Earlier in the summer Dan received an invitation from his brother in law to help him set up furniture at the Tour of Utah the first week of August since his furniture store was sponsoring. Professional cycling, time to ride the course, and hanging out with John- what more could Dan ask for? He was thrilled. He needed to be in Cedar City on Monday the fifth. Since we needed to be in Salt Lake by Friday the ninth I decided rather than drive the five hours home alone with the kids and then the full nine hours on Friday that I would just drive the rest of the trip to Salt Lake Monday. It gave me the perfect opportunity to spend some time with my extended family as well. I was really nervous about the last three and a half hours alone with the kids after already spending five hours in the car that day. There were a couple rough patches but overall I was amazed at how well they did. I will admit we caved and put a movie screen in front of Bailey. This requirement that kids need to be rear-facing until two years old means they have nothing to look at. I wasn't going to make her stare at her own reflection for nine hours. At one point both kids were crying and I was sort of stressing. I had the thought to get a book out for Bailey so I just handed it to her without being able to see. Within seconds she was happily talking to herself and playing perfectly content. She continued like that for over forty-five minutes. It certainly felt like I had received a little inspiration. I may have had an angel sitting in the back seat, because the whole mood of the car did a 180.
We made it to Lehi to my aunt and uncles house to find out my aunt was at the hospital having a kidney stone out. I agonized over what to do but ended up staying with them after all. Hard to say no to someone still loopy from anesthesia saying they will be devastated if you don't. Jeanna is a trooper, you would never know she had surgery! We had a great few days in Lehi with my dad's brother's families. Shad got the royal treatment. Tuesday morning he got to go out to the point of the mountain and ride in a haul truck at my uncles' company. That afternoon we went up to the West Jordan fire station where Jeanna's brother was kind enough to give us a grand tour. It turned out to be pretty educational. We learned where the water in the fire hydrants comes from too! Mike was so cute with Shad. He even had them do a test call over the system they sound in an actual emergency and told them Shad's name so that when they called overhead they told Shad to have a great day. It was really cute. Shad loved it. Bailey loved the fire station too. She was determined to climb in the wheel hub of the fire truck, silly girl.
Wednesday we let Jeanna rest a little. I took the kids to go visit my dad's mother. Sadly, Shad was less than happy to be there and literally spent the whole time lying on the floor moaning. Bailey on the other hand was screaming bloody murder. She was beside herself that I wouldn't let her play with the porcelain nativity my grandmother has on the floor on the tile in front of her fireplace. Since Bailey would not leave it alone I had to hold her the entire time and she was furious. Luckily, I got a couple pictures, however with both kids upset and my grandmother being ninety-one and losing her hearing we didn't get much meaningful conversation in. After that we headed over to Thanksgiving point with my aunt Kris. We first did Farm Country. Shad was running around wanting to see everything at once. When it came time for the pony ride it became obvious how novelty has it's own allure. Despite riding large horses alone (even trotting around bareback) many times Shad was ecstatic for the pony ride and kept saying he wanted to ride the little one. He picked the very smallest pony they had. It was pretty funny. Next, we headed over to the dinosaur museum. I was a little worried Shad might be too young for it, but he loved it. He especially loved the tinkering section in the front and the sand and water stations at the end. He immediately laid down and rolled everywhere in the sand- then proceeded to remove his shoes and turn them upside down as soon as we got in the car. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in Kris and Jeff's backyard. It was really nice to spend some time with Kris. That night I went back over to spend some time with Jeff as well. He ended up needing to take my cousin to get stitches and didn't get home until 9:30 so it was a late night, but well worth the lost sleep.
Thursday morning my uncle asked if he could take Shad to breakfast. I thought it was adorable and happily sent them on their way. When Gary asked what time Shad needed to be back I said I needed to leave for Payson at 2:30 to meet Dan but fully anticipating seeing them back by nine. Imagine my surprise when I start receiving pictures and videos through text of them and they don't come back until two. Gary and my cousin Corbin were getting Shad to race through the playground at McDonald's and told him he was just shy of the world record. His last time (which was painfully slow still) he apparently beat the world record so they had to go to the party store to get him a medal. Seriously, where do men come up with this stuff? Hilarious. They then took him to see their show truck and all the other toys and motorcycles at the office. Shad still gets nervous about loud noises but he still loves all things boy. He was in no hurry to get home and see me. It was so sweet of Gary, Jeff and their families to spend time with us and be so good to my kids. It is always a little hard and makes me miss my parents so much but it is amazing how it is brought us close to family in a way we never were before.
That afternoon we went down to meet up with Dan at the Tour of Utah stage in Payson. Dan was really anxious for us to get there so he could see the kids. We got to hang out in the VIP tent at the finish line and saw a really exciting finish for a pivotal stage of the race. It was pretty swanky and fun to watch. Those guys make it look like I ride backwards in comparison. We then headed up to Salt Lake to spend a couple nights with Dan's parents.
Friday Dan had the opportunity to go do an invitational bike ride with some pretty big names. While he did that I got the kids packed up and ready to go to the zoo. We went with a friend and her kids as well as Dan's sister, Michelle, and several cousins, not all of which belong to Michelle. It was fun to spend time with everyone. It was really great to see Jessie and Tally before they head off to their next adventure in California- at least it isn't Zurich. And Michelle and Taylor always make me laugh. That night we went to dinner with Dan's parents which was fun.
Saturday morning Dan did a triathlon with Myndi and his niece. His parents were nice enough to take the kids while I went to breakfast with my dear friend, Karissa. It had been way too long since we had seen each other and it was great to catch up, although it is never enough time. She was sweet enough to meet up on her anniversary even though it was a Saturday and she could have spent it with her husband. After that I went and spent some time with Ryan and got to see his house for the first time since it has been finished. It was fun to see it and catch up a little. We had planned to try to get dinner together but unfortunately it didn't work out. I am just glad I didn't miss him this trip. Saturday evening we went up to American Fork Canyon to celebrate Michelle's birthday. Once again, it was fun to just relax and enjoy time with Dan's family. I had to try and keep my snake phobia in check since I know the rattlesnakes have been bad in Salt Lake this year and a person from the forest service did come up and warn us of the same thing. We headed home and got our kids to bed and then Dan and I got all repacked and ready to head to the airport to spend a week celebrating our ten year anniversary!
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