Random Utah

In between excursions, most of our time in Utah was spent soaking up the sun in the backyard. I call it “savoring a slow summer.”

The swing and zipline were hours of entertainment.

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Amelia looking worried.

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Before Jake refashioned the zipline into a real one, he tried using the swing. Most boring zipline ever.

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Meredith received no less than 14 hours a day of cuddling.

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More cuddles from Grandpa.

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Surprised by life!

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S and A loved exploring the closets packed with our childhood toys upstairs.

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Hanging out in the playroom.

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Lots of fun toys for Meredith on her throne.

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Eating outside.

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More slip n slide and sand pit.

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What a cute spider in her web!

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Woo hoo!!

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The girls had one last hoorah in the backyard before eating lunch and taking off to go home. We were sad to say goodbye, and were not looking forward to the long trip back.

Meredith, in particular, had PTSD from being in the car twelve hours on the trip out to Utah, and was not happy about being in her car seat again!

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We wiled away the time with the road trip scavenger hunt, a movie, singing and about a million two-minute audiobooks (The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Peter Rabbit on audiobook were very well narrated!)

We broke up the trip back by stopping at Jake’s brother’s vacation home in St. George where we played in the club pool and ate dinner.

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IMG_0433 IMG_3929  After wearing them out the pool, the girls donned their pajamas and after an hour or so of protest (“I WANT TO SLEEP IN MY OWN BED PLEASE!!”) all three girls conked out at 8 p.m. for the rest of the five hours home.

When the twins woke up in their own beds the next morning, their first requests were, “Can we go back to Utah again today?”

Lots of love,

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Meredith’s Entertainment

The twins are constant entertainment for Meredith.  Never a dull moment at Grammy’s or back home.

Lots of love,

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Grotto Falls

While in Utah, Grammy’s co-worker suggested a family friendly hike down in Payson, the Grotto Falls Trail. At under half a mile, but up in the mountains with plenty of beautiful scenery, creeks to cross and the reward of a waterfall at the end, it was the perfect hike for us. You would have thought it was a fifty-miler the way the girls complained the entire time.

“I’M TIRED!!!!!”

“CARRY ME!!!”

“IT’S HOT!!!”

“I HAVE ROCKS IN MY SHOES!!!”

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At first, Samantha and Amelia begged to wear their own backpacks full of snacks and water.

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That lasted about five seconds

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The creek crossings made it feel more adventurous.

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Are we there yet?

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We made it!

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I asked about five different people coming through to take our picture, and they all turned out pretty terrible. It’s hard to find reliable picture-takers, these days! It didn’t help that the girls were screaming because they were, “SOOOOOO COLD!!!!”

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“GET ME AWAY FROM THE WATER!”

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The grotto was gorgeous and once the girls calmed down, they had fun exploring and tossing rocks.

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Ants on a log.

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Time to go… the girls were famished, despite having approximately fifteen snacks on our journey.

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Meanwhile, at home, Meredith was enjoying her solo time with Grammy!

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Lots of love,

 

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Springville Splash Pad

It’s always fun seeing old friends in Utah, but it’s hard getting everyone’ schedules to sync up and it hasn’t worked out the past few trips. This time around, we were able to get together with Sarah and Zuleika’s families for a morning at the Springville Splash Pad near Sarah’s house.

What a fun zoo crew! Despite it seeming like it would be chaotic with all the kids, they all entertained each other, so we could sit back and relax.

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The splash pad was more like a river running down the sidewalk, and the twins loved it.

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Meredith met little Cohen.

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Meredith found Claire and Zuleika highly entertaining.

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It was Beckham’s birthday, so Sarah brought cupcakes for all the kids to devour.

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When will I be old enough to splash too?

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Lots of love,

 

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