Last of Utah and Vegas Wedding

On our last day in Utah, we had plans to go to the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake, but it closed early, so instead, we went to Liberty Park, which had received a major upgrade since the time Jake and I were living in Salt Lake. We drove past Jake’s dilapidated old bungalow house he lived in during college when we met, not far from the park. Memories! Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike met us at Liberty for some playtime.

Meredith had the time of her life on the swings. Her soft little tufts of hair are totally irresistible– it’s the softest penguin fuzz ever!

swings

img_0722

Best. Day. Ever.

img_0725 img_0715

Swing us!

img_0729

img_0737

After Liberty Park, we visited our friends, Alex and Hillary, in SLC. Their little girl, Ann, was a great sport sharing her toys with all the girls. She took Meredith’s poking and prodding like a champ!

60d4f728-68cf-4adb-9e0d-a784dc2af6d9

Practicing chop stick skills.

img_5370-1

We had a whirlwind week of fun in Utah and the girls were sad to leave Grammy’s… until they found out Grammy and Grandpa were coming with us part of the way on the return trip! Jake’s nephew was getting married in Vegas, and we had arranged for my parents to caravan down with us to watch the girls while we were at the wedding festivities. Not only did they come with us, my mom offered to take the twins in their car on the six hour drive to Vegas so that we would just have to worry about getting ourselves and Meredith there on time! Talk about gluttons for punishment… grandparents of the year!

We loaded the twins and gracious grandparents up with snacks, coloring books and movies in the minivan and wished them well! Meredith slept most of the way to Vegas and it was a very peaceful road trip on our end… it almost hearkened back to our pre-kids days!

Grammy found an awesome park in St. George, which was perfect for getting some energy out, and when they arrived in Vegas, they took the twins to see the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater Show (dog and cats dressed up and doing tricks) downtown.  Other than that, we didn’t hear much about their car ride… I’m assuming Grammy and Grandpa blocked it out of their memory!

Can’t believe we’ve never stopped at this St. George park before– looked awesome!

park img_0339 img_0320

Meanwhile in Vegas… Meredith was on her way to get ready for the reception.

img_0767

When we arrived at the hotel, we realized Jake had accidentally packed my bag in the minivan, which my parents were driving. Not having anything to change into after being in the car for six hours, unshowered, I decided it would be best if he went to the luncheon while I hung back with Meredith until the minivan arrived. She was bored with the hotel room in about five seconds, so we walked around the grounds and went to the pool while waiting for Jake.

img_0751

Jake’s nephews and niece on the Calaway side: Mason, Keitra, Alex, his bride, Bree, Reagan and Ben. 14725739_10207335522533799_3442186778346669710_n

After a long day, the twins were pretty cranky when we met up at the hotel, so we fed them quickly and left them (screaming from being overtired and confused) with my parents. We took Meredith to the reception with us and she mostly slept/was passed around and admired by all the family.

Jake with four of his brothers, Jarom, Tyler and Ben.

img_5497

Some of the Whitehead siblings and siblings-in-law: Tyler, Gigi, Jarom and Jen.

14657276_1116487061766702_657086403402413595_n

Jake’s sister, Juliette, thought it was nice to hold just one baby for a change (she has two sets of twin boys, who are now in kinder and elementary!)

juliette  The next day, everyone woke up refreshed and ready to play. Jake’s family stayed at the same hotel, and we had breakfast with some of his family, as well as the girls and my parents. Then, we headed to the pool to burn some energy before going home.

The twins hung out with Grandma Celeste by the koi pond.

img_5471

Meredith loves silly Uncle Kip! They have the same expression!

kip

img_0359 img_0351

img_0774

Jake (conveniently) forgot to pack swim gear, so it was my turn to be in the pool with the twins for a change! It was a nice day, but the wind made being in the pool freezing.

img_0775 img_0777

Snack time with Grammy.

img_0796 img_0799

One of the pool servers apparently took pity on us and made it her mission to bring us extra lemonades, beach balls and suggested we go use one of the cabanas for free.

img_0801

Thanks, Grammy and Grandpa for all your help! I’m sure the girls would have rather turned around and gone back to Utah with Grammy and Grandpa, but we hugged goodbye and went our separate ways. After exhausting themselves at the pool, we had the most peaceful drive back to California in history. We didn’t have to make any stops, and all of the girls slept for three and a half out of the four hours. Record shattering!

img_0803

We ate out and let the girls run around the park by our house before getting home and collapsing from the journey. While waiting in the car for Jake to run in and grab some food before the park, we entertained Meredith with silly sounds. Meredith didn’t know what to think of us pronouncing Sammy’s name with a snake-like long “S” sound… she was simultaneously entertained and spooked!

