At the "Hill"

After we left Antelope Island, we went and got some yummy 5-Buck Pizza, which our kids thought was the best thing ever... we were the only people there, and they gave us free cheese bread. Then we headed into Layton to find our hotel. Our kids LOVE staying in hotels. I'm not sure if it's because it's just somewhere besides home, or if it's the fact that they get to swim in the hotel pool, or that we get to eat the great continental breakfast in the mornong, or what... but they love it. We ended up with an upgraded room, because somehow they had overbooked. Fine with us!

After breakfast, we grabbed all our bags and headed up to the Hill Air Force Base Museum. We had been there before, but it had been several years. Our kids were super excited (especially the boys). It's a fun FREE museum.

I love all the big planes outside when you first get there. Our boys were in heaven checking everything out.

I saw the flags, and had to get a little "sunflare."

Inside, they have a room where there are a whole bunch of uniforms. I love it! They keep it nice and dark to protect them... I love seeing the old WWI and WWII uniforms. They are my favorite.

Then inside the larger part of the museum, there are a bunch of old planes, and fun things to read about the history of aviation. Pretty interesting stuff.

The kiddos...

Since the last time we went, they have opened a fun room for "kids." There were plenty of adults trying out the simulators and the other stuff, too. Eryn strapped in and gave it a try.

Hayden chose this particular uniform to wear the entire time he was in there. He was flying planes, pushing buttons, and having a great time.

One small step for B...

Bryson tried on other uniforms as well. He was definitely a cute little fighter pilot.

Kaitlyn had fun, too. Not only were there "flight simulators" and things like that, but some fun little science-type activities. She loved the bike wheel activity (and I even tried that one. Pretty cool).

We had a great time on our little mini-vacation.

And of course, a vacation wouldn't be the same without someone getting sick. We had one throw up on the way home. Good thing we were only about an hour away from home when it happend. Poor kiddo!

Island Vacation

We hadn't, yet, taken a family vacation over the summer, so during family council one Sunday evening, we decided to discuss some options for a fun family get-away! We had all kinds of suggestions from our kids (mostly things we could definitely not afford). We didn't have a lot of time, and definitely didn't have much money, but we decided that an "Island" vacation sounded great. The island we chose? This one:

Antelope Island!! I grew up in Utah, and have never been to many of the iconic Utah destinations. I've never been to Moab (sad, eh?)... never been to Zions, Lake Powell, skiing... I'm sure I could come up with a whole lot more "Utah-places-I've-never-been." We decided that we are going to try to go to many of those places over the next couple of years... starting with beautiful, tropical (ahem) Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake! HEHE... Actually, it really is pretty. (See above pics). Of course, when you get to the island, there is mostly sage brush, and not many trees... but the views are awesome :)

We stopped at the visitor's center (which wasn't big, but atleast there were restrooms... and lots and lots of spiders. Seriously, they are huge, and they are everywhere!) Then we ate our picnic lunch at some picnic tables under a pavilion. We could see people walking up from "the beach" in their bathing suits, looking like they had just had the time of their lives. We asked someone (who had a major foreign accent) how the water was, I think he said it was great. So we decided to trek down and see. It was like a long, hot walk across a desert. I didn't mind so much, but I had a few "complainers". The sand was kinda deep, so our flip flops were a little hard to walk in. As we got closer to the water, we could see quite a few people out in it. I've heard legends of the Great Salt Lake, like the ones where the salt is so thick you just float. I saw people trying it out. But as we got closer, we could see a dark cloud of something... what on earth could it be? Right near the edge of the water... some kind of swarming, flying insects! We quickly (and I mean QUICKLY) ran through them to get to the water. We came this far, we couldn't NOT go in atleast for a minute. Once we got in the water, there weren't as many bugs... and our kids were actually very fascinated by all the brine shrimp. They are tiny, but very visible under the surface of the clear water. Hayden ended up falling in and getting completely soaked, but he didn't seem to mind.We only stayed for a few minutes, but we can say we've been in the Great Salt Lake.

Like I said, the views were quite pretty. I loved taking pictures of the sky, water, and island.

The walk back from the lake was longer, hotter, and sandier... atleast it felt that way. And poor wet Hayden fell in the sand, which of course stuck to his clothing. Awesome.

But we made it back up, got rinsed off (and changed one certain child's clothing) then headed out to explore the rest of the island. More gorgeous views (and a really funny seagull).

One thing we really loved, was seeing all the buffalo just roaming freely all over the island.

On one side of the island, there is an old ranch. I believe the brochure said that it's the oldest anglo-built (which we told our kids meant that the pioneers built it, rather than native Utahns) home still on it's original foundation. Over the years, it has been built onto, and it was actually a working ranch until the early '80s, but they have tons of old antique farming equipment. It was actually really fun to wander around and explore.

The kids had a great time "roping" calves.

And it seems like it was the ONLY place on the island with trees. It was quite a pretty little spot.

The kids had to try out the sheep stalls. They had some cool, old shearing equipment.

The coolest thing by far, was seeing this Buffalo. He had a little itch, apparently, so he found this nice spot to use as a scratching post. We got within just a few yards of him (safely inside our van, of course) but it was fun.

So, if you are looking for an "exotic" island get-away... look no further than Utah's own Antelope Island. While it's no tropical paradise, it is interesting and quite an adventure. I wouldn't recommend camping there, however (the camp sites have NO shade and are VERY primitive - yes, it actually says that they are primitive in the brochure) but for a fun day-adventure, this is your place. Will we go back? Maybe not, but we can say that we've been there ;) We stayed in Layton that night, and went to the Hill Air Force Base Museum the next day... that post is coming next!

Red Hot Birthday!!

Slowly, but surely, I'm getting things caught up. Hopefully I'll be ALL THE WAY caught up in the next couple of weeks. Hayds turned 5 back on July 16. I still can't believe he's FIVE!!! Time sure flies. This year, when I asked him what kind of party he wanted, he said "A Firefighter Party!" Sounded fun to me, but Jared had the best idea ever... to go to the Fire Station! I thought it was genius, so he called and set it all up. They had never done a birthday before, but they seemed so cool about it. Little did we know just HOW cool it would be. We decided to do all the games and everything outside, so we set up a table and made a cute "Fire-ish" sign for him.



He's just getting too grown up!



I always make two cakes... one for the family party and one for the friend party. I was feeling a little overwhelmed, so Jared decorated one, and I did the other. What do ya think?

Off to the Fire Station. They were SO COOL! On their white board, right inside the door, it said "Happy Birthday Hayden." When we walked into the room where they would talk to the kids, there were fire hats and coloring books for everyone (kinda like when you go for a field trip) but where Hayden would sit, right on the front row, was a stack of candy bars tied to a balloon!



The kids were so cute listening to the "Fire Safety" information, and asking and answering questions.



Next, it was out to the garage, where we got to see the Fire Trucks, and the kids got to dress up in some of the gear!



Hayden was first. He looked so tiny in all that huge gear.



Then B got a turn. What a handsome guy!



A few friends tried too, but even Kaitlyn got in on it.



Next, they brought out their little "friend." He talked to the kids about fire safety... He wasn't the best driver however. We got a great laugh when he crashed into the big Fire Truck ;)



Everyone really enjoyed seeing all the trucks and gear and listening to the Fire Fighters. At one point, a message came over their radios (and out to all the first responders out there) that said "It's Hayden Stafford's Birthday. Happy 5th Birthday Hayden!" It was so cool!



Then we went home for a pinata, presents and cake.





Hayds had such a great birthday party. We actually ended up taking one of the cakes to the Firemen. They were so awesome, we had to thank them somehow.