St. George Trip

A couple of weeks ago the girls had their fall break from school.  We decided to take that opportunity to soak in some sun in St. George.  It was quick trip, only three days, but it was so worth it!!

We stay in the same hotel pretty much every time we're there.  The main draw is their pool side rooms...it makes such a difference with a family to have access to your room poolside.  We'll pay extra for that luxury!

The kids swam every second they could!

 Haley had to take drastic measures to be able to look at her phone in the blinding sun.  Haha!

 We also spent some time at Snow Canyon State Park...one of our favorite places in Utah!

We've been going to this state park since Haley and Morgan were babies...and I have fond memories of going there as a kid too.  So, it's always so nostalgic...it seriously is one of my favorite places!

Fall Break 2015: Part II

After our adventure to Park City, the next day we decided to take the train to Salt Lake City.

The Frontrunner is fairly new, like only a few years old...it runs between Provo and Ogden.  This would have been a dream back in the days when Ryan had to commute everyday to the city, in traffic and snow...blah!  Glad those days are behind us.  

So yeah, the Frontrunner...it's pretty nice.  We picked it up in Orem and got off at Salt Lake Central. 

 The kids really enjoyed the ride.

 And so did we!

It's pretty nice to just sit back and relax.

But the downfall...we were dropped off in not the best area of Salt Lake.  In hindsight, we should have jumped on the Trax and went straight to the city center.  But we were starving and knew there were some places to eat at this nearby outdoor mall (I'm blanking on the name of it).  But to get there, we had to walk though a heavily populated homeless area.  There are two shelters side by side, so the homeless congregate all around them.  I'm pretty sure we walked right by a drug deal in process.  I'll admit it...I wasn't feeling the most comfortable.

After we had lunch we had to relax on some benches for a bit.  Let me explain.  Haley loves spicy food...seriously, she puts Cholula on EVERYTHING!  And she doesn't go light on it either!  So, we went to a Mexican place to eat and she mistakenly assumed Tabasco would be the same as Cholula and pretty much drenched her Enchilada in it.  She was sweating bullets the entire time but she cleaned her plate.  However, right after she finished she got a terrible stomach ache...most likely her guts were on fire!  I'm thinking severe heartburn maybe.  So yeah, she had to sit for a bit until it passed...poor thing.  She didn't touch any hot sauce for a week after this incident.  

We walked over to the city center and Temple Square.  Unfortunately, it started raining so we headed straight over to the Church History Museum.
They have completely redone the entire museum since we've been there last so it was great to see it...although, it was crazy crowded!
And then we headed over to the Temple grounds and walked through the visitor center.
By this point it was already close to five and we decided to head back to the train stain to go home.  

Unfortunately, we missed the the train we were shooting for by just a few minutes...darn!  So we had to wait about 45 minutes for the next one.  I was a little worried we were going to be stuck with whiny kids..but the kids entertained themselves with a never ending game of tag.

Since it was a little quieter on the ride home we were able to sit on the second level of the train, and let me tell ya, the view is way better!

It was late by the time we got home...just enough time to feed the kids a bowl of cereal and send them to bed.  It was a full day!

Other things we did during the fall break...outing to the creamery and duck pond, Sundance (our last lift ride for the season), and to the dollar theater to see Inside Out.

I'd say it was pretty successful!

Happy Monday ya'll!

Fall Break 2015: Part I

Last week was fall break around these parts...a little perk of Utah's deer hunt.  The kids get three days off of school!  In the past we might have tried to skip town, maybe do some camping.  But this year we decided to stay home and just try to squeeze in some fun outings.

So, first up...Park City.

Ryan goes to Park City quite often for work, but for me and the kids it had been a couple of years.  I think the last time was for the Tour of Utah.

Anyway, we got up there a little before lunch time and decided to go straight to Main St. and look for a place to eat.

 Of course, we had to ride in the free trolley first!

 We found a perfect place where we could eat outside...and luckily the weather was quite nice!

It was The Bridge Cafe and Grill...and I ate probably the best BBQ bacon cheeseburger ever!

Just so you know.

Then it was off to Swaner Eco Center.

It's a preserve area for wildlife, educational programs, and a little museum and kid center.

 There is a look out tower and a little board walk on the grounds.

Unfortunately, we didn't see any animals.  Sad face.

But the girls really loved it here.

After the EcoCenter we stopped in the McPolin Farm...or also known as The White Barn in Park City.

This was a farm and working dairy back in the late 1800's.  Park City took it over in the 1990's and it now hosts different events and is also a very popular spot for photo shoots...which I'm not surprised, the area is beautiful!

 While we were there they were holding a type of Scarecrow festival.  Families from Park City decorated different types of Scarecrows and they are placed along the path to view.  The kids got a kick out of that as some were pretty well done!

And that was that...the sun set behind the mountains and we decided to head on home.