Crook Family: The Vacation

So we made it back! Both drives ended the same way... with Hazel screaming for the last hour or so. Overall neither of the kids were bad. On the way out there we left at 7:30 PM, and by 9:30 both kids were asleep. Levi woke up a couple times but would go right back to sleep. He woke up for good at about 5:30 (6:30 Utah time). Justin was sleeping, so Levi and I were able to have some cute conversations. I drove for the first four hours (Corvallis to Boardman, OR), the Justin drove for the next four hours (Boardman to Boise, ID), and I completed the drive with the last six hours (Boise to Lehi, UT). My back, knee, and neck were throbbing by the time we arrived. Below is a picture of the sunset in Idaho that I got to see. Justin said it is the only beautiful thing in Idaho.

Once we arrived Justin's sister let us sleep for a couple hours, while Levi and his cousins played. They had a decent sized house with a good sized backyard. So that was nice for the kids to play in. Here is where the kids got a hold of the hose and were attacking each other. Levi decided to spray his uncle. The whole thing was funny, until we realized Lincoln was crying (as you can see in the picture).

Jessica and Braydon had a trampoline, something that up until now Levi has been afraid of. But once we let him get on and be on alone, he did alright. If any adult got in with him and jumped he would immediately got to the edge and hold on. But alone or with other little kids he had a blast. I think it actually taught him how to really jump. Before he would just crouch down and spring up, only making it maybe a half inch off the ground.

Both Justin and my parents were sealed in the Provo Temple, so we thought we'd visit since we were so close. Levi loved seeing the temple, and Hazel seemed indifferent (tired). We were surprised by how many people stopped to tell us what cute kids we had. One lady even asked where in Oregon we were from because her daughter goes to school out here. We then got talking about the Portland Temple and how beautiful it is.

We were also able to see Justin's older sister Nia while we were there, and at her place she had what they call a 'Splash Pad'. Basically it is a bunch of fountains doing fun stuff for the kids. I know that they all had a blast, and Levi loved playing with his cousins.

Hazel loved the trampoline too. Only what she enjoyed was sitting there while you threw balls at her. Even if they hit her in the head she would just giggle and giggle. I got some on video, but you'll have to go to my Picasa website for those. (You can also go to my Picasa for all the photos)

Just me and the Haze spending some cute time in the backyard! Actually I realized after I took my shower and decided to just leave my hair down that Hazel has not seen me with my hair down at all since she has been able to recognize me. When I first held her she just looked at me all confused until I started talking, and then you could see she all the sudden knew who I was.

Justin and Braydon were able to make it out to play some frisbee golf while we were there. A nice break for them. We were at a park in the center of the course, but all the boys decided to follow their dads anyway. Justin was also able to play some raquetball with Nia's husband Skipper while we were there. Skipper taught him a thing or two about the sport too! Justin came home and just couldn't believe had bad Skipper beat him. Apparently Skipper takes the sport very seriously, and Justin said he thinks Skipper was hoping for more of a competition than he got.

Here at the Splash Pad again, eating their popsicles.

We were also able to attend Nia's baby's blessing (Sophie). Here we are after church. Right before we left I found some fabric that I wanted to make into a dress for Hazel, so I got on it, and with help from my mom I was able to finish it before I left. I also made a tie for Levi to match. These are the outfits I made. The tie wasn't so bad, so I might make some more later.

For Bentley's (Jessica's son) birthday we gave him a beachball sprinkler. Levi loved it and he would fill his mouth with the water and run at Justin to spray it on him. It really was funny.

Another treat was when Hazel was able to eat her first cupcake. She didn't get any frosting, just the cake. Justin was worried and swore she was on a sugar high afterward, but she didn't seem much different to me. She was cute though, and loved her cupcake.

While on our trip, we couldn't miss the Conference Center and Temple Square in SLC. We hit up the conference center first. I was amazed by the size, the structure, the artwork, and pretty much everything about the building. They have all the original artwork, like the one below (which is the largest painting in their collection). I can't remember it's size but it really was huge! On the rooftop the created the scenery so that you could get a feeling for what it was like when the pioneers came from Wyoming over the Rockies into the Utah valley. So all the shrubbery and such on the roof made you feel like you were on a hillside, not a roof. It was a neat experience.

We also went to the Church Headquarters building and went to the top. I got some great shots of the temple, and you could see anywhere in the Utah valley for miles. After that we realized that it was much too hot that day to keep the kids out too much longer, so we went by the SLC temple, took some pictures, and then headed onward to lunch.

That same day we went to the Bingham Copper Mine. It is the world's larget open mine, and the largest man-made hole. Let's just say it was HUGE! In the picture of us, you are only seeing maybe a fourth of the arc of the mine pit. Not to mention how far down it goes. The next shot is of us standing by a tire of one of the dumptrucks they use. It is 12.5 feet tall, over two tons, and cost $25,000 a piece. Each dumptruck has six of them. The top of the dumptruck sits about ten feet or more taller than the tires, making these machine massive beyond anything else! As far as we could see it looked like they had a fleet of 50 of them for the hauling.

Levi was able to play on some Power Wheel ATV's with his cousins. They had three identical ones for all three boys to play on. Levi seemed to really have fun. We just let him go in a park to keep it safe for all.

For those who know about this place, you won't be too surprised by my thoughts, and for those who have never been, I strongly reccomend you GO! It is called Thanksgiving Point, and it is just north of Lehi, UT. It has a dinosaur museum, an IMAX, a farm with petting zoo and hayride, an art museum (for kids and adults), and a massive garden (for kids and adults) with the world's larget man-made waterfall. It was wonderful! We went when they were having a special and paid only $2 a person per place (it is regularly $10 a person per place) so the dinosaur museum was packed. There were easily about 1000 kids, and maybe a few hundred adults. However, the gardens were wonderful! They had a Noah's ark at the kids entrance that was a huge water play structure. Levi had a blast. Then they had a maze and some tunnels that he enjoyed. From there we moved on to the adult part of the garden which was enormous! They were beautiful to boot! Justin thinks it is the largest garden in the world (but not really).

Our last stop befor heading home was a picture of all the Crook grandkids (minus one... Jocelyn). We were excited that we could all be together and see one another. It is nice to get everyone together and just have fun!

Our drive home was broken up. We left Wednesday at about 1:30 in the afternoon. I drove from Lehi to Boise again, and then Justin drove from Boise to La Grande, OR (about a three hour drive). We stayed there over night at a friend's house. I wanted to keep driving, but Justin and my kids insisted (they fell asleep) we stay. So I gave in and stayed. We left early the next morning and I drove the final six hours home. We had many stops because both kids were restless most of this drive. One stop was at Multanomah Falls just east of Portland. It was nice to have a pretty break!