Road Trip: Utah or Bust

At the end of June we loaded up the minivan for a road trip to Utah to see my nephew's sealing and take in the sights of Temple Square in Salt Lake City. For this road trip I bought DVD players that strap on the back of our seats. It was well worth the money. The girls loved watching movies and I loved not hearing them scream. I also bought mini magnadoodles, coloring books and snacks which also helped. I don't think the movies alone would have kept them content. Once again I must sing the praises of my Toyota Sienna. It makes road tripping actually enjoyable, and that's saying a lot since I've hated road trips in the past. I've often said I'd rather sit on a plane for twelve hours instead of in the car for two hours. My attitude might have also changed due to the fact that traveling with kids includes a lot of stuff. But I digress.

We started off on a Wednesday and drove until Elko where we ate at Costa Vida. In my attempt to live a healthier lifestyle I figured a salad at Costa Vida was better that the Golden Arches. From there we filled up the gas tank and took off. We thought we were making good time until we realized we lost an hour traveling to Utah. So much for being on time to the BBQ that night. We checked into our hotel in Salt Lake City, picked up my parents from their hotel, and drove out to Layton to have a family BBQ.

The next day, we got up early and drove to the Provo City Center Temple for the wedding. My fabulous parents watched the girls while Tim and I went to the sealing, and my mom even gave over all her change to the girls to throw into the fountain. What a great Nana she is. After that we took pictures, my girls had meltdowns, and we left to visit a friend from high school. She graciously made us lunch and our kids played with her kids and their toys. It was exactly what we needed. It was nice to catch up with her. I haven't seen her in about five years. After that we drove out to Layton for a BBQ reception at a park. It was lovely.

On Friday, we vowed to not do a lot of driving, so we drove the half mile to Temple Square to show the girls all that it has to offer. In my mind we were going to have this great family bonding time seeing church history and all that good stuff. News flash Risha, they don't care. All they wanted to see was the fountains and water features. Not the visitor centers, not the temple exterior, not the tabernacle, or the anything else. We manged to drag/bribe them to see it all including the Church History Museum, but I would have liked to have spent more time at the museum. I think I just need to remember that kids don't care about the same stuff I do, and tailor my expectations accordingly. But overall it was fun.

Lilybelle playing in the kids section of the Church History Museum

Oh look Mom, a water fountain

The organ at the tabernacle

On Saturday we drove back home, and stopped at the California Interpretive Trail Center, and had a good time. It was so interesting to learn more about what the people going west went through. I don't think I could have done it. No thank you.

I'm glad we went, but I don't think we are going to go on vacation anytime soon. I need to recover from our latest trips.