Salt Lake trip

So, before Brandon was done with his school year (back in June), he had to attend a conference in Salt Lake. Since the district was paying for the room, we decided to go with him. The boys and I could play and meet up with friends while he was at his conference, then we'd have the evenings to play.

So, we booked a room at the Chase Suites Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. It's an older establishment, but as the name says, they're suites. We booked a one room suite that had a queen size bed, pull-out couch, and full-size kitchen. It wasn't ideal for us (with four kids) but we figured we'd make it work.

However, when we called the morning that we were headed down, they apologized but explained that all of their one-room suites were booked, and would we possibly like a two bedroom suite instead? The upgrade would include a separate bedroom with a king-size bed and a full bathroom, a full living area, full-size kitchen, loft with a queen size bed, and a second full bathroom. The loft area was upstairs, as was the second bathroom. It also came with three TV's. "We're sorry for any inconvenience this might cause you, but would it be okay to upgrade you?" Um, YES!!!

So, we had a nice, big suite to stay in, and the boys were absolutely ecstatic at their loft room. We stuck all three of them on the queen size bed - sideways - hooked up the Nintendo Gamecube for them, and let them stay up late. They were in heaven!

Unfortunately, Connor didn't like the sleeping arrangements (or sleeping, period) so I was up half the night with him. We barely made it to the continental breakfast the next morning because after only having about four hours of sleep, I just wanted to keep sleeping.

But, we got up, ate breakfast, then went back to the room where I grabbed a 30 minute catnap before we headed off to the park for lunch and playtime with my friend Amber and her two kiddos. The wind was blowing like crazy, but the kids had a blast playing at the park. Eventually, we packed up because the wind was just too much.

That afternoon, after Brandon got back, we just chilled in the room, reading books, playing the Nintendo, and eventually going swimming. It had rained for a while so we weren't sure we could go, but it finally stopped, so we decided to head out. We spend most of our time in the hot tub - pure bliss!

That night, we headed to JB's for dinner because it was free for the kids. But, the service was slow because a big tourist group had walked in right before us, so we had to sit there for about an hour before our food was served. By that time, it was almost 9:30! We were hungry, tired, and cranky.

The next day, Brandon left for his conference, while I got everything packed up to check out. We had Gavin open his b-day presents, since it was his b-day, then headed to Liberty Park. We headed to the canyons water park, but they hadn't turned the water on yet. Luckily for us, though, that's what they were working on doing. They cleaned out the leaves, then the boys watched while one of the works turned the water on. We were the first ones to play in the canyons! The boys thought that was pretty awesome!

Since it was Gavin's b-day, I also let him choose a ride at the little amusement park they have there. He wanted to go on the swings, but he wasn't all enough. So, the boys went on the swings, then the worker there was super nice and let all of us get on the carousel for a free ride.

Then, we met up with Brandon and headed to the Clark Planetarium, where we took in a 3D movie, weighed ourselves on the moon and jupiter, ate some granola bars, and browsed for souvenirs. Then, we hit McDonalds for dinner on the way home, then leapfrogged all the way home. (Brandon drove the truck down so that I could have the van during the day while he was gone.) All in all (well, minus the no sleeping part), it was a really fun trip, and we look forward to doing it again next year!

I posted a few videos of our trip, but because there are so many pictures, I'll just make a slide show. Enjoy!