Our Mini Vacation

Matt has had a few days scheduled off in August all year...  We had big plans  dreams that we would be able to go to California- Disneyland, Sea World, the beach... Originally we thought we'd drive there after Stacie's wedding, but the timing didn't work out. Then we thought we'd still go on the days Matt had scheduled off, but we had to pay for tuition.  Needless to say, tuition is expensive and money has been especially tight all summer.  So Disneyland has been scratched... probably until Matt graduates or later.  Poor Sydney requests that we go there all the time, and is even saving "moneys" so she can go.  The timing will probably be right, that we'll be able to go when she's saved up enough money :)  (She's up to about $6) Luckily she is a resilient little girl, and really doesn't care too much.  By the time we get there, she'll be very excited after wanting to go for years!  

Last week Matt worked overtime every day.  He worked 85 hours in the span of 6 days.  So we really missed him a lot.  Sydney told my brother that her daddy was sleeping at work.  And I'd often overhear her saying "where's my daddy?... I don't know?..." when she was playing with her toys.  It was a rough week to say the least. Fortunately, Matt's 3 days off were after his crazy overtime week, and were Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week.  I REALLY wanted to so some fun things to kind of simulate a vacation.  Water parks, the Zoo, Swimming, Mini Golfing, etc.  But Matt was extremely tired from his overtime week, and all of those things cost money, so we didn't end up doing a whole lot.  We spent most of the mornings at home lazing around, and would venture out to find some free/cheap things to do in the afternoons/evenings.  We actually came up with a few great activities.  It was nice to be able to spend some time together without stress of work or school, even if it was not exactly how we had dreamed it.  Matt is back at work today, working overtime again.  But at least these 3 days will only be 8-8:30 instead of 8-11, and then he starts school again on Monday.  Life never seems to slow down or even give us a break... those 3 days went by so fast!  I am anxiously awaiting the day when we are no longer students!

Anyway, here are some pictures of our little mini stay-cation.  

Day 1:  

We ran a few errands- grocery shopping, Babies-R-Us- and then we went to Wheeler Farm.  The kids loved walking around and seeing the animals.  Sydney tried to talk to all of them, saying "oink" to the pigs, "quack" to the ducks, etc.  It was nice to be outside!  Later that night we went to the Drive-In and saw Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me.  I especially loved this!  If you haven't been to a drive in movie, you really need to go.  You get two movies, and it cost us $14 total, the atmosphere is so fun, and it is so much easier with kids because they have room to move around!  We laid blankets out in the back of our car, and set up two camp chairs.  The kids were adorable sitting in the car watching the movie in their pajamas.  Cooper kept pointing up to the screen.... they were both so excited.  Definitely fun!

Wheeler Farm- Sydney has a thing for tractors! (really)

The Drive-In

Day 2:

We lazed around home in the morning again, and in the afternoon prepared some tinfoil dinners to take up into the canyons and cook.  We packed up the cooler with dinner and stuff for s'mores, brought the pack-n-play for Cooper to play in, camp chairs, firewood, etc.  We drove a little ways up Little Cottonwood Canyon, and had a picnic at a little campground.  It was so perfect to be able to spend a little bit of time in the mountains.  Having the mountains so close is definitely one of the best things about living in Utah.  They are just beautiful.  Doing things in the mountains always reminds me of my Grandpa McEwan's cabin and going there as a kid.  I definitely have special memories of and feelings for the mountains!  Highlights for Sydney include eating chocolate, finding the river, throwing rocks in the river, and playing in the dirt.  Highlights for Cooper include getting out of the pack-n-play, having his first graham cracker, and playing with rocks.  Highlights for me include doing a little exploring with the kids, throwing rocks in the river, teaching Sydney about Granite (the rock the Salt Lake Temple is made out of), eating yummy food, and enjoying the scenery.  Highlights for Matt include building a fire, playing in the fire, and carving sticks.  I think it's so funny that rocks and sticks are so entertaining! It was a fun, dirty, peaceful, yummy, and nice evening!

Look!  There's Daddy!

Throwing rocks into the river

We found these cool rock "buildings"

Sydney's "temple rock"

Cooper loves rocks too!

Sydney decided she didn't like the s'more- but she really loved the chocolate!  I love that she took a bite right out of the middle of our King Size bar

Day 3:

Once again, we hung out at home most of the day.  We did venture out for lunch at a park, and didn't get to stay there very long because it started raining.  We visited my dad at work, and went to Toys R Us to look for  a Jessie Cowgirl Doll (from Toy Story) but they didn't have any left.  Then we rented a movie and hung out at home some more.  A pretty uneventful day.

I am sad that our little vacation is over.  I can feel fall settling in, and honestly am not looking forward to another long winter.  Our summer was cut very short this year- it didn't reach 80 until June/mid June at least, and is already getting cold.  There are many amazing things about living in Utah, but their long, long winters are not one of them.  Hopefully we can still get a few summer activities in before it gets too cold! :)