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Vacations

Our Week in Washington

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We just got back from a week-long all-inclusive luxury vacation getaway.

And by “luxury” I mean we were staying at my aunt and uncle’s house in Washington.

And by “vacation” I mean we were there to babysit their five children so they could go on a cruise.

I’m serious about the “all-inclusive” part, though.  I think my aunt doubles as superwoman because every breakfast and dinner was already made up and in the freezer, and she left us a weekly schedule with outings, art projects, and new books every day to keep us all busy.  The luxury part wasn’t too far off either, especially if you talk to the kids because they had tons of fun toys, a trampoline, a swing set, and a pool in their backyard.

Really, the only downside was we needed to get ourselves to Washington which meant a 12-hour car trip each way.  Gulp.

We decided to get up really early so the kids would sleep the first leg of the journey.

Ha.

Ha ha.

We did leave really early but the kids were WAY too excited to see their friends to even consider going back to sleep at that point.  All was well, however, because they were quiet and happy.

We stopped for gas, let the kids out of the car, and had a doughnut breakfast:

Dallas used this light pole to stretch his legs and we loved it when Spencer imitated him:

The car ride there was a breeze.  The kids were so good and their favorite game was called “The Laughing Game.”  The girls would try to get Spencer to laugh and if successful, they’d laugh like crazy.  It was a good game:

We got to Mark and Michelle’s house on Friday night and were given all our instructions.  Then we got a good night’s sleep and bid Mark and Michelle farewell Saturday morning.  After they left, we got right to work having fun.

Our daily routine consisted of an activity in the morning, lunch, and then swimming/trampoline/toy time in the afternoon.

The activity for that day was playing at a park.  The kids had fun playing and then running over to the skate park area and using the bike ramps as slides.  Brooke ruined a pair of shorts that way.  Oops.  I just realized I didn’t check to see if anyone else ruined their shorts.  Sorry if they did, Michelle!

When we came home we had lunch and then the kids swam in the backyard.

Here’s Kate trying to get warm after her swim:

Trampoline time:

The other kids in the pool:

Caleb was so cute with Spencer.  He was always on a quest to get a high-five.  Spencer was pretty stingy in giving out his high-fives, but when he obliged Caleb was thrilled.  Here they are playing with the play kitchen:

After dinner Kate and Brooke started a band:

Nina was always camera-ready:

After baths we’d usually put Caroline to bed and then the older girls would do an art project.  Brooke had spied some paper bags, and she wanted to make puppets so the other girls did, too.  They turned their puppets into monsters and took turns scaring each other with them:

The first couple of days Caleb was usually found flipping through this origami book and making creations out of paper and dollar bills:

The next day was Sunday.  We had a relaxing morning since church didn’t start until 1:00.  Luckily Spencer napped before we left so he wasn’t a beast during church.  Also, remember the part where my aunt is superwoman?  She had a sacrament meeting bag all packed full of fun new coloring books and things for the kids to do to keep them happy during sacrament meeting.  Funny thing is, apparently you actually have to remember to bring the bag to church in order for it to do any good.  When we got to sacrament meeting and I realized we had forgotten the bag, I nearly died.  Church was starting so we just went in and hoped for the best.

The kids were so good except for Brooke and Caroline who choose that time to whine and complain loudly about everything.  We had brought a diaper bag, but I had cleaned it out for our trip so literally the only thing in it to occupy the kids was about five sheets of paper.  We didn’t even have a pen.  You better believe I was wishing I had studied Caleb’s origami book a little harder the day before so I could have kept the kids busy making paper animals and toys.  Instead the only thing I could do was make those stupid accordian fans.  Wahoo.

Somehow we survived sacrament meeting and then we sent the kids off to their classes and enjoyed the rest of church.  When we came home Hailey got dinner ready and we ate and then went outside to blow bubbles and play croquet:

The girls loved having cereal no matter the time of day.  This was their bedtime snack (I love Caroline’s face):

The next morning Brooke and Thad played a marble game:

Then all the kids joined in:

They had fun doing puzzles:

The city sponsored an activity where kids could go to the park and complete an art activity:

They painted lizards:

 

And apparently Spencer ate dirt while this was happening:

Here are the kids and their finished lizards:

Then it was back to the house for swimming:

And jumping:

And that was only the first three days.  Stay tuned for part II of the trip!

