California trip plus Brooklyn and Cole's wedding day

 California trip plus Brooklyn and Cole's wedding day 

September 20-28, 2025

Day 1 of our California road trip

We got out the door just after 9:30am. Parker drove.

First stop was Fillmore hot springs. When we first got there it was pretty crowded but when we got in, everyone got out so we had it to ourselves! The water level was a lot lower than it's been but it was still great. Darrin, Parker, Spencer and Caden all stood on each other's heads too see how deep it went and we figured about 20 feet deep.

Next stop was 35 minutes away at cove fort. We watched the video and did the scavenger hunt there. Spent over an hour.

Then drove to our hotel in St. George (Red Lion hotel). Checked in, got Little Caesars and stopped at Walmart for Sunday food.

Mini golf at the hotel

Swimming and hot tubbing

Pics from Day 1

Day 2

It's Darrin's 41st birthday! I decorated the hotel room last night with crepe paper and brought a gift of trip snacks for him to open. We'll do the rest of his gifts next week though.

We had breakfast, watched Jacobs farewell via zoom and got ready to check out.

We drove to Santa Clarita near magic mountain today and made stops along the way:

Started in St. George

Stop 1. Drove to the Las Vegas sphere (wow it's SO BIG and neat!)

Stop 2. Pinball hall of Fame (free to get in and tons of pinball machines with a huge variety among some other games. REALLY cranky guy who worked there though. Although we were watching our kids, twice he came to tell us that this is "not a place for high energy kids... This is not chucky cheese... It is a museum... Watch your kids" with a nasty stink eye LoL. Seriously, they were opening the candy machine openings where the candy comes out. We were watching them and they weren't being crazy whatsoever. Sheesh. Mom and Dad Simon gave them each money to play some games.

Stop 3. Seven magic mountains (cool stop with the colorful stacked rocks)

Stop 4. Worlds tallest thermometer (laughable, quirky fun quick stop)

Stop 5. Zzyzx Street (cool abandoned spa with a pond and cool Palm trees near a dry lake bed with a old boat too. 0.4 mile walk about. Bummer that the old abandoned buildings were closed off to look through! But still a cool stop I thought)

Stop 6. Our VRBO

Pics from Day 2

Day 3

Austin started complaining about his ear on the drive yesterday and it only got worse. He came in at 1:00 a.m. crying, then at 2:45 and never went back to sleep since just cried and cried. Cried. We did three showers with steam, plus used Tylenol since that's all we had.

This morning we did a doctor on the demand visit and they prescribed him antibiotics which were a pain to pick up because the pharmacy wasn't receiving it but we got them and went on our way to six flags and Mom Simon stayed back with Austin at the VRBO. Poor kid!

Seriously such a ghost town today at MAGIC MOUNTAIN. Didn't wait for anything and went on everything we wanted multiple times despite then closing at 6 and opening at 10:30. Bummer that Superman was closed.

Parkers highlights were X2, viper and tatsu

Spencers favorites were Wonder woman and crazanity

Cadens we're tatsu and crazanity

Rachels favorites were the Batman shooting game and the revolution (she HATED X2 though and was crying so hard at the end. It really shook her head up and gave her a really bad headache (me too-remind me to never ride it again). She said she wasn't scared it just hurt)

Pics from Day 3

Day 4

Universal studios. We're going to be late because of traffic but Darrin cut off 20 minutes so we made it in the entrance line 15 minutes before opening. Went right to Harry Potter land and got right on both rides.

-Met blue raptor from Jurassic Park. Austin was terrified

-Met decepticon from transformers. He was hilarious and commented on our matching uniforms but that Parker wasn't matching and asked what happened. I commented and said "loser". He laughed and laughed and said "you took the words right out of my mouth Commander" he then told Parker "you do that again and I will wipe the pavement with you Soldier"

-the universal tram tour is always a highlight.

-Austin loved the Simpsons ride

-Jurassic Park ride said 30 Minute wait but was 15.

-Transformers ride said 50 minutes and was 15

-Mario said 75 and was 20

-water world show was a highlight as always

-Caden's highlight was mummies

-Parker's highlight was transformers

-Austin's favorite was Mario

Crowds and lines weren't bad at all. Most we waited was 30 minutes and that was due to technical difficulties. It was a fantastic day at universal!

Pics from Day 4

Day 5

Drove from LA to San Diego today. Traffic was pretty bad. Once we got here we bought the 7 Day Balboa Park pass to be able to visit all the museums here for 7 days. $75 for 12+ and $50 under 12.

