Road Trip!!
Whew! We just got back from another whirlwind of a road trip. This one was a combination of business and pleasure. My mom and I were vendors at a big vintage show in SLC (The Vintage Whites Market) and I brought my whole family along for an early "Spring Break". We had an absolutely fantastic time...minus a harrowing drive home and the fact that I had a horrible cold and laryngitis...awesome.
We headed to Utah early Thursday morning and got arrived in time to hang out with my brother Kirk, his girlfriend, Meki, her kids, Kaiya and Tarren, and my adorable nephew, Kaiden. It was nice to relax at their house, catch up, and eat pizza. The Pie!! Yum. We had a great time!!
I do not get to see enough of this cute kid!! The site of him watching out the window, jumping up and down, and screaming with joy when we got there just melted my heart. Ailey was in heaven to hang out with Kaiya. We were there about 1 second before those two girls took of to Kaiya's room and didn't even want to emerge to eat pizza. They had a blast together.
Kaiden and Bryn selfie!!
Kirk and Meki have three dogs and Bryn was beside herself with joy!! She begs us and begs us to get a dog. No thank you!! We have our hands full as it is...but she got to love on those dogs all night long. Ol' Milo was her particular favorite. She STILL hasn't stopped talking about him.
After a long day and a late night we headed back to our hotel to crash. We had a great suite at our favorite hotel with tons of amenities. 24 hour pool/hot tub being one of them. Plus, a gym and a full complementary breakfast in the morning. What more could our kids ask for? Nothing. They loved it.
The next morning after a quick breakfast at my all time favorite Utah eatery...Kneaders...we were on our way to unload both trailers and set up for the show.
Breakfast of Champions!! Kneader's Raspberry Bread Pudding with Vanilla Cream and a Strawberry Tsunami Smoothie. Delightful. I ate there every single morning. Fabulous.
Our booth set up took all day. After Tyler and the kids unloaded both trailers they headed off to have some fun. They picked up Kaiden and all headed to Provo. Reilly was checking out BYU and UVU. They bummed around campus...ate the world's best ice cream...hit up the book store and bought all kinds of BYU swag! Even some for Kaiden who REALLY REALLY wanted some thing of his own from BYU but laughingly said, "I'm going to have to hide this from my dad." (Kirk is a die-hard Utes fan...boo.) Kaiden also said to Tyler after his "best day ever!!" " Uncle Tyler...now there are TWO schools that I want to go too!!" Ha ha!! Love it!
Delicious BYU Creamery!!
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| Kaiden and Kam |
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| Kameron, Ailey, Bryn, Kaiya, and Kaiden |
When my mom and I were done with set-up we brought nourishment to the masses. In-N-Out. My kids are crazy for their "grilled cheese animal style" sandwiches. These kids ate and then swam some more. Really...is there anything better than swimming and eating junk food with your cousins?
Our booth turned out pretty sweet too!! You can read more about the show and see more pictures HERE.
Once again after a late night of fun, we crashed and burned, and got up bright and early for the show. The turn out was amazing. There were twice as many people as last year...if not more...and last year there was a huge turn out. We had a great time!! I had a famous blogger sighting. Shellie from House of Smiths was there shopping which was pretty exciting. Also, Reilly saw a famous beauty blogger that she was excited about and that I had no idea who she was. We also saw old friends and family. I was super excited to see my cute sister-in-law Marissa, my brother-in-law Brett, and my cutie pie niece Liv walk in along with Marissa's sister Mallory and her wife. It was so nice to have all the family support!! Thanks guys!
My mom and one of her oldest and dearest friends, Margie. It was great to see her and her son David (who is a little older than me) and his son also stopped by to say hello. We managed to tag team visit with them. It was fun to catch up.
While my mom and I were toiling away at the sale. It was super busy!! Tyler and the kids jumped onto the light rail and headed downtown for another day of fun. They headed over to Temple Square and took a tour of the Conference Center. All four kids loved seeing the sights and were texting me fabulous pictures.
Pictures by Reilly
They also had a fantastic time playing downtown. They loved City Creek and raved about it. I'm jealous because I am the only one who hasn't seen it yet!! They explored and ate great food and kindly brought us a late lunch/early dinner since we were in no way able to leave the booth to eat. They played all day. The weather was magnificent. Sunny and in the 60s!! Tyler and Reilly came back at close to help us tear down. It was a LONG DAY!! We didn't get done with tear down etc until it was about 9pm and didn't even eat dinner until around 10pm. We were exhausted...but happy.
The Grand Building when we were leaving!!
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| Exhausted but happy kids |
I hate having to say good-bye to my brother. I wish we lived closer.
After that we had to run a few more errands and then we headed over to Tyler's brother's house for a fun family day. We had so much fun with Brett and Marissa and our cute niece Liv. Again, I hate that they live so far away. Tyler's Mom and Step-Dad drove up from Moroni and we all had a great day together.
These two girls played the day away. They were inseparable. They were so cute together.
Liv just got back from Disneyland and so she some fabulous new dress-ups!!
We had a lovely and delicious dinner. Brett and Tyler had us in hysterics telling stories from their childhood. The weather was once again sunny and in the 60s. It felt like Spring had arrived!!
These two girlies drove all around Liv's cul-de-sac. Bryn has some sweet driving skills. Round and round they went!! They also rode bikes and scooters. They were in a world all their own.
We played multiple wild games of...oh yes...CORN HOLE!! It's the new family favorite. Grandpa Joel reigns supreme with Uncle Brett right behind him. The kids played against each other, and then against Brett and Tyler, and then against Brett and Grandpa. Then there was the EPIC game of the Johnson Husbands (Brett and Ty) versus the Johnson Wives (Me and Marissa). Now THAT was a fun game!! Looking forward to a rematch this summer. Have you played Cornhole yet? It is seriously fun.
Even the little girls can play and did a great job!!
Pictures with Grandma Judie and Grandpa Joel
The Johnson Cousins. They are some cute kiddos!
Brett and Ty...we missed Lori and wished that she was there too.
It was hard to say good-bye. We had such a great time and can't wait to be together again.
The next day we headed out early to do a few things before we had to leave town. We drove downtown once again to show the kids some of the sights.
Like the Capital Building
Not too far from the Capital Building is the Colonial House where we had our wedding reception. I'd love to just move right in. That is my kind of house!!
I think this was the highlight of their trip though... The Anniversary Inn. The place where their father became a man and their mother became a woman. Wink Wink. Oh yeah!! That began the "I think I am going to puke if you don't stop talking!!" comments. We just replied back