Surprise Utah Trip

On a whim, LeRoy and I decided to pack up our family and leave town. We didn't tell the kids any of the plans we had and that turned out to be a great way to avoid the "uhh, that sounds boring" reaction. I also wanted to spend the night in a decent hotel (since the one in Vegas was less than stellar, okay, it was laaaame . . . free 2 nights remember, there's a reason it's free) so LeRoy searched around online and we were able to get a Hilton family suite for less than it would have cost for 2 rooms at the Best Western. And let me tell you a stay at the Hilton out shines the Best Western by a galaxy of stars! I think I'm becoming a hotel snob.

Our first stop was in our driveway. Weird, I know, but it really took some creativity to fit 7 of us comfortably in LeRoy's truck (did I mention we sold the Yukon in October?) and we weren't used to the fact that we would need to cover our luggage in the bed of the truck. We ended up laughing at our lack of preparation for this part and by the time we got on the road it felt like we had visited a mini circus but on the road we were.





Our official first vacation stop was at the Hill Air Force Base - Aerospace Museum. Derek was so excited when he realized where we were going that he looked like our neighbors little poodle who shakes with uncontrollable excitement until he piddles. Luckily, Derek didn't piddle but he sure was out of control with excitement. The next 2 hours were full of exclamations from all of us.





Nathan and Hyrum were in heaven (or space) when we found ACE - the Aerospace Center for Education. Basically a hands on, huge playroom. Hyrum wanted to try on every helmet there and once Nathan had his NASA suit on and was sitting in front of a real/mock cockpit he really thought he was going to fly that plane out of the room. They were very patient to have their turns with the kid sized airplanes that they got to pedal around the museum. If we lived closer we'd probably be there once a week. Did I mention the whole thing is FREE?!?!?!




We did not have near enough time at the museum but at closing they kicked us out and we vowed to go back, someday. Even as we were being shoo-ed out of the building the kids were still stopping for pictures and hollering "did you see this", "holy freak, look at those missiles" and much more. It's a good thing they didn't have recruiters there. Derek would have used his height to lie about his age and signed on the spot.

Our next stop was a surprise for Nathan. He is a Narnia fan - or fanatic. He watches either the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe and/or Prince Caspian at least once a week. With the release of The Dawn Treader this week we couldn't imagine not taking him to the theater to see it. We asked the clerk at the museum where the nearest theater was and ended up in Layton. Little did we know that tickets would be $2.50 cheaper there than in Rexburg (Yay!) so LeRoy splurged and let the kids get popcorn. I wish I had a picture of Nathan watching the movie. He was mesmerized. He didn't touch the popcorn and would only lean over to say "there's Lucy, there's Edmund, I love Reepacheep". The movie even kept Hyrum's attention.



Our final adventure of the day was to see the Christmas lights and nativity at Temple Square. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful. But it was really hard to see the beauty beyond the bazillion people that were there. We made it just in time to hear the nativity story being told with spotlights on the stable, shepherds and manger. Again, very well done but packed with people! Then we walked upstairs to see the Christus statue and Hyrum would not quit staring. As soon as he could see it in full view he reverently whispered "Jesus" before anyone could ask him who it was. I was humbled to see the reverence that Nathan and Hyrum both showed as stood at the figure representing our Savior.

We finally ended up at our hotel and it was a refuge from a packed day of sight seeing. It was practically an apartment with so many amenities that I wondered why I had packed more than the diapers and pajamas. The pool was open 24 hours so LeRoy, Derek and Justin went swimming until 1 am and were at it again (with Nathan and Hyrum) at 9 am clear and they didn't get out until time to check out at 11:00.



We had 3 rooms and 4 beds so we were able to put the little boys in a room sharing a bed and it proved to be quite entertaining. First, they wouldn't stop giggling like little girls until I had them each face a different wall and after about 45 minutes of that they fell asleep sometime around 10:30. Then they provided us with a boxing match all performed while they were asleep. During about a 10 minute period (around 1:30am) they switched positions at least 4 times - each time with someone getting a hand in the face - and the rest of us laughed through the whole thing.