Spring Vacation

We planned a mini spring vacation towards the end of April. We headed up to Salt Lake to see family and friends and added in a bunch of fun activities for the kids.

Wednesday was a lot of traveling, strategically centered around nap time so that the boys would sleep for a good chunk of the drive. We made a couple of stops including Wendy's for lunch, because it's handy and because they have yummy salads. I was still doing Whole 30 during our trip which was a little tricky but not bad. Then we stopped at the Red Barn in Santaquin because I love their apple cider. The boys both got to pick a toy to help entertain them the rest of the ride. It... kind of worked. Then we stopped by my Grandma and Grandpa Hossner's house for a quick visit, did dinner at Slapfish (so good!) and made a stop at Trader Joe's. There's not one near us and we're obsessed with all of the foods we've tried there so we stocked up on some tried and true things, and some new things. None of them have let us down so far. I need to figure out how to petition to get a TJ's in St. George or something.

We were originally going to stay the whole week at Andee's house, but then she ran a freakish fever the day before we got there. It mysteriously went away while we traveled but we decided to giver her another 24 hours before hanging at her house so we ended up sleeping in Bridgette's empty house for the night (she was away on a fun cruise). 

Thursday I finally started taking pictures so we'll let them tell most of the story.. Our first stop was Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. I thought I was being clever by planning our outings during the week to avoid the crowds but that just converted into a ton of schools doing field trips while we were there. The aquarium is big enough that the crowds weren't too bad though. The boys both loved it and Sawyer talks about seeing the sharks and fish and asks to go back every week.

The Thatcher boys. We couldn't decide if we should bring the stroller or not. Dawson is so independent it proved to just make him mad that he wasn't walking around just like Sawyer. Thankfully they had stroller parking inside.

A coin drain.

"Look! Memo! And Marlin!"

"A Dory fish!"

Petting the stingrays. Sawyer totally spit in their exhibit...with lightening speed that was basically unstoppable. We ended up having a nice talk about how stuff like that will make the fish sick. This boy. I don't get the spitting thing but he thinks it is the coolest.

Helping Dawson pet a starfish. He really just thought he should be able to hop in the water with them.

Giant turtle sculpture.

This glass bubble made it so the kids could see inside one of the fish tanks. It was hard to pull either of them away from this spot to look at other stuff.

Wearing shark shoes to check out the shark exhibit.

"Dark!" (shark)

They definitely spent the majority of their time here. We made a couple of loops through just for the sharks.

"Sssss. Sssss. Sssss." He's got the animal sound down.

Butterfly exhibit. Both boys wanted to look but not touch.

Pulling fish faces at our last shark stop.

After the aquarium, we drove around and made a random Target stop so that the boys could keep napping in the van. I took a nice little stroll around the store while Dillon sat outside with them. Then we made our way over to visit my Grandma Loveland. It's still sad that we had this tripped planned so we could see her and my Grandpa before he got sick and was hospitalized. It was still really nice to see and visit with her. The boys loved playing on her stairs and eating the treats she gave them.

We made a quick playground visit to let the boys get some wiggles out and to kill time before we met up with Dillon's mom for dinner at Crown Burger. Sawyer was thrilled that we were finally seeing her. We had told him we'd visit her and he did not appreciate that she wasn't our very first stop upon arrival.

Ice cream sandwiches with Grandma Loveland.

Friday we planned a visit to Discovery Gateway, a children's museum. It was field trip city just like the aquarium and definitely crowded but the boys still liked it. I only had to intervene a couple of times... ya know, like when the older kids were literally sitting on top of my kids to get to stuff, and a few other things. Andee had work off that day so she was able to come play with us which made it even more fun.  

Building with some Magformers. I'm thinking Santa might need to bring some of these bad boys around our house this December.

Building with Dillon.

Sawyer, the helicopter pilot.

He loved this wind tunnel.

Once we decided it was definitely time for lunch, we headed out to wander around the Gateway. We got food in our bellies and then strolled around. We made a stop at a soda and candy store that had every flavor of pop you could imagine...except for the one Andee was looking for. Walking around the shops was fun. Neither Dillon or I have been to Gateway since it's been revamped and we really liked the changes. 

Sawyer especially enjoyed the adult sized teeter-totters.

Spinning with Andee.

Those teeny-tiny jeans are killer.

We headed back to Andee's to let the kids nap. Then we finished the day eating dinner at Ronna's house. We thought about going to an ice skating show but I think we were all pretty content to just chill by that point.

Saturday was set aside so that we could visit with the Britos. We had breakfast bright and early with them and then we headed to the airport open house that they'd found out about.  The kids were able to climb in some of the planes and helicopters and collect some goodies. Both Sawyer and Dawson have planes pretty high up on their favorites list right now so it was perfect.

Playing with Andee in the early morning.

Sawyer and Sofia.

Jane and Dawson.

We took the kids to play at City Creek after that. They played and we got a chance to catch up.

Then we decided to take the Britos and meet up with Dillon's mom, sisters, and nieces at Wheeler Farm. 

Sofia doing such a good job keeping the other two in place for the picture.

Both Jane and Sofia loved taking care of Dawson, holding both of his hands and leading him around. It's good practice for the baby brother they're getting in June.

Cow ride!

Finally remembered to take a picture with Linds! Next time, we'll try to remember the guys too.

We wrapped up our fun day out with a stop at Culver's, said goodbye to the Brito family, and went back to Andee's so the boys could take a much needed nap. Later that night, Dillon went with his sisters and mom to see Dan Cummins while me and the boys stayed back for some squirt gun fun, bath time, and an early bed time.

Ronna, Andee, and Dillon with Dan Cummins.

The next morning we made one last stop at Bridgette's for breakfast and to visit the family then we headed home. It was such a fun trip and went by so fast, like vacations always do.