Now back to Vacation # 1 -

Wow... we're gonna have to go on a mission to rest up... We left Indiana & flew back to Utah. Now for the REAL vacationing! Michelle - Chad's wife - had purchased a ticket through Groupon that allowed us to go all over the place here in the Salt Lake Valley, over the course of three days. The first two places we went totally made that money back, and so all the rest were essentially free! SWEET! First up, we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.
The kids loved the interactive room, but the dinosaur bones in every shape & size are hard to beat. Chad & the kids put together a dinosaur skeleton - like a jig-saw puzzle - on the magnetic blackboard.

The water feature is ALWAYS popular. We spent a lot of time here.
Then, of course, there's the shark you have to get past... AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!
At the end, we stopped to fulfill what has become a tradition at the Chad Mahaffey home. The kids get a pressed penny from every place they visit. This was no different. The next day we were off to Hogle Zoo. Wouldn't you know that Nana & Papa had a couple of things at home to handle, so by the time we met up with them, everyone was sitting down to a picnic lunch. RATS! So, we ate & looked at a few tunnels and animals (but we missed the dinosaurs that spit water at you! bummer!) So, that's why there's no pictures here. Then we went across the road to see the "This is the Place" monument. Michelle's sister Lisa & her 2 girls came with us, along with Michelle's mom who flew in from Singapore & Michelle's grandfather. We spent the rest of the day in the Pioneer village there. That's an amazing little place. Well worth the price (even tho it was free for us). They have re-created a whole town. Each tiny little cabin has someone inside to tell you it's history. Along with a school, general store, blacksmith, barns & animals, church, etc. The kids got to do the wash on an old scrub board and then hang it on the line.
They got to beat rugs with old-fashioned rug beaters, and try walking on stilts. We went to the school & tried to write our names with the Deseret Alphabet they used back then. The kids rode horses and petted the goats. We went into one cabin where the volunteer there was related to Michelle's mom. It was the cabin that Marjorie Pay Hinckley's father grew up in. It was one room, maybe 10x10. Stove, table & chairs, and full-sized bed for the parents were downstairs. There was a small loft overhead that covered half the cabin where the kids slept.... all 13 of them!!! Actually the girls slept there & the boys slept outside. (Not sure what happened to those boys in the winter!) All this was really amazing. The next day we went to tour the conference center. One of our favorite parts is when they take you up on the roof.
Then, on the way over to eat lunch at the Lion House Pantry (all free because of Groupon), we stopped to take a family shot on the pedestal outside the church office bldg. where the Salt Lake City Temple is in the background.On the third day, we headed for the Clark Planetarium. First up was the 3D movie. Had to have our 3D glasses on:
We watched an undersea adventure, then went in to the room with the huge domed ceiling to watch info on the stars. It was a great day... (and it was all sitting down & air-conditioned! ha!)
Later in the week, we watched the kids while Chad & Michelle went to the temple that is only 2 miles away - The Mt.Timpanogas Temple in American Fork.



So, of course, that gave us plenty of free time to go & play at the park and finish off the day with Hawaiian Snow-cones. We wrote our names on the wall, and Landon even gave us an exhibition of how well he can do the hula hoop! Later in the week, we watched the kids again while Chad & Michelle went up to Snowbird to celebrate their 10th anniversary! We had a fantastic time & LOVED seeing all of the kids again. They grow up so fast. Thanks Chad & Michelle for coming all this way & letting us enjoy all the fun places! We love you!