if you can’t stand the heat…

[beware of picture overload]

This summer we decided to head North to Utah. As a kid, Todd and his family would go up and stay in a rustic little cabin in the woods – built by his great grandfather around 70 years ago. He’s been anxious to get back there as an adult and show his children a little family history. This year, the pieces all fell together and we caravanned on up with his sister’s family.

I always love the drive on our way TO a vacation. Everything is new and different and we’re all excited to be on our way.

We stopped at Glen Canyon Dam to run around a bit and then made our way to Zion’s Park.

It was a beautiful day. Coming from Phoenix, just about anything is beautiful compared to our 100+ degree days.

We did a short hike to Weeping Rock. The kids thought it was super funny to stand by the Weeping Rock sign and, well, weep with one another.

Our plan was to camp at the park and continue North the next day. Unfortunately the park was full, so we headed down the road until we found a suitable camping spot.

That night I spent sleeping in the same sleeping bag as Paige. It was on the cold side for us warm-blooded folks, and a darling princess sleeping bag wasn’t making the grade for our darling princess. Crowded, not super comfortable, but warm. Poor Gabriel made a little fuss in the night and woke up with popsicle feet. Note to self: be more prepared.

On our final leg, just as our 12 hour journey appeared to be over, Steve and Sommer’s car broke down. They took the car to the repair shop, we rearranged the vehicles and continued on.

At last, we made it to the family cabin! It’s a small, lovely little out-of-the-way place in the middle of the forest, along the Provo River. I love the family history that goes along with this place. Todd’s great-grandfather built it with his own two hands.

But…… being the first visitors there after the long winter and weeks of rain, we had a few surprises. The cabin lacked hot water (due to a busted water heater), water pressure, there were traces of critters being in the house, and tricky indoor plumbing. These were things we as a group decided we didn’t really want live with for an entire week. We thought about pitching tents on the lawn. But, as we learned from our chilly campout previously, we knew we were ill prepared for that. It also didn’t solve our hot water issue.

We traveled back to town and got ourselves a room at the nearest resort. This place has a natural hot-springs crater where you can snorkel, scuba and swim. The kids loved it! (That includes the grown-up kids.)

The next day, we went back to the cabin and hung out. We read, napped, stressed over Gabriel’s close proximity to the river, tried fishing in the much too swift river, explored, the kids played cards and were generally tortured by the lack of tv and video games. We cooked hobo dinners over the fire and enjoyed our day.

Then we packed up and said goodbye to the cabin.

The remainder of our trip consisted of bouncing from one hotel to the next, city to city, and basically winging it.

We hiked to Timpanogos Cave:

I might have had 18 panic attacks over people getting - what I deemed to be - too close to the edge.

Cascade Springs:

Park City, Olympic Park:

The kids all had a blast running from ride to ride. Taylor and Austin rode the coasters 1,000 times and the zip line. Paige and Amber preferred to jump on the trampolines with the bungee cords. Gabriel LOVED the coaster – going full speed! My favorite part of the day was speeding down the track and hearing him yell “awesome!” and laughing hysterically.

We took the gondola to the top of the mountain for lunch. Gorgeous!! I’m gonna need a summer home here.

Salt Lake City and accompanying Mormon hot spots:

We finished our trip with some of my most favorite people ever – the Mortimer family. They graciously put all 9 of us up at their house, fed us, entertained us, took us for Harley rides. Emily and I stayed up til all hours discussing the deep, important things in life. ;) Our kids had a great time with their kids once they re-acquainted themselves with one another. I would have stayed a week there if it were up to me [and they could tolerate us that long].

Phew!! The End.