A Wonderful Weekend

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Dallas and I have been parents for three years.  For three years we haven’t had much of a break from our duties unless you consider the couple of nights spent in the hospital having a second baby a break.  We didn’t.

Consequently, we felt it was time to get away!  To have fun!  To go on a vacation – without the kids.

First we secured babysitters.

Thank goodness for parents who live close to us and who were willing to take on the task of parenting our girls for the weekend!

Next, we hit the road.  We stayed the first night in Salt Lake and the next morning, we drove to Moab.

Our first stop upon arriving (if you don’t count the stop for the hitchhiker we picked up) was a visit to Moab Diner.

Get used to these shots of Dallas holding the camera and taking our picture.

Moab Diner – where the wait for the bathrooms is longer than the already-long wait for the food!  But, hey!  We didn’t have kids with us, so who cares how long the wait was?  Dallas and I leisurely perused the menu, chose our lunch, ordered, and even had time to review the dessert menu.  The dessert was mostly ice cream, and I noticed it said “a la mode” for an additional price.  (What I didn’t see right away was that the “a la mode” was there for an additional price if you were ordering pie.)  I chuckled at the idea of ordering ice cream a la mode.

When we made it to the ice cream counter, Dallas told the server he wanted cookie dough ice cream a la mode.  We giggled immaturely as the server considered our request and then laughed along with us.  Is this what happens when grown adults ditch the children?  They start acting childish themselves?  Apparently.

The Verdict:  Moab Diner – RECOMMENDED

Next stop – Arches National Park

Dallas has been dying to hike to the Delicate Arch.  He assured me he had heard somewhere that it was an easy hike, only a mile and a half to the Arch.  Well, with no children in tow, EVERYTHING sounded easy!

We arrived at the entrance, paid, and received a guide to the hikes that Arches National Park offers.  I looked through the list of hikes and noticed that the hike to the Delicate Arch was listed as a strenuous hike.  I don’t do strenuous.  The brochure described hiking up steep slickrock, hiking ridges with hundred-foot drops, needing two liters of water per person, etc.  I was fairly sure I would not make it out alive.  Dallas took a picture of us as we were beginning our trek.  Notice the happy smiles, the non-sweaty foreheads, the 100% hydrated skin:

And, before we knew it, wha-bam!  We were at the Arch.  Notice our happy smiles, the non-sweaty foreheads, the 100% hydrated skin:

The hike was really no big deal.  If that’s strenuous, I must be in better shape than I thought!  Sure, it was steep in some places and there wasn’t much shade, but I worked myself up over nothing (as usual).

We were able to give Dallas’s camera arm a break and get some nice people to take pictures of us.

The Verdict: Hike to the Delicate Arch – RECOMMENDED

We planned this trip mere days before we went, so we didn’t get our first choice of hotel for that evening.  We didn’t get our second or third or fourth choice either.  Turns out last weekend was a half marathon and all the hotels in Moab were booked.  No big deal.  Dallas suggested we stay about an hour away in Green River.

That idea is what sent us that evening to Book Cliff Lodge.  (Cue the scary music and screaming.) When we booked the hotel online, we saw it had horrible reviews, but for some reason we weren’t able to read the reviews.  Oh well.  Surely these people were overreacting, right?  Dallas and I aren’t too picky about hotels.  We were willing to take our chances.

Our room had two king-size beds which seemed clean.  That’s about the only good thing I can say about this place.  The bathroom was disgusting.  At first glance it wasn’t too bad.  The toilet seat and bowl looked clean.  However, as my eyes drifted down, I saw the base of the toilet had weeks (months/years?) of pee stains and debris.  The tub had brown stains everywhere.  The floor had bits of toilet paper scattered about.  Ew, ew, ew.  You know your hotel is bad when you’d rather use a gas station restroom than the one you’re paying for.

We survived the night and actually slept pretty well.  I attribute that to the fact that hardly anyone else was staying there, so we weren’t woken up by other guests opening doors and talking in the halls.  As we were leaving, Dallas and I saw one other family.  The husband went to return the key while the wife took pictures of the swimming pool…which wasn’t much of a swimming pool unless you prefer to swim with tumbleweeds instead of water.  I wonder if that woman has a blog.

The Verdict:  Book Cliff Lodge – NOT RECOMMENDED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!

