The plus side of waiting so darn long to catch up on my blog is that I have the added perspective of reflecting back after some time has passed. Our trip to Salt Lake and Palisade in August was definitely the highlight of the summer. Jason and Lindsay were gracious enough to let us stay with them, which allowed us to stay much longer than usual because we didn't have the added cost of a hotel. They moved Lily into their room for the week, we bunked in Lily's room with Noah in her crib, and Hannah and Lex wore themselves out night after night of giggling instead of sleeping in Lex's room. Even the drive wasn't terrible!
I was worried about how Noah would do, since he's constantly on the move, but he did okay. My mommy brain hoped and figured that he would sleep a lot of the way, but instead, he slept NONE of the way! Still, he was fine without his nap somehow. Hannah was excited to take her nap in the car, since a couple of weeks earlier Milla had spent the night sleeping in the car while they drove to Vegas. She was a good sport and went right to sleep when we told her it was nap time.
Unfortunately, her nap was only about 30 minutes long, because, well, who can sleep like that?
The night we arrived we met Sharon and Aunt Maryanne for dinner. Whipple and McKayla joined us. We went to The Mayan, which reminded me of the part of Casa Bonita where the cliff divers are. Actually the whole restaurant was similar. The main differences were no games, no free sopapillas (bummer!), and somehow, someway, the food is actually worse! Seriously!!! Regardless, the salsa was tasty and the girls all had a good time. It was a peaceful enough evening after our long drive.
On Saturday we went to the Withers' family reunion, which was why we timed our trip when we did. Justin's cousin Wayne has a little boy named Logan, who Hannah just adores. The kids all played on the playground, we had a pot luck, and, as always, played Bingo. I actually won this time, taking home a badmitten set that we later discovered was for kids (but that didn't keep the boys from playing for a long time on Sunday!) I loved this photo of Hannah and Lex on the the playground, with Logan looking sneaky and playing right under them.
Noah loves his cousins, and he and Lily also share a love for slides!
No Withers' gathering is complete without an amateur photo shoot, so of course the kids were all mobbed by cameras paparazzi-style. This one I believe has all the great-grandkids in it, with the exception of Henry. Jackie and Josh need some harassment so that maybe someday in the future they will join the festivities!
Whenever we go to Utah we have the list of places to hit, all of which are restaurants that Justin missed and wishes we had in Denver. After an early dinner at the reunion, we went to Leatheryby's. This diner serves actual food, but there is some Sevy phobia of eating there, or something. Anyway, we only get ice cream when we go. The giant hand holding the cup in the picture of Noah belongs to Jason. He really loves Noah and gets a kick out of playing with him, but since Noah was in the height of his stranger-anxiety phases while we were there, Jason had to find a tactic to make Noah like him more. So, throughout the trip, whenever Noah was eating, Jason would slide in for some quality time. Here, he is sharing Justin's milk-shake with Noah. You know the old saying "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach?" Jason was smart and took full advantage of that fact!
Hannah and Lex couldn't get enough of each other for the whole trip. At Leatherby's, the decided to share a banana split. They were so excited to see the treat once it arrived at our table, and it wasn't long before it was demolished!
One of the morning we were there we spent at Boondocks. Everyone had fun riding the Go-Carts and Bumper Boats, and playing Laser Tag. Justin and Jason took the big girls on the Bumper Boats, and did a great job of soaking each other.
Lindsay and Jason had a great idea for an evening. They offered to host a BBQ so that we could invite people we wanted to see, and we could hang out as long as we wanted, instead of having to sit around at a restaurant. Wayne and his family came, so did Whipple and McKayla, and of course Papa Sevy and Grandma Robin. Hannah had a blast jumping on Papa with Lex, and the rest of us got to relax and hang out. It was a great idea, and will hopefully become a tradition, assuming Jason and Lindsay are up for having all those people over again!
The best day was the day we went to the "pool". I can hardly call it that, because it is really 3 separate pools, each with fun things to do! The one we spent the most time in was basically a playground, plopped into a shallow pool that also sprayed water all around. It was great. There was another similar pool, with deeper water and a more mature playground, and then a third pool with diving boards and even a high dive. Near the entrance is a HUGE bucket way up in the air that slowly fills with water. Once it is pretty full, a warning bell starts sounding, and then the bucket slowly tips and dumps all this water onto the people waiting below. So fun! Lindsay and I took the girls there while Justin stayed back so Noah could nap, and then he brought Noah out so they could join the fun. This is the first place that will go on our "must see" list for next time that doesn't involve food!
Lex is such a ham for the camera!
Daddy and his little man enjoying one of the many slides.
That night we met Whipple and McKayla for dinner at Wingers. This place is SOOOO yummy! I don't really like wings, but I could eat the ones here everyday, I swear! Hannah and McKayla had a good time together. They really enjoyed playing with their straws. We also took the opportunity to bring Lindsay a piece of their Asphalt Pie, which is quite tasty as well.
The girls decided early on in the trip that their hair had to be done the exact same way, so that meant I got double-hair-duty. It was okay by me, though. I love my little nieces so much, so any time with them I will take. Lex seemed start to really love having us around. At one point, though, I asked her while I did her hair "what are you going to DO when we go home?" To which she answered "probably play a game or something fun." Gotta love kids and their honesty!
The last full day there Lindsay and I had a well-deserved girls' day. Hannah spent time at Julie's (Lex and Lily's daycare) with her cousins, Justin and Jason took care of Noah, and off we went! We went to Tai Pan, a home decorating store, then off to Quilted Bear, which is where crafters rent booth space to sell their crafts. After we got our fill of shopping, Lindsay treated me to lunch at Paradise Bakery, then we went to see Julie and Julia, a total chick-flick. It was great. In fact, I think I sense another tradition brewing there....
Overall the trip was fabulous. We got to spend time with family who we love so much but don't ever get to see enough, all while doing fun things together. I for one am glad we have moved our annual trip to the summer instead of the winter. There is just so much more to do and see. Can't wait until next summer!
Justin hadn't been looking forward to turning 30 at all. So, I decided to lay off the "old man" jokes and just help him celebrate. On the actual day we had my family over for dessert. When I asked him what he wanted to have, he couldn't think of anything, so I made suggestions, starting with two of of his favorites, Grasshopper pie and Rice Krispie Treats. He stopped me and said, "ok, both!". You can't deny the birthday boy his birthday request, right? So he got both. (For those of you grossed out/confused people, Grasshopper pie is a marshmallow-y minty pie with an oreo crust. They are heavenly! 
