At the end of July through first week of August, we packed up and spent a few weeks of family and adventure-packed time in Utah! I had debated whether to send Jake and twins in the car while I flew with Meredith, like we did last year, but ultimately decided we were better off with Meredith strapped in a car seat, screaming, than on a plane, in my lap, screaming. She’s insanely strong and I probably would have ended up buying her her own seat, just to keep her restrained on a plane, so we decided to roll the dice and drive!

We started our travel off late in the day, thanks to the girls’ dance class in the morning and an Amazon package carrying some last-minute Keens for our trip that was late. As soon as we spotted the UPS truck with the coveted Amazon package on board, we jumped for joy and were finally able to take off in the afternoon. I always underestimate how cranky the kids get with late-in-the-day travel, and this was no exception. I always assume evening road trips will be a breeze since they will most definitely drift off in the car, right? Maybe everyone else’s kids, but not ours!

By Vegas, it was well past bedtime, and yet everyone was wide-eyed, whiny and sick of the car/each other. Thanks to the long stretches of desert and crossing time zones, it was still light out at 9 p.m., and without any blackout shades in sight, no one could fall asleep, despite the steady hum of the car. At one point, late that night, everyone was screaming, I had my headphones on ignoring everyone, and Jake was gripping the wheel, diet coke in hand, when suddenly, they all went silent. Having finally conked out, the kids were peaceful for an hour before we had to unload everyone at Jake’s brother’s vacation home in St. George to rest for the night. At least we had made our first leg of the trek unscathed (physically, at least… I still have mental scars!)

The twins were bewildered to wake up in unfamiliar bunk beds, and Meredith wasted no time trying to make a mess in every room in the morning, so we left as quickly as possible, not wanting to risk damaging anything in the nice vacation house! The four-hour drive to Lindon that morning was much better than the six hour torture-session the previous day, and the girls arrived at Grammy’s in good spirits.

Ready to go, with four bikes and a baby bike seat attached.

Everyone was too excited to see cousins to nap, so we all ran them ragged in the hot sun and put everyone to bed early. Allison, Zack, Noah and Hailey had flown to Utah a few days prior to us arriving and we were so excited to hang out and show them the sights for a few days!

Look, another baby!

Hailey was confused!

During the Gerins’ stay, we headed out in the morning for activities, came back for naps (or non-naps in Samantha and Amelia’s cases), and then typically spent the afternoons playing in the backyard. It was about as relaxing a vacation as is possible with our crew.

Cousin swinging time.

Meredith has started refusing to sit in her high chair for more than a few minutes before demanding a big girl chair.

We slept over at Tyler and Elizabeth’s house in Provo while the Gerins were at my parents, and every morning, the girls got a few jumps in on the trampoline before taking off. They really miss our old trampoline!

A new best doggie friend– Roger.   

I love Aunt Sarah.

Meredith enjoyed poking and prodding Hailey to no end, in addition to constantly trying to steal her food.

Our stay coincided with Pioneer Day, so the girls participated in the obligatory sparklers, parachutes and backyard fireworks display. The twins were exhausted, and being mean parents, we didn’t let them stay up until it actually got dark to do fireworks, so the fireworks looked pretty sad in the daylight. Maybe next year!

I spent many a summer day making rivers and lakes with the hose in this sandpit. I was happy it had the same appeal to the kids!

Being efficient with cousin bath time.

Belated birthday celebration for Noah. Clearly, he was disappointed to have to eat cake AGAIN.

Sadly, the girls weren’t very interested in the slip ‘n’ slide this year.

So much swinging. All. The. Time.

One rainy morning, we visited the Museum of Natural Curiosity and the kids had a blast on the zipline and water area inside.

More swinging…

Meredith’s favorite thing to do is bike…or rather ride on the back of my bike.

The biking trail is right out Grammy and Grandpa’s back gate, which made family bike rides a very convenient activity.

Noah was lightning fast on his scooter and held his own with the girls on their bikes.

Poor Bandit kept watch in the backyard while we were out.

Every night after a day packed with cousin fun, the girls conked out at 7 p.m., just like this. 

Lots of love,