole place to ourselves!  We saw only one other family the whole time we walked along the river up the canyon.  It was beautiful!

I also made sure I saw plenty of my friends while we were there.  On our last day, we all got together for a big potluck dinner along with all our kids.  This is just a handful of the 23 kids there that night (for example, of my kids, only Benjamin was willing to get in the picture).  We sure have expanded our little group of college friends!  Bella and Christian were too busy attacking my friends with pool noodle light sabers.  I'm glad that my friends are such good sports!

We also took family photos while we were out there and some of them didn't turn out half bad!  I was impressed.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip.  It's been a bit of an adjustment returning back to normal life and normal bedtimes, but we're doing okay.  We sure miss everyone, though!