Today we went to the fleet science center. It was pretty cool typical interactive science museum. At 5pm we watched the IMAX (included with our ticket) about the largest space telescope.

Grabbed Thai food at 55 thai kitchen and it was yummy! Are it at our hotel (comfort inn). First room we checked into smelled terrible like marijuana so we had to switch so we're not next to the boys room now.

After dinner we finished watching the sound of music with the kids and got to bed.

Pics from Day 5

Day 6

Hotel breakfast-impressive!

Balboa Park Natural history museum

Balboa Park model train museum

Lunch at Little Caesars

Got ready for the wedding

Wedding at "the Thursday club"

Social hour with appetizers while Brooklyn and Cole did pics

Dinner and toasts (Rich's toast was reading his last fairy tale story to Brooklyn that he wrote about her life 🥲-so beautiful) and Brooklyn dedicating her bouquet to Dani rather than throwing it which was also beautiful. Brooklyn had hand written notes to each of us on our name cards too! SO SWEET!

Ran to pick up the kids at the hotel (the hotel is about 25 minutes away and they watched a couple movies during the wedding)

Made it for the dance and send off with the kids. Such a fun dance party

Pics from Day 6

Day 7

Woke up to several of the kids in their swim suit begging to go to the beach. That wasn't the plan today but we couldn't say no. So after we went to the space and flight museum which took a few hours (pretty cool museum!), we went to La Jolla children's swimming beach. It was the most perfect day at the beach! Overcast and a little chilly with the water being freezing, but had so much fun playing in the sand, exploring, digging, creating, running from the waves and getting to see the 20 harbor seals there!!

No fighting Between the kids at the beach 🙌 which makes me want to live there 😁.

We stopped at the store for food after dinner, came back to shower and we watched the movie "ever after" that had Leonardo da Vinci in it who we learned a lot about at the space and flight museum. We had popcorn for the movie too.

It was a pretty great day!

Pics from Day 7

Day 8

Museum of us

San Diego art museum

Japanese friendship garden

Botanical garden

Sailing with Kristina's family for about 3 hours in San Diego harbor which was so much fun. Darrin loved learning how the boat worked, I loved getting to know Krisinas kids (evelyee, Lewis, Joe Joe and Bryan) and catching up with Krisina.

Drove to Barstow to stay at rodeway inn

Rachel, Austin and Spencer swam in the cold pool for a bit while I played farkle with Parker and Caden. Watched a little TV and went to bed

Pics from Day 8

Parker and Mom's trip to Chicago and Wisconsin Dells

 Parker and Mom's trip to Chicago and Wisconsin dells day to day

August 7-13, 2025

Rundown of our 6 day trip:

-Flew into Chicago and drove to Wisconsin Dells

-Noah's ark Waterpark (America's largest waterpark)

-Sushi restaurant (all Parker's sushi dreams came true)

-Kalihari Resort Waterpark

-Church (so small compared to ours with a tiny chapel and only folding chairs)

-Dells Riverwalk (beautiful)

-Tommy Bartlett Exploratory (cool hands on science museum)

-Mt. Olympus Waterpark and theme Park

-Chicago Glass box Skyledge on top of Willis Tower (used to be Sears Tower) (so cool!)

-torrential downpour on the 40 min drive back to the hotel after the Skyledge-probably the scariest drive of my life! So grateful we survived!)

-Six flags Great America (some incredible rides and the crowds weren't bad at all. Got an all day dining pass we shared which was so worth it)

More Detailed day to day...

Day 1

First full day of mine and Parker's trip! We had breakfast and drove the 45 minutes to get to Noah's ark water park. We got there before opening so that we could run to the first rides. Parker studied the map and decided which ride order we should go in. On the way running to the first ride, Parker got stung by a bee! It flew in his mouth and stung his bottom lip! It totally swelled up. We went to Black anaconda first, then to the drop body slide that does a loop And we were able to hit all the rides today and most multiple times. The second time we went on the drop loop water slide I totally got stuck at the top! I had to push myself down 😁. We also were able to do flowrider for three different sessions which was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect and even though we didn't have towels we weren't cold at all. We stayed until past close (they close at 7:00 but we were able to get into another session of flowrider right after 7:00 so we didn't leave until about 7:45). People loved watching Parkers mad skills and a couple people talked to me about how good he is. One lady videod him to show her husband and she sent the videos to me. 

We checked into our super 8 hotel, showered and went to dinner at an Asian sushi buffet in the same parking lot as our hotel. Parker absolutely loved it!

