Family Vacation

Our family vacation was a strange one this year. We had been planning for a long time on taking a whole week to spend time together before Justin starts his MBA this Fall. The whole trip had many permutations, but eventually we decided we'd stay at home and see the sights. This meant spending less on gas, and getting to spend more on activities. It all turned out really well since we ended up moving the weekend before our vacation. I tried to contain myself and only unpack boxes on an as-needed basis, and we kept ourselves busy running around town.


This is actually a picture from before our vacation. Justin's work took us all to a baseball game. Ellie had a great time rolling down the hill. I'm not sure she actually watched the game, but I'm pretty sure she didn't miss much. Meg enjoyed playing with the grass. Unlike most children she loves the strange texture, and it calms her down a lot to let her rub her feet around. Okay, okay, back to the vacation.

A picture of Ellie on our ride to the Dinosaur Museum. This is how she usually looks... a little crowded. In fact, Elise often insists her legs are too long for our car, and has even asked us if anyone else driving would mind trading with us. We told her to go ahead and ask, we wouldn't mind.


We told Ellie to pose like the dinosaur was going to eat her. Pretty good job, huh?



This is Justin and the girls sitting on the park bench at the War Memorial Park (yes, I did say War Memorial... a place that honors dead people) where he proposed to me. Okay, beyond the mockery, he looks pretty good with those two girls on his lap.

Sitting on the steps at the State Capitol. This was an accidental addition to our day. We were driving by and decided we might as well stop and check it out. Elise liked all the steps and the running around.
On Temple Square Elise got to see the Christus. She liked all the pictures on the way there, and asked us to take her picture in front of the statue.

Justin and Ellie by the reflection lake outside the Temple. Elise's favorite part of this activity was seeing the bride who was having her pictures taken. Ellie is obsessed with brides. Consider the following conversation:

Justin: Ellie, are you obsessed with brides?
Ellie: No.
Jamie: Obsessed means that you like something a lot.
Ellie: Oh, I'm obsessed.

Eating lunch with the family.

Walking in the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. Elise was a little frightened of getting her feet wet, but then she really started to have fun. Eventually the elephant sprayed her. We also saw another bride getting her pictures taken at the secret garden. Elise wanted to stay there and watch her for a long time.

We had a great family vacation. So much fun time together, and lots of new activities. At the end of the week, Ellie said this:

Ellie: We should always spend the day together.
Justin: That would be fun, but I have to go back to work.
Ellie: Why?
Jamie: Because that's how we pay for our food and our house.

Pause

Ellie: Let's send Meggie to work then.

What a wonderful family to have.