Utah: Week Four 8/14

This week in Utah was the grand finale because Seth was able to join us. We have never spent that much time away from him so we were all anxious for the separation to end. What better place to celebrate being reunited than Lagoon. Seth’s plane landed at 10:30am and Lagoon opened at 11! We met all the Thackers there for a little reunion. It’s quite possible that this day was the greatest day in both of my boys life. Seth and I hadn’t been to Lagoon since we were engaged so we were both impressed with all the new rides. Wicked was REALLY scary and I think Rattle Snake Rapids and the Log Flume were my favorites. I think I’m getting old. Lucy dominated all the kiddy rides. Matthew stuck mostly with the kiddy rides but surprised us with his desire to ride The Bat and he even loved it. He also loved Bombora and rode The Egg Drop with his cousin Stu 14 times! Charlie was in for a wild day of fun. Nora conveniently bumped into us with her kids (they have season passes and live at Lagoon) and Ben took over Charlie’s itinerary for the day. This included EVERY roller coaster and even the Samurai which he had previously decided he would not be riding on.  Brave boy! We were not planning on staying until it closed but I really wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel at night so we stayed until the end!! Fun had by all!! 

Since we stayed until closing at Lagoon we decided to crash another night at Nora’s home and leave for the Basin in the morning. We stopped by to visit Allen and Missy in North Salt Lake on our way out of town. Allen was working that day so we were happy we were able to catch him before he left. We ate delicious Zucchini bread he had baked; I didn’t know my brother was a baker and a good one too. They were also nice enough to get out their Soda Stream to demonstrate for us since we were all so curious. My kids really enjoyed the little demo Allen did explaining all of the stuff on his police belt. Matthew might have been drooling. To top it all of he showed Charlie how he arrests people. Thank Allen and Missy for letting us drop by!

Visiting the Basin was the perfect place to wrap up our trip. Grandpa took the three big kids fishing which they loved. The rock Lucy is sitting on in the picture is what she claimed as “Lucy Mountain.” Matthew found himself his own island as well. I’m glad my kids think big.

We did take a morning trip to Provo and the cabin so Seth could visit with friends and my parents. We had a Michigan Reunion X 2. The Cherrys came to Utah the week after the original reunion so we had to get together again. Charlie was really looking forward to seeing his buddies again. These boys go way back.

We stopped at the cabin on our way back to Upalco and the Fowerses, Hawkinses, and my parents were there for another party. We had fun outside for a little while and then were chased inside by a rainstorm. I think that was the only time we saw it rain in Utah. We came inside played games, and ate snack cakes.

People would always ask Holly and me if we were sisters when we were at Utah State, and now I see why.

We enjoyed peaceful days and delicious food (more Dutch oven potatoes) at the Thackers. Grandma let the boys stamp and paint with all of her supplies. Conrad and Lucy enjoyed the swing set in the back yard. Lucy was having grandpa push her when she told him directly, “No more pushing Grandpa, let’s talk!”  She asked him what his favorite color was. They had also recently adopted a little kitten that all the kids loved especially Cassie. I was surprised how much that cat tolerated getting carried around. School started in the area while we were there so Grandpa had to start driving his school bus. The boys were excited to wake up early so they could ride his route with him (they even set an alarm). I’m not sure if they enjoyed the tractor or the bus ride more. On the Sunday before we left we drove up to Mill Hollow to have a picnic lunch with Mike and Collette. Cassie had been staying at the Thackers as well so she needed to get back to her parents. The scenery was breathtaking but driving over Wolf Creek is so windy.

What a trip!! I think there were a few people we didn’t get to visit with but overall we did well. We slept at EIGHT different places and the only thing we lost on the trip was Lucy’s backpack which was a bummer but considering all the stuff we were hauling around is not too bad. The flight home was in the afternoon which was nice because we didn’t have to wake up really early. We left from Upalco and drove to West Valley to pick up my dad so he could drop us off and reclaim his van. Our flight to Denver left late and was really bumpy. We only had 25 minutes until our next flight took off so we hustled to our next gate only to see that we had missed family boarding. We boarded right away but by the time we got to the back of the plane there were no more double seats. The flight attendants were great at getting people to switch around and while it would have been nice to have sat by Seth, at least the kids were all sitting by someone they knew. The plane ride was long and bumpy but we made it home!! We had four days to get the kids adjusted to start school!