We had some great conversations while waiting in line with some questions I had written down. The audiobook we're listening to (inheritance games) has been great too!

So grateful for the connection, fun and smoothness of the day! So grateful that my feet survived with wearing my supportive flip flops and carrying them on rides. They're sore but man they could be worse!

Pics from Day 1

Day 2

Five crowns after breakfast before we had to leave

Kalihari Resort

Extreme rush slide outside SO FAST AND FUN!

Started raining at 1

Favorites inside slides: toilet bowl drop slide and master blaster (we rode them so many times)

Super crowded mid day for several hours especially because of the weather (also extremely loud)

Collecting and shooting elastics at their targets intended for that

Hot tubbing with the waterfall giving us a massage

TONS of time on flowrider-getting pretty good 😊

Brought some snacks we had for lunch and then bought a soup, salad and sandwich at the little grocery store in kalihari's lobby for dinner.

Closed at 9. Stayed all day 10-9

Stopped at Walmart on the way home to grab food for tomorrow (Sunday) and got some ice cream to eat back at the hotel while we watched "fresh Prince of Bel Air"

Such a fantastic day

Pics from Day 2

Day 3

Happy Sunday!

Breakfast

-Church in baraboo (20 minutes away-closest) at 10-construction but found a way 🙌. Friendly nice tiny church where they only had folding chairs, very small chapel. Really great talks and so grateful to have taken the sacrament.

-lunch at the hotel

-come follow me. Really great discussions.

-rain finally cleared up and we went to the Riverwalk downtown

-Tommy Bartlett exploratory science museum (spent 4 hours there had a great time)

-hotel for dinner

-movie with popcorn (step up) and an episode of "fresh Prince" Parker laughed SO hard and loved it.

Pics from Day 3

Day 4

What a crazy and awesome (and terrifying) day!

-Shopping downtown dells in the morning after breakfast (each got a shirt and got a little candy at goody gum drop)

-Mt Olympus water park. Tickets were $33 but then we went to Park at it was $40 parking and we could only stay for 4 hours. We ended up parking across the street and walking into the park. Had SUCH A GREAT TIME here even though it was only for 4 hours. The turn wheel Medusa ride was AMAZING-so unique and so much fun. We had to do that twice. I loved America's tallest waterslide (did that twice too but Parker didn't love it because it burnt his back), LOVED the HUGE wave pool (wow intense and so fun!), and the mat racing waterslides were also a favorite. We did the gocarts too on our way in.

-drove 2.5 hours to our hotel in Schaumburg, IL (quality inn) while listening to our audio book.

-checked in, quickly got ready

-had dinner at Marino's Pizza which was pretty good!

-drove over an hour in bad traffic to downtown Chicago to get to our 7:30 reservation for the skydeck at the Willis Tower. Got there late because of traffic but it was ok. Such an incredible sight 103 floors up! We got to go out in a glass ledge box (90 seconds at a time and then you could get back in line which we did 4 times) it was awesome!

-started raining and lightening while at the top

-had a hard time finding our car in the rain with the GPS jacked but finally found it!

-the drive back to the hotel was SO TERRIFYING!! honestly one of the if not the scariest drive I've ever done. It was raining SO HARD that the windshield wipers just couldn't go fast enough. I could barely see the line at all, lightening, thunder that shook the car, GPS not working right and driving in a place I've never driven combined to be terrible!! Prayed the whole way and I know angels were helping us get back safely. Truly a miracle. Holy smokes I was so scared and grateful to be alive.

Pics from day 4

Day 5

SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA

-Got to your 30 minutes early and was already super long line to get into the park

-wrath of rashaka first. Only had to wait 5 min *****

-viper steel wooden (got right on)*** (Parker gives it ****)

-raging bull 2x because line was so short *****

-loco mine drop (only had to wait one ride)!****

- River rocker

Six rides within the first hour!

Started raining within the first half hour but only lasted 5 minutes. Really humid and hot.

Lunch walking tacos with all day dining

-one similar to jet Star ***

-Dark Knight coaster (indoors and unique!)****

-Had to wait for about 50 minutes for the joker ride because of lightning but Parker gave it***** (I give it 3 because of a headache it caused 😁)

-x flight ***** (so good really feels like flying)

Shut down twice for lightening in the area for about 40 minutes each time which was a bummer but overall we did everything we wanted to and many rides multiple times and enjoyed our all day dining pass where we could eat every 90 minutes and get drinks every 15 minutes. We got our money's worth eating 5 times and refilling drinks often. It cost $45 and we both got in plus free parking with one $75 season pass (it came with a buddy for a day).

