Family Weekend Getaway

After a rough winter with lots of sickness, and some stress with Bryan's recent department switch at his job, we all needed a weekend away to have some fun together as a family. So we booked a hotel in Sandy (2 blocks from the condo we lived in), and headed out for a fun adventure Friday morning. We drove without any stops until we got to Sandy; we stopped at Bryan's office where we ate lunch in the car while he went and talked to some co-workers. Then we headed to our first fun place: Jump Around Utah--or as our kids call it: the "bouncy place". The kids were so excited to go back because they had such a great time last summer going there!

 Hoyt was finally big enough this year to navigate the inflatable maze and not get stuck! Amazing how much they've grown!

Hoyt could even climb to the top of the play place, which Lexie had a hard time doing last year. He figured out how to use the net.

 Lexie just used her flexibility to climb to the top!

 Sabrie smiling after Daddy took her on the jumping pillow.

The bouncy slide...

 Kids eating their treats. Hoyt chose Swedish fish, and Lexie chose a pink ice cream sandwich. 

Video of the kids on the jumping pillow. So much fun!

 After bouncing for hours, we went and checked into our hotel. For dinner we ate at Olive Garden, which we all enjoy, especially our kids because they love the breadsticks and croutons. Surprisingly, our kids acted amazing. We don't usually take them to sit down restaurants, but they were great! After eating, I did a little shopping; it makes it much easier to know the area and where things are...I sometimes miss all the stores and having more shopping options. After a long day, we went back to the hotel and got everyone ready for bed. This is also probably the best our kids have slept in a hotel. When I woke up in the morning everyone else was still sleeping and I just had to take a picture of Hoyt and Lexie sleeping crazy on their bed.

And here is Sabrie and Bryan all sacked out.

  In the morning the kids wanted to go swimming at the hotel. Hoyt was a little scared to get in the water; he tried, but didn't really end up swimming. Lexie had a lot of fun swimming with Daddy!

 After lunch at Arctic Circle, we headed to the zoo. Sadly, the weather reports before we left had been wrong and it was kind of a gloomy, cold day. At least we had coupons to get the kids in free, because the zoo itself was a huge disappointment due to over 1/2 of it being shut down for a huge renovation. Lexie was sad she didn't get to see any zebras, but we did get to see a few fun animals before it started raining and we called it a day.

Here they are with the big elephant. The real elephants were inside and we didn't get to see them.

Sabrie was comfy riding in the stroller, until she started screaming when she wanted to eat.

Some of the animals we did get to see. Bald Eagle and this monkey was carrying a baby on its back which was kind of cool.

 Bryan & kids checking out his favorite animals at the zoo - the apes.

Hoyt watching the otters.

Seals and sea lions.

I thought we got other pictures of animals, but I guess not. I wanted to see the polar bears, but we just saw one sleeping so that was boring. My other favorites were the giraffes, but we must not have gotten a picture because it started raining and they headed inside. Hopefully this renovation will be worth it and we can go back next year...or maybe we'll just go to San Diego since that zoo is much better! The kids did have fun and chose suckers with little stuffed animals for their souvenirs, maybe a little too sticky for the car, but oh well.  

I told Lexie to put her head down and they both took me very literally.

 After the zoo, we drove down to Provo to meet up with Pete and Matt for dinner at Los Hermanos, or as Lexie calls it "Pete's Restaurant" because we usually eat there with him. The kids were super tired and fell right asleep when we hit the freeway.
Pictures of all of us on the drive south.

Dinner with Pete and Matt was super fun and delicious! It was still cold and rainy, but as soon as we left Utah County, the weather cleared up and it was a beautiful drive home. The kids were well behaved and we really enjoyed spending time together. We are looking forward to some more fun trips this summer!