Summer Trip Part I

The kids and I took a road trip to see family.
Our first stop was in Boise.

Shaylin and her cousin enjoyed turning this sandbox lid into a boat to sail in their "moat" (irrigation ditch). They spent many hours out there. Hailey and Shaylin found that broom handles worked great to push themselves along.

Hailey and Zach waiting for their turn on the 4 wheelers. These are always a highlight. This trip my brother had a little mini 4 wheeler that the kids really liked.

Shaylin even took Ethan around on it, very slowly.

He had a smug grin on his face the whole ride.

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Next we drove to Logan, Utah to visit my amazing 95 year old Grandpa Spencer (Great Grandpa to my kids). He has a way of making each individual feel so important. What a wonderful man he is. The kids played the piano and sang some songs for him. Then they each were able to talk to him individually.

Hailey showing him a wiggly tooth.

Zach listening to some council from Grandpa about continuing his piano playing and how it will bless his life.
Telling Shaylin how proud he is of the good choices she is making and what a nice young lady she is turning into.
This was Grandpa's first time meeting Ethan. We love you Grandpa Spencer and have learned so much from your endless good examples. Thank you for the wonderful visit.

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We traveled on to Salt Lake City and spent a day touring Temple Square. The kids were amazing and so interested in all the places we went. We went to the top of the Church Office building and enjoyed the amazing view from up there. They were able to see the new replica of the SLC Temple that shows (in perfect miniature form) what the inside of the temple looks like. The detail was amazing. The kids loved the Church History Museum and seeing the first printed Book of Mormon and some of the manuscripts. It was such a wonderful experience for them, we didn't get near enough time there before it closed. This picture was taken on top of the Conference Center. Love these girls and their "shades." We brought my nephew along as well. He was a trooper, even though we stayed until everything closed. The kids wanted to stay longer, I was amazed at their interest.

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The next day we went to Discovery Gateway Children's Museum with other family members and cousins. I thought it might be a little young for some of my kids, but they proved me wrong and enjoyed it just as much as the littles. Here Zachary squeezed into a postal worker suit made for a 4 year old I'm sure. I was laughing so hard (as were others around me) at his cute rear end in these. You can see his shorts all bulky and stuffed inside the costume. Too funny. He took this job seriously too and found all the letters and delivered every single one to all the areas of the Children's Museum.
Ethan fell in love with this rocking chair just his size. He's all wet from playing in the water area and not wanting to wear an apron.
The museum even had a real helicopter up on the roof that the kids could go up and pretend to fly and push all the buttons. They also had a control tower that other kids could communicate back and forth with the helicopter. It was pretty fun imaginative play for these kiddos. The kids will definitely want to go back here again some time.