Other than that, it was a cry-free trip home!

Lots of love,

Signature

Utah Week Three and Going Home

After our refreshing stay in the mountains at Solitude, we packed up, contacted the condo owners about the lamp that Samantha broke (they were really nice about it…I think my inclusion of the phrase “twin toddlers” softened their hearts a bit, because they told me I had my hands full) and met up with Grammy at the Hogle Zoo before heading back to Grammy’s house.

IMG_2683

The Hogle Zoo has definitely been upgraded since I used to go there as a little girl. Not too crowded and the enclosures weren’t the tiny cages I remember seeing back in the day.

IMG_2700

IMG_2702

IMG_2699

Our favorite part– the grizzly bears. It was lunch time right as we arrived at the bear enclosure and the zookeepers threw dozens of steaks out for the bears to munch on. Reminds me of two little bears I know.

IMG_2692

IMG_2685

Mandatory carousel stop.

IMG_2689

Two birdies in their nest.

IMG_2691

The girls napped on the way back to Grammy’s and they had a renewed interest in exploring Grammy’s house again since we had been in the mountains for half a week.

The next morning, we saw my good high school friends, Crysta and Sarah, and their kids who weren’t in school. Samantha and Amelia loved playing hide and seek and tag with all the kids.

Samantha and Amelia with Crysta’s Lincoln and Liam.

IMG_2718

This random cat from the park apparently wanted to come home with us as it jumped in our car.

IMG_2720

After the park, Grammy watched the girls while we packed the car to go home. During our stay, Grammy had prepared for “meltdown moments” by stashing away some new crafts and small toys to bust out at opportune times. The girls were totally occupied running around and pretending they were dinosaurs with the masks Grammy gave them. Too bad we couldn’t bring Grammy with us back home!

IMG_2721

It felt like a long vacation, and the girls had been having periodic meltdowns for a week or so about wanting to go home, but as soon as we said goodbye to Grammy and Grandpa and drove off, they of course started crying that they wanted to go back to Grammy’s. We can never win.

Miraculously, the girls were great in the car and slept the four hours to Saint George. We made a quick dinner pit stop there before gearing up to head to Vegas. The girls were super cranky and sick of the car by the time we got there, but all in all, it could have been much worse.

We normally would avoid Vegas at all costs, but we knew we’d be so tired from the trip that we’d need to make an overnight pit stop.

Since we had Bandit with us, we had to find a dog friendly hotel for our stay– so annoying (but we love you, Bandit!)

I had to laugh at some of the “Doggie menu” options!  Totally overboard, but nice for people who are willing to fork over some dough to pamper their pets. Apparently, we are not those people! Sorry, Bandit, but I would rather spend the money on a nice meal for myself. You know, because I actually chew my food before swallowing.

IMG_2744

The next morning, our plan was to tire the girls out before the four-hour car ride back home, so we hung out at the Mandalay Bay pool, which connected to our hotel. The girls were in heaven and I was happy about keeping them occupied without venturing out of our little bubble into downtown Vegas.

IMG_2727

IMG_2726

Our mission to get the wiggles out was successful. The girls ran around non stop at the beach-entry wading pool, wave pool and lazy river. Since we were out in the morning, we had the place to ourselves, except for a few other families. I’m assuming most people in Vegas were too hung over to leave their rooms in the morning!

IMG_2729

The girls don’t even play this much in the sand at home, but for whatever reason, occupied themselves for hours in the imported sand here?

IMG_2736

IMG_2728

Samantha soaks up the sun.

IMG_2731

By far the most relaxing part of the entire Utah trip for me!

IMG_2742

Tired out from the sun and sand, the girls slept the whole four hours home to California– truly miraculous! Despite it being 100 degrees when we returned (in the middle of October, ugh!), everyone was happy to be home. Except of course, for the girls, who repeated how much they missed Grammy’s house regularly for the next week.

Thanks for a wonderful stay, Grammy and Grandpa!

Lots of love,

 

Signature