What a fun day and I'm SO SO GRATEFUL FOR THE MIRACLE that driving went smoothly and that rain didn't affect our fun too much. HUGE RELIEF especially after last night..

Pics from Day 5

Tender Mercies on this trip (smooth travel, car working, safely getting home in a terribly nasty storm, safety, my feet survived!!!!! (Sore but ok), health for us both, not loosing anything etc.

More memories:

He really enjoyed our audiobook we both got "hooked" (inheritance games), always up for a game and LOVED fresh Prince of Bel Air (full belly laughs multiple times per episode) plus he admitted to me that he hadn't flossed for days when I asked (honest). It was also hilarious to me that when he put his arm around me for pictures he would unknowingly have his hand lifted not touching my shoulder like so awkward-so funny. At the start of the trip I mentioned it might be educational to keep track of all our expenses and he was totally on board-we tracked everything. Parker LOVES Flowrider and is so good at it! We spend a ton of time at flowrider at both Noah's ark and Kalahari. I even got decent at it 😊.

Parker's trip highlights: "everything! How could I choose?! That's impossible to choose because it was all so good!"

My highlights: "I agree-everything was awesome but especially getting to spend time with Parker one on one and get to know him better was my highlight! Getting to share our thoughts and excitement after each ride/side was so much fun. Waiting in line with him was a great time to just hang out together and have some meaningful conversations."

Finishing up this trip to Wisconsin and Chicago with Parker, I wanted to record some attributes that I really admire about Parker.

-ENDURANCE (he can go go go)

-DRIVEN (if he wants something he'll do what it takes to get it done)

-DEDICATED AND LOYAL (to both his friends and his family-he appreciates a good mix of time between BOTH)

-GRATEFUL (he is so good to recognize things people do for him and to really appreciate it!)

-FRUGAL (this kid knows how to save and values frugality -we had multiple conversations about how we'd see people spend money frivolously and how silly it was. I'd also offer to buy him some things and he'd turn it down saying it wasn't worth the money)

-ATHLETIC (we had to walk up innumerable amounts of stairs for these super tall waterslides and he took them all, running up them like they were nothing!)

-COULD EAT ANYTIME (and most anything including pickle flavored Taffy)

-STRONG (physically and emotionally)

-ADVENTUROUS (up for literally anything fun)

-FEARLESS (not afraid of much at all-with the exception of having any zits popped 😁)

-PLAYFUL with a little MISCHIEVOUSNESS (is a good time to be around although likes to push rule boundaries in a typically harmless way)

-SPIRITUAL (has a testimony and wants to do what's right. Willing to do come follow me, go to church and pray together every night plus listen to spiritual things in the morning, willing to pray for me when I was driving in a scary storm)

-SELFLESS (wanted my say and opinion on what we did, where we ate, let me choose where to sit etc)

-RESPONSIBLE and CAPABLE (wakes up when he needs to, gets things done when asked and a good gps navigator helper)

-WILLING (to help with most anything without complaint including going back to get my shoes from leaving them at waterslide entrances etc)

-ENCOURAGING (flowrider encourager, cheerleader, encouraged me when driving in a scary storm)

-UNDERSTANDING and FORGIVING ( is able to put himself in others shoes and understand, accept and forgive like when I had a panic attack while driving in the scariest of rain storms navigating in an unfamiliar city with the GPS not working and unable to see the lines in the road, I had to pull over and cry and breathe for a bit before driving the rest of the way home and he totally got it)

8 Days in Maui and Jenna and Seth's Wedding

June 15-23 2025

Darrin and I got to go to Maui, Hawaii with his parents! We went for our neices wedding and got to do some relaxing and exploring while we were there. It was a glorious trip! 

First full day in Maui and boy did we fit a lot in! 

 -woke up at 3:00 am to go to Haleakala for the sunrise. Mom and Dad Simon decided they'd sit this one out. We drove up and got a perfect spot just under the summit (the summit was full). We arrived just before 5am and there were already beautiful colors in the sky. We watched in awe until 5:40 when the sun peeked out. It was very cold but we came prepared with three blankets from our condo and it wasn't too bad. After the sunrise we went to the summit and stopped at overlooks on our way back to the condo. 

-went to breakfast at IHOP with Mom and Dad, then to Costco for grocery shopping for the week. 

-2.5 hour nap😴! 

-boogie boarding at the beach right outside our hotel for a couple hours. Dad, Darrin and I had a great time catching some great waves at a really soft sand beach. 

