Round two of our Spring break adventures:
Steve grew up spending spring break on the slopes, it was the only time they skied. And yet, a couple days a year in the Utah mountain air created a family a phenomenal skiers. It had been years since Steve had skied with his siblings. He had one day of less than ideal snow to get two kids skiing (they’ve skied one day before) and enjoy some time himself. I tried getting him to take Bennett – but that was a deal breaker. Luckily he had his dad – the master ski instructor – to help him out. It was a fun, yet exhausting day for all involved!
We toured Mrs. Cavanaugh’s chocolate factory. My kids love tours where they see the process – this particular day we were watching a lady hand make chocolate covered nut clusters. Her precision and grace was mesmerizing. We also had a healthy share of samples!
We met up with some good friends, who live near my brother, for an afternoon – which is never long enough. I’m convinced we need more time in Utah just to visit all the friends who have relocated there. We need some of them to migrate to sunny Arizona!
We went to an Escape the Room which was a first for Steve and I. There were only four of us in a room made for twelve and we could’ve used a couple more people working on puzzles. We had a great time, but sadly didn’t finish in time.
We played with cousins and watched their soccer and basketball games. We would tuck them in at night and party hard for several hours eating ice cream and playing games.
I pretty sure every time we got in the car and saw snow covered mountains, I gushed. They are majestic and beautiful and it took me by surprise each time I saw them.
We visited Antelope Island State Park which seemed completely out of place. It seems so desolate and rural – but it’s two miles from the city.
We saw the Great Salt Lake and took turns imagining what it would be like to swim in the salty water. We want to go back in the summer and try it out.
Just around the corner from the Great Salt Lake was a herd of Bison. They were roaming on the side of the road and they were more than a little intimidating. It’s not like a zoo where the animals were caged. We were fully aware of the danger and kept a healthy distance.
The last day we were there – we gave the kids some options of activities and surprise, surprise – they wanted to go back to the snow. Such a novelty for the Arizona kids!
We knew where to find snow, we went back up Ogden Canyon to the area we rented snow mobiles. But instead, we just went sledding. Let me tell you – these were large steep hills and we were exhausted trekking up just to sled down. We were stripping coats and sweatshirts it was so warm. In fact, the snow had melted considerably in just the six days since we had been up there.
As exhausting as it was, we climbed up those hills time and time again and we’d take long breathers once we finally reached the top. We made trains. We had crashes, we had mishaps and we laughed as we cleaned snow out of our pants. Three days of snow for spring break was just what we were looking for.
In an attempt to break up our drive home we stopped in Vegas – the halfway mark. We were looking to make a long stop to get some dinner and let the wiggles out. Our genius idea consisted of taking the kids to M&M world on the strip. We’ve had better ideas.
The kids enjoyed M&M world – several floors of chocolate goodness and paraphernalia. But 5 kids in Vegas is crazy and we did not fit in. Not only that – the whole environment was a little hard for our kids to comprehend. Hallie asked why everyone was in their swimsuits when they weren’t swimming. Hunter wondered why so many people smoked, it made everything smell bad. And Bennett just wanted one of the cool drinks everyone seemed to be carrying. (The long glasses filled with alcohol that had a light at the bottom.) We got our dinner and quickly made it back to the car before it got dark and the real crazies came out. We wanted to avoid any further explanations of other’s behaviors!
The second half of the drive was quiet and uneventful. Just the way we prefer it, especially in contrast to our drive up.
The week with family was more than we had hoped for. My brother and his wife were amazing hosts and made it too comfortable – we might be back sooner than they had hoped! 😉
