Vacation..... All I Ever Wanted

Vacations! I love them! The time to get away from life and reality and be together as a family. I love every part of them. And I'm always sad to come home again despite the stress of being away from home. It's just so much fun to be in another town doing things just for fun and of course, visit family.

Our vacation this year was to UTAH! We have never been together as a family before and I really have wanted to take the kids to Salt Lake City and do the whole Utah toursit thing -- go to Temple Square, BYU, etc. etc. So this year, Wade's family reunion was in Preston, Idaho which is only 2 1/2 hours from SLC so we decided to take advantage of spending that much money in gas ($500 by the way) and take 10 days to go to Salt Lake after the reunion, stay with my aunt and see as much as we could. We had a great time.

FIRST STOP: Preston, ID for Family Reunion

Because Hannah had Girls Camp, we didn't get to the famly reunion until Sat afternoon and only had 1 day to see everyone. It felt very rushed, but it was still great to see people we hadn't seen for a very long time. And it was very fun to enjoy the pool at the lodge although unfortunately that was the cleanest part of the facility.






SECOND STOP: Salt Lake City, UT

We then traveled to SLC where my aunt lives and spent 5 days there. We had a wonderful time. We went to Temple square and both visitors' centers there.

We also went to the Church History Museum which is one of my favorite places. I have been before, but have not taken my children. It was neat to see their reactions to things. My second daughter who is 9 was in awe and stated "I can't believe they have saved all these things from the pioneers!"

We also went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and saw the new Joseph Smith movie. Aubrey (my 18 month old) conveniently took her nap during the movie so that worked out just fine.

Our favorite place however was the This is the Place Heritage Park.

We spent two days there and had a blast! If you haven't been, it is a park by the "This is the Place" Monument where they have recreated SLC from the pioneer days. Some of the buildings are the actual buildings/homes/cabins that were relocated to the park. Other buildings are recreations of the buildings. There was a large train that takes you around the park because it was tiring to walk from one end to the other. And a smaller train to ride around the pond. We enjoyed both as well as many other things. The kids got to wash clothes, pull a handcart, ride horses, tie rugs and make candles. It was much better than an amusement park. I highly recommend it.




After five nights with my aunt, (does she look tired to you?) we left Utah for our third and final stop--

THIRD AND FINAL STOP: Boise, ID

This was a perfect stop on our way home and we got to see my brother, sister and cousins at the same time. We stayed for 2 days and had lots of fun. It was the perfect end to our vacation.

So that is our vacation for 2008. Gas was outrageous, but what can you do? Gotta create those family memories. What did you do this summer? Or is it still to come? I have to admit that I now have vacation blues -- facing reality until the next vacation comes along.