We stayed at a place called Big Rock Candy Mountain on the way to our reunion. The kids went rock collecting on the candy mountain and found cool limestone formations and a geode.
The reunion was at the Palisade State Park, where the kids couldn't get enough of the beach, swimming in the lake, and boating with cousins. We enjoyed catching fish in cups, as well as snakes and toads. We also saw lots of birds, lizards, and tadpoles. We also got to go to the nearby Manti pageant, which was a treat for our kids who had never seen it. As we were waiting for it to begin, I walked around with Eliza to keep her busy. I took the chance to take this picture, which I thought was cute.
One other highlight of the trip was a visit to temple square where we saw the Joseph Smith movie, toured the visitors center, and conference center. N's favorite thing she saw was the scale model of the Salt Lake temple with cutaways so you could see each room inside. We also had lots of fun in the kids section of the church history museum.
We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point, where the kids saw lots of cool dinosaur habitats. D's favorite part was the giant fossilized egg. A's favorite part was an interactive water and sand feature where the kids built dams and habitat for plastic dinosaurs.
We also got to pick raspberries and eat them, along with other yummy food. We enjoyed these destinations with cousins who recently moved to Utah. They even let us stay in their house! :)
At our campsite on the way back home, we camped under a ridge that had a massive forest fire burning. We were a little worried until we heard that the evacuees were being sent to our camp. It was as interesting as 4th of July fireworks, although a little unnerving. In the morning, the kids got to feed apple cores to the horses at the camp. I've never seen such friendly horses. We also stopped at the Grand Canyon since none of our kids could remember the last time we went there. It was grand. I actually spent most of my time chasing D around and keeping him from meeting every foreigner possible or from hurling himself off the edge.
Speaking of D, a couple of nights after we returned, D decided to get up in the middle of the night because he was hungry. He ate a third of an apple pie, then was inspired to make his own. He poured out two packages of jello, some baking soda, three containers of red, yellow, and green food coloring, containers of almond, coconut, vanilla, and orange extract, as well as five packages of hot chocolate powder. He forgot the bowl, so it ended up on the counter and floor. The mess on the floor was about half an inch thick and pretty solid in the morning. We were not pleased, but what can you do but laugh and cry?
I don't have pictures (dead camera), but we also enjoyed the coolest 4th of July with family. It rained in the morning and was probably not hotter than 90 degrees, which felt remarkably cool. It was fun to go swimming and have the day off! We were grateful that we saw so many of you and sorry that we didn't get to see all of you. It was a great time!
