We arrived off the flight and devoured our 4th meal of the day: Bombay House. The kids were happy to download and we did our best to stay awake. In the am, we said goodbye to the Olsens who had a long drive ahead.
Owen sure knows how to play his cards and make people love him.
We headed straight to Heber to hear McKay give his Mission Farewell talk. There was a huge celebration brunch and no one throws a party like Ang and the Ritchies.
After a couple hours, I thought I was maybe going to die if I didn't take a nap, and I laid down on a bedroom floor and slept/drooled on the floor. I was glad to have company in the nap necessity that day.
Zachary started to feel terrible and slept for 4 hours on the couch. It was not COVID--he tested positive for COVID 2 weeks later in Kaua'i.
Our only afternoon with Mom and Dad before they went back to their mission in Cove Fort:
Learning to play "Secret Hitler":
After a lovely dinner as an Edwards family, we drove back to Highland. I had major car sickness issues and introduced Walker to the glories of side-of-the-road-sickness--something my kids are pretty familiar with. The next morning, the cousins, Brady, and Ang all went boating and I joined my Aunt Kathie on a walk and shopped for a mountain getaway.
Elise:
Zachary had no trouble popping up from his normal surf paddle start.
Bryn:
Tanner and Owen:
Kate:
Brady:
Ang:
Owen had a strong selfie game with his cousins:
The kids stopped for Chick-fil-A: a place Brady and I cannot understand as a highlight, especially with 30+ min waits!
When we planned our trip, we knew the kids would be restless for adventure after we had our week in Iceland, and decided to stay in a lodge and enjoy Utah's mountains. We drove up to Snowpine, played in their arcades (where Zachary beat me solidly in foosball, pool, and ping pong), and took a beautiful walk in the evening among the abundant wildflowers.
Rosy Paintbrush:
Mountain Lupine:
Sierra Columbine:
Oh my goodness, we miss the mountains.
That night, we swam with the pool and hot tubs to ourselves, then reserved the movie theater and watched together in comfy recliners.
Kate and Brady woke up early, relaxed outside, and played again in the arcades.
We bought summer fun passes for the day, wary of the thunderstorm on the horizon which only shut things down for an hour. The bungee trampoline was so fun and also exhausting.
Backflips!
The lift to the alpine slide:
Mountain coaster. We rode this guy at least 6 times.
Zachary--to no one's surprise--is an excellent rock climber. He did these walls again and again, zipping up and down without any issue. I was proud of myself for completing just three lines!
Owen and Kate also completed a line.
We stopped for middle-of-the-day-vacation-style ice cream where Owen chose a hot cocoa despite the hot temps and also found something that was "a really good waste of money."
We took the big ski lift to the top of the mountain to explore before closing.
At the tope, we walked through a tunnel leading to the other side of the mountain, then explored "Wildflower Trail."
The kids were ecstatic to spot snow and immediately: 1) Threw it at each other, 2) Built a snowman, and 3) Made Snow Angels. The kids made up for lost time.
That night, Cory, Kristen, and Walker brought us up a feast: chicken salad sandwiches, watermelon, strawberries, and caprese salad and spent the evening with us in the pool. We could not believe their generosity. They also taught the kids the fake-face-slapping game, which Owen made us do at least 20 times that night.
Zachary was invited to Lagoon with Otis and Charlie--two Utah friends who lived in Kaua'i for year. Elise went that same day, so she and Zac rode the Tracks together to the park (Zac's first time on public transportation!). I loved how comfortable he was with a big group of kids and he came back beaming about the day.
The rest of us spent the morning hiking to Cecret Lake. I presented it as a 3 mile hike and it turned out to be 6. It was filled with wildflowers, and as we got further along the trail, people.
Erigeron:
Indian paintbrush:
The hike > the destination.
People are feeding the chipmunks and we explained to the kids why this was a bad idea but had no problem watching them up close as they munched on Cheese-Its.
Amsonia:
We finally made it back to the car, where Owen found his precious puffin finally emerged from its egg. Cory found us a lid so we could take his souvenir to the mountains and he waited all three days until the end for the grand reveal.
That afternoon, we met Emily to go see my cousin Sherie, who was hit by a car while biking on Monday and suffered major fractures in her spine. She has had vertebra fused and will take 6 months to a year to heal. It was so lovely to see her in person and the kids did a good job being patient, quiet and gentle in the hospital. My heart bleeds for all the trouble she's had these past 5-10 years.
Next, we spent the evening with Emily's family, where Kate blended right in with Juliana and Owen played hard with the boys.
Love my sister.
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