Just Relaxing

When we weren't at Disneyland or the beach we were either on the road for 28 hours, swimming, playing minature golf, wall climbing, go-carting, playing games and just relaxing. We had a great time. It was a much needed vacation and the kid loved being able to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Tippetts as well as the uncles. Mom and dad didn't mind that fact either! :)

Family Vacation - Day Three

Sorry no photos for today:) We spent the day at home relaxing, taking naps, reading, working on projects and having some kids over to play. It was a pretty relaxed day. With still 2 more days to go of vacation and a list of things that we promised the kids to do.. we had a glitch in the plans. Beau and I were supposed to go out on a date tonight - our own mini vacation. But the neighbors who were going to watch the kids ended up getting the flu and we voted to not get it, and try for another day. It only turned out that Beau got it anyway and has spent the night sick and throwing up.(His first time being sick in our 5 years of marriage. I can't even count on my two hands how many times I've been sick... finally it caught him.) Mirian has it too - at least a burning fever, but hasn't thrown up yet. Phew!!! What a way to spend vacation huh!:) So we shall see how the next couple of days play out. We may end up extending the family vacation a couple of days to recuperate from the sickness.

Family Vacation - Day Two!

For the second day of our vacation we went to the Hogle Zoo and the Children's Discovery Museum in Salt Lake City. It was a great day and we had so much fun. The kids loved running around the zoo and seeing all the animals. They Mirian and Savannah would walk and run around holding hands and just having the time of their life. Afterwards we to the Children's Discovery Museum and spent a few hours there as well. They were in hog heaven being able to play and run around and do things at the museum. They loved the fact that they could touch everything without being told no! Isaac sat on the earthquake machine, Mirian rode a horse, Savananah played in her own little house, they fore casted the weather and did a fun things. There is so much do do at this place and it's perfect for kids!

Give me a Break!

Whether I deserved it or not, I took a break from school and research projects and went on a . . . um . . . emotionally enriching, relationship enhancing outing with my father and two brothers. Ok, alright, so we went on a snowmobiling trip for three days. But it wasn't all just fun and games, we had to work hard, relying on good teamwork on multiple occasions to dig out the snowmobiles when we buried them. Hey . . . ok, so you can snicker under your breath if you want, but it was a great trip, we had a great time, and I wasn't just trying to duck out of any responsibilities the first chance I got. In all seriousness, we had a great time, and I enjoyed spending some quality time in recreational activities with Dad, Alex, and Phillip. A family friend, Beau Nicoll, went with us and stayed both nights. Some others showed up both on Friday and Saturday, but didn't stay the night, Dave Burton, Uncle Mark Mackay, and some of his friends. Here is a clip of Alex, Phillip, Beau Nicoll, and Dad jumping. We wanted them to jump closer together but this the best we got.

The temperatures were a little warmer than usual the whole trip, especially in the cabin on the second night, the fireplace roasted us all out, but the snow wasn't sticky enough to cause problems with the sleds. We pulled our food and things up in toboggans, and they tipped over a couple of times. Although we lost eight of our eighteen eggs, which we had to clean off of the rest of the food containers (note: wrap eggs in separate plastic bag to prevent mess), and three sockets, thankfully these were our only casualties the whole trip. We did stage a fake accident though where Beau Nicoll gets run down by Dad on his big Arctic Cat. We made a fun little movie with it that I will post here when it is all put together. Alex seemed to outdo us all in burying snowmobiles. He dropped right into a creek once, which we can't fully blame him for, because he had already crossed at that location once, I guess the second time was too much and it just dropped him. He also stuck Dad's big sled pretty good when he tried to go higher up the mountain than he had just gone on a lighter snowmobile, and it got stuck pointing into the sky away from the mountain.

It took us a while to get to him, to help him get out, and Dave Burton ended up tipping his sled over when he tried to get close. You can see how deep the snow was when I post the pictures here. I enjoyed both climbing the steep hills and working my way through the trees. The snow conditions were great and let us go lots of places we wanted to. Shalae took advantage of the time I was in the mountains, and had arranged with her mother to teach two digital scrapbooking classes. She is always looking for more potential addicts to get hooked on it. It is pretty neat to see people get excited about recording family memories, definitely a worthwhile hobby that helps keep family relationships strong. The girls loved playing with their grandparents on both sides, and Mirian never let us forget that my parents dog was outside. The poor girl is pretty scared of dogs. Between daylight savings time change and staying up late talking with family, it will take us all a while to get back on a good sleeping schedule. All accounted for, it was a great break!

M&M World

Of the few places we were able to visit on the Las Vegas Strip the M&M factory was the girls favorite stop. I wonder why? Chocolate candy, their own little bag, and any color they wanted to choose. It was great fun to let them pick out there colors.

Beau began first filling his bag and Mirians and wasn't paying too close of attention to Savannah who was standing next to him. All the sudden we heard the sound of candy spurting out of the bottom of the machine. There was Savannah holding her bag underneath, pulling on the lever, filling her bag incredibly fast.. and in shock unable to let go. Beau immediately jumped to action. At $9.00 a lb. we were not planning on paying for a full bag of M&M's. That would break us. I couldn't stop laughing.

They were so excited to have their own bag as they are showing them off here. They were also excited to get their pictures taken with the large M&M's. We also got to watch a 3D movie... Savannah who didn't like the glasses watched the whole thing without them... definately not catching the effects. It was fun to see excited about something as small as an m&m.