-made dinner (Cesar salad, rotisserie chicken, sweet potato fries and mango 

-played a few rounds of rummikub before we couldn’t stay awake another minute.

Pics from Day 1

Day 2

Road to Hana:

*Twin falls (saw three different waterfalls-swam under two of them which was so much fun and so beautiful!

*Waikamoi Ridge Trail (nice little hike with tons of trees roots for hiking on the trail)

*Ke'anae Arboretum

*Upper Waikani Falls (ran out and snapped a pic-gorgeous falls!)

*Pua'a Kaa State Wayside Park (swam and went under the waterfall-colder than the last two but so refreshing and fun!)

Just up the road there was a pullout on the right (not sure what it's called) and across the street there was a hidden gem of a lava tube which was so cool and only took about 5 min.

*Hana Lava tube ($15/person huge lava tube to explore bigger than any we've seen)

*Pipiwai trail and the seven sacred pools (black sand beach with beautiful pools and views)

Highlights were swimming under three of the waterfalls and climbing down to the black sand beach at the seven sacred pools plus the two lava tubes and gorgeous lookouts! Brought lunch with us. Not overly crowded. A bit of rain here and there not bad. Ripe mangos and guava fallen from trees EVERYWHERE alongside the roast. You could smell it rotting while driving with all the windows up. Tried to stop and get any but as soon as they hit the ground there's bugs all in them.

Pics from day 2

Day 3

West Maui loop today.

-Tried to snorkel coral reef like we did with Wes and Jenica years ago but the waves were way too crazy. It's a windy day! 

-Darrin went boogie boarding for a short time but even though the waves were big they were hard to catch.

-Black rock beach was amazing. Darrin, Dad and I went snorkeling for a long time and saw 3 turtles, tons of coral and fish, a HUMONGOUS school of fish buffet than we've ever seen and a really large, fat needle fish. The water was really clear too. Darrin jumped off a small cliff and we watched others jump off from quite high. Chilled on the beach for a bit before heading back out.

-Nakalele blowhole. So much fun to go explore and get sprayed by the blow holes.

-Lookouts (lots of beautiful lookouts)

-Shave ice

-Ho'okipa Beach to see the turtles coming in and Darrin went out boogie boarding

Pics from day 3

Day 4

-Maui tropical plantation which was 9 minutes from our condo. Really beautiful property we walked around for free and we paid $25 each for the tram tour which was fun. They took us around to all the different plants they grow on their plantation, then did a coconut husking demonstration. We got to try the inside ball in the coconut (I've never seen or tried these! Kind of a spongey texture. She described it as tasting like coconut cotton candy and it wasn't too far off) the tour guide was hilarious.

-Mo 'Ono Hawaiʻi Acai Bowls (recommended by the tour guide and they didn't disappoint!)

-Went shopping. One of the shops was called Maui ocean art and gifts. It was awesome! So many amazing shells, coral and artifacts. Really incredible things we've never seen or heard of and the owner was all about telling us about it all.

-Dinner at a BBQ food truck which was yummy!

Pics from day 4

Day 5

-Wedding rehearsal

-Wedding brunch

-La Perouse Bay (kaone o io) (really pretty beaches, a hike we did and lava rock everywhere)

-Hoapili trail and more kaone o io further down. Snorkeling here-really pretty coral and fish

-Makena landing park (went snorkeling again-saw a really big stingray swim by (maybe 2.5 feet wide and 5-6 feet long?), a starfish, a large puffer fish, an EEL!, tons and tons of "collector urchins" (after googling and using chat gpt I found this out-Dark body, often purplish or reddish brown.They cover themselves with bits of shell, coral, algae, and debris—a behavior called "camouflaging". They're smoother looking than the long-spined urchins and tend to be rounder or more dome-shaped. They do this to protect themselves), and the CORAL was SO BEAUTIFUL and COLORFUL (greens, blues, purples, reds and oranges!) and then when coming out we talked to a local and she told us about a cove turtles like to hang out in (we thought they'd be in the water but there were 5 up on the rocky shore!

Pics from day 5

Day 6

What a BEAUTIFUL WEDDING!!

-Ceremony (goodness I should have brought a box of tissues -it was just so stunning! What a dedicated, intentional couple they are-cannot wait to see their beautiful lives play out ❤️)

-swap meet by the airport, did a little shopping

-smaller swap meet in keihe and I got a beautiful sterling silver opal ring

-Nap time

-The reception-it was PERFECT! The most gorgeous sunset, yummy drinks, appetizers and dinner (very fancy), then cake, and dancing dancing dancing. It was SO hot though dancing but so much fun!

