Parents of Five

A few weeks ago we got a call from Addy's oldest sister, Ally. She and her husband will be celebrating their 20th Wedding Anniversary this year and were looking for someone to watch their children while they enjoyed a cruise in the Caribbean. With another little one on the way and no vacation in sight, we thought it sounded good. They were willing to fly all three of us up there and made things even easier by making meals ahead, leaving chore lists, and little incentives for the kids to earn each day. We knew there would be some challenges, but thought it would be fun to spend a week away from home hanging out with some pretty cool kids.

The week before we arrived we were told that temperatures were in the 70's, but that all changed by the time we got there. We enjoyed snow fall almost every other day. Ethan has had little exposure to this winter treat, so seeing it fall was fascinating. However, when we went to the park to play one day he wasn't very happy of having the white powder thrown on him making a mess on his jacket or it sticking to his shoes. Poor Arizona boy.

While the kids were in school, we took advantage of family time and went on a few outings. On Monday we went to a children's museum in Ogden called the Treehouse. After going to Phoenix Children's Museum, this did not compare. Ethan did enjoy playing with the wooden trains, when he wasn't defending his territory, and crawling through a 'mouse' hole in one of the houses in the village. We were pleased with the price... it was Toddler Day so we all got in for $5!


On Tuesday we headed south to Sandy and visited The Living Planet Aquarium. It was pretty close to lunch time, so we enjoyed some Pei Wei first. The aquarium was a little different than we expected. When we pulled up it looked like an old 'Skateland' type building that had been converted. It was small, but Ethan enjoyed dashing from one exhibit to the next and then back again. The aquarium did have some cool exhibits - jelly fish, an octopus, sharks, piranhas, and of course, Nemo. For some reason Ethan kept asking to have his picture taken next to the exhibits, but he didn't want to pose he wanted a picture of him looking at the fish.

On Wednesday we spent the day at home. Addy had to go to 7th Grade Registration at the Elementary School - with only a few weird looks from other parents. Ryan and Ethan hung out playing fooze ball and air hockey. Ryan also got some laundry done. It was good to take some time to hang out and relax.


On Thursday we had planned to visit Temple Square in Salt Lake, visit the Deseret Book Store and get some lunch. Downtown Salt Lake is getting a huge makeover and we were only able to do the first two. Ethan enjoyed looking at books and gave Ryan and Addy good ideas for his new Easter/religious book. After a little reading, we walked to the Temple. It was quite brisk and windy, so we made our way to one of the visitor centers to see the Christus. Ethan was excited to see the statue of Jesus, sat down, and was finished - all in about 1 minute. We walked around the visitor center for a little while and then headed back to the car. We're sure that there are some great places to eat downtown, but Ethan wanted McDonald's so we headed back to Ally's. We enjoyed lunch at McDonald's, got another Monsters vs. Aliens toy, and then Ethan got some lovely scratches on his cheeks from an out of control little boy.

On Friday we hung out at the house since Addy wasn't feeling too well and the boys had early outs. Ally and Eric left some play money and we decided to treat the kids to a movie. Alyssa was tired from her crazy week and decided that sleep was better than a movie, so the rest of the kids joined us and headed to the movies. We saw 'Monsters vs. Aliens'. It was good... not as good as 'Kung Fu Panda' (Addy) and would be better with better sound (Ryan). Chances are, we will be seeing it again on the big screen. We went to the movies early enough for the older kids to go out, so we watched 'Bolt' that night.

Saturday and Sunday were spent watching Conference. It was nice to be up in Utah with the Isom's for Conference. We have a tradition of going up in October, but don't think that we will be making it this year. It was great to hear from the leaders of our Church and feel the Spirit. We flew home on Sunday afternoon before Ally and Eric got home. We found the best thing in the terminal of the Salt Lake Airport - a play area! Only in Utah! We had a good flight home. Ethan watched movies and then fell asleep while landing and through the airport. Grandma Louise picked us up and were home in time to join the celebration of Alisha's birthday with the Bowmans. All 13 cousins in one day!

Overall the trip was good. Everyone was healthy and safe and seemed happy most of the time. We enjoyed spending time with our nieces and nephews and we're happy that Ally and Eric were able to enjoy a well deserved week of relaxing!