Goblin Valley was our last sight to see.  Dallas had been once before, but I never had.  Here we are as we entered the Valley:

See those tall ridges behind us?  And that mountain just to the right of Dallas’s head?  As we entered the Valley of the Goblins I thought to myself, “I bet there are crazy people who climb up there.”

Yikes!  We turned into some of those crazy people!

Here we are at the top of one of the ridges.

Dallas getting some air as he jumped over a puddle.

We loved Goblin Valley.  It was a huge valley full of structures and you could roam around wherever you wanted and climb up on anything that struck your fancy.  Since there was no trail and it was so big, we rarely ran into anyone else.  It was so quiet; we felt like we were the only ones there.

The Verdict:  Goblin Valley – RECOMMENDED

After our hike around Goblin Valley, we jumped in the car and drove home just in time for Sunday dinner with my parents. The girls were so happy to see us.  Brooke hugged and hugged us (unusual for her), and Caroline hugged and hugged Dallas.  She couldn’t have cared less about me. Rascal.

Several times during our weekend Dallas suggested I call my parents to see how things were going.  I told him I probably didn’t want to know.

I mean, did I really want to know that my mom lost Brooke once for 10-15 minutes and found her several houses down the street?  And that was only the first time she lost her?

Did I really want to know that Brooke was up every hour the first night, and during one of her nocturnal escapades she made an “M&M and marshmallow pie” that she devoured?

Did I really want to know that both Brooke and Caroline came down with horrible diarrhea?  (When asked about this, Brooke said, “Yeah, I had poop diarrhea.  It was a DISASTER!”)

Did I really want to know that neither girl really ate anything except for junk the whole weekend?

Brooke, who mysteriously came down with a stomachache the evening we came back.  Yes, that’s a barf bucket in front of her.  No, she did not have to use it.

The Verdict:  Not calling home during our getaway – RECOMMENDED

The Overall Verdict:  Getting away for the weekend with your husband and not having a care in the world – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Now I just need to figure out how soon is too soon to ask my parents to babysit for us again…

Road Trip

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Dallas has a grandmother who lives in Las Vegas.  We’ve been wanting to visit her for some time, and a couple of weekends ago, we finally made the trip.

I feel like this road trip was our first taste of truly traveling with children.  We heard countless refrains of “Caroline, stop!”  and “Caroline, no!  I don’t want your paci!” and, of course, “I need to go potty!”

Dallas and I are obviously very inexperienced with this whole traveling-with-a-newly-potty-trained*-toddler business because on they way we stopped at a gas station that had a Dairy Queen in it.  I let Brooke get an icee.  An icee…which consists of flavored ice…which is water…which meant we had to stop for bathroom breaks every 20 minutes after that for the next two hours.  (*I’m using the phrase “potty trained” fairly loosely here.  We’re mostly there…)

Highlights from the trip included playing with Grandma’s moving, oinking pig-

Walking the Strip-

Seeing some friends who live in Vegas, and visiting with Grandma Golden, of course!

Today in Golden Family History

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This may or may not be considered Golden family history because we weren’t married at the time.

Rebecca and I went down to Las Vegas with Rebecca’s family for the weekend.  We went down to see a BYU football game.  We had a great time doing all of the fun family friendly things Vegas has to offer. And of course we had nonstop buffets.

Rebecca and I at the top of the Stratosphere.

Rebecca’s family and I at a show on Fremont Street.

Rebecca, Ben, Sarah, and I crammed into a phone booth at Lady Luck.

Sarah’s Wedding

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Rebecca’s sister, Sarah, got married this weekend down in St. George.  We were there to witness the occasion.  The wedding was in St. George and the reception was in Cedar City.

Our cute family

Abe and Klarissa

Ben and his girlfriend Chelsey

Glen with a sign at the reception barn

Rebecca’s family with Jeff

Jeff being hoisted up by his friends

Jeff Excell

Brooke hanging out with the women folk

Jacob’s family: Natalie, Jacob, Emma, Laurie, and Luke

Natalie, Brooke, and Emma

Sarah with all of the kids

Ben, Kim, and Glen

Lastly, Sarah and Jeff Excell.  You may be saying to yourself, “If this is a post about Sarah and Jeff’s wedding then why are they the last picture on the post?”  We did this so you would keep scolling down to the end of the post.  You have made it so congratulations!  And congratulations to Jeff and Sarah Excell!

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