-Send-off ❤️

Pics from day 6

Day 7

-church

-Long walk on the beach outside our hotel-brown sugar sand-ultra soft and the beach just goes on and on and on

-Darrin went snorkeling while I journaled

-5 rounds of rummikub and our ice cream bars

Pics from day 7

Day 8

Last day in Maui. We fly home tonight on a red eye flight.

-Mini golfing

-Bumper boats

-Second course for mini golfing

-Shave ice

-Walked around tjmaxx

-Went to see Lilo and stitch in the theatre (really cute and especially fun that we saw it in Hawaii)

-Dinner at a Thai restaurant near the theater

Things I want to remember from this trip:

-Ice cream bars and rummikub almost every night with Mom and Dad

-pomelo fruit picking outside the hotel and eating lots (tastes like grapefruit but sweeter)

-the sounds of waves crashing right out our window while sleeping and during the day since we didn't have AC at our condo

-the STARS were beautiful

-the feeling of floating under waterfalls and feeling not a care in the world

-getting to hear family history stories from Mom and Dad Simon including their love story and asking Mom Simon their honest opinion about when Darrin asked me to marry him after only 2.5 and her response was "really? I don't think I knew that but I'm sure I figured-one less mouth to feed and you seemed to just fit right in" 🤣

-Moms hearing aid miraculously getting found under the seat cushion (had to take it apart) when she thought she lost it at a stop in the road to Hana

-getting to go to haleakala and a long walk on the beach just the two of us

-how thoughtful it was for a stranger to take a picture of Darrin and I when we didn't know and come up to us to get our contact info to send us the beautiful picture

-how beautiful Jenna and Seth's vows were and how breathtaking the sunset was at their reception and dancing to celebrate their union.

Bryce Canyon Spring Break 2025

 Bryce canyon spring break 2025 with Brady and Christie's Family

March 29-31, 2025

We're in Bryce canyon for spring break! We drove down yesterday right after school got out (Last day of 3rd quarter).

The drive here went smoothly. We're staying at Ruby's inn and Brady and Christie's family are with us. We got two hotel rooms for our family. Last night after getting in at about 8 we went swimming and hot tubbing for about an hour. It was pretty crowded but we had fun. Our rooms are at the ponderosa lodge and our two rooms are next to Brady and Christies two rooms.

Day 2

Breakfast this morning was delightful! It's a buffet included with the room at the restaurant. Then we packed lunch and headed on our hike. We did Queens loop which was a little over 3 miles but honestly seemed like it went on and on. The second half was very uphill and it was quite cold. Even snowing but not much until we got in the car and then it snowed a ton. But it was breathtaking at every turn-so so beautiful! The kids had a few knee scraping falls which was a bummer but I think we all loved the hike. A little sketchy with the dropoffs too but again, still amazing. Would do it again for sure.

We came back and went swimming. This time we had the whole pool to ourselves! Then showered and relaxed before dinner. We ate dinner at Bryce canyon pines restaurant. It was decent and the kids surprisingly behaved so well 🙌.

After dinner we explored the gift shop and grocery store. They had a bunch of nativities which was so fun. We may go buy one Monday.... We also bought things for dinner for tomorrow which is Sunday

Pics from Day 1 and 2

Day 3

Breakfast, went to church in Tropic Utah and it was fast Sunday so I loved hearing the testimonies, then we came back to the hotel to change before heading back to Bryce canyon. We started at inspiration point which was a mistake because it was SO BEAUTIFUL it made everything the rest of the day seem not as good 😊. We drove to rainbow point and then drive back stopping at all the lookouts. We did a few short hikes too.

When we got back we went to the gym/swimming. Then we had our dinner we'd bought yesterday which was different types of ramen.

We watched legally blonde via vidangel with popcorn and then Lincoln slept in the boys room with Parker, Spencer and Caden (Spencer's birthday is tomorrow and requested that) and Rachel slept with Brady's girls for fun.

Pics from Day 3

Day 4

We hiked "mossy cave" after breakfast which was really fun. Then we headed home stopping in Fillmore to eat lunch and play at a park.

Also, it's Spencer's birthday!! We let Lincoln have a sleepover in the boys room last night and they toilet papered Spencer's bed big time lol. He didn't notice until he woke up. We'll do gifts when we get home and do a special breakfast, activity, dinner and dessert tomorrow.

Pics from Day 4