Our 2009 Rockin' Awesome Vacation...Day 1

Going on vacation. With four kids…all under the age of twelve. Sounds like a good time, right?

Right!!!

Our first day out was so much fun. My hubby and I hadn’t planned anything for certain beyond our final destination, as we wanted this vacation to be as relaxed as possible. We said, “If the biggest thing we do for the kids is make sure they get to swim in the hotel swimming pools, we’ll call this vacation a success!” We definitely made it into the pool a few times, but it was by far not the most exciting part of the trip.

Of course, as we approached Provo (barely an hour’s drive) all the kids were asking if we were there yet, ha ha. They didn’t seemed to happy to hear we were “no where near” the hotel.

For our first stop we went somewhere totally and completely for my own nostalgic pleasure. Several years ago I went to Snow College for a whole year (impressive, I know), and I wanted to take the kids so they could see Mom’s old stomping grounds. I could immediately tell it was not what the kids were expecting. Of course, when you’re entire experience is the big single buildings of elementary schools, seeing all the individual buildings and entire campus area of a college is quite daunting.

We didn’t go in any of the buildings, but I pointed out what little I remembered from way back when. I was sad to see the fountain (into which a few of my roommates and I had been tossed a time or two) was gone, but at least the bell tower was still there. We even got to hear the bells chime.

We went running up and down some of the stairs (got my cardio in!), and then headed toward the stadium. My kids seemed very impressed to hear my friend Marti and I used to run the track a few times a week. (These days the only running they see me do is away from spiders.) The kids had fun playing a bit on the bleachers as well as the field.

We took some lunch in Manti, the next town over, then headed to the temple to take some pictures. Next to the temple is this really steep hill, which the kids all had to roll down. Of course, rolling down is way more fun than walking back up, but they didn’t find that out until the fun part was done. My husband told us all how his grandmother and step-grandfather used to live in some apartments right next to the temple when they worked there. That was an awfully fun connection to make.

We finished heading around the temple. I got some cool pictures in, but didn’t see the most awesome sight until we were in the car headed out. I honestly would have stopped to take a picture right there in the temple driveway if there hadn’t been a car right behind me! Ah well. Another day.

As soon as we got in the car A promptly fell asleep. It was definitely a well-deserved nap. Of course she awoke a mere half hour later and began yelling at everyone. I’d say she absolutely takes after her mother when it comes to waking up from naps. The kids began laughing at me every time I’d point out sheep or cows or horses. We even got a kick out of seeing the local turkey farms.

Our big stop for the first day was much further south, a place neither my hubby nor I had visited before. It’s an LDS Church historical site called Cove Fort. The exit led us to a short stop on the road, which we passed thinking, “There’s got to be more to it than this! And where’s the hotel we thought was here???” The very short road led us right back to I15 heading back to Salt Lake. Hmm. Not what we’d planned, exactly.

So we took the first exit we could find, turned right around, and headed back to the Cove Fort exit. Sure enough it was the little stop on the very short road. We got out of the car and were immediately met by the missionaries called to give tours. After a quick potty break we all got out our cameras and followed our guides.

The fort was actually created as a stopping place for travelers as well as the telegraph. A man by the name of Ira Hinckley was asked by President Brigham Young (then leader of the LDS – or Mormon – Church) to bring his family and live at the fort. The missionaries showed us a short video and then took us through all the rooms. The kids and I took loads of pictures of some of the bedrooms, the giant kitchen, and the courtyard. I couldn’t believe how tiny the furniture was. From the beds to the chairs everything looked to be in miniature. The missionaries told us people were simply shorter back then.

What struck me most, however, was how well they utilized everything. For example, when the coverings for the mattresses wore down, they’d be made into pants for boys. When the pants wore out, they cut up the material to weave into rugs or use as rags or make into patch quilts. How amazing is that? These days when we get a hole in something or they wear out, we immediately toss them. I’m really going to have to start looking at our “worn out” things differently.

After that we were done for the day and tried to find a hotel…with a swimming pool. Who knew this little condition would have us looking through three different places? The first two had pools, but neither pool was in working order. When we finally found the Comfort Inn, I found the name quite fitting. We unloaded the car, immediately put on swimsuits, and headed straight for the pool. Yes, even I – queen avoider of all things swimsuit oriented – had found a suit and dared enter the swimming pool. It was such a blast! We all had a really good time. As we swam I realized it was A’s first time in a swimming pool. She enjoyed it, but holy cow was she freezing. Still, it was a fight to convince her it was time to get out. Only the promise of food convinced her it was a good idea.

Just add dinner and we complete our first day. Whew! Are you as exhausted as I am? Really it was great and we knew the kids would all sleep so well that night. At least…that’s what we hoped ;)

I promise I've posted pictures, just head to the next post. I decided to separate them, or else these would be very time consuming...well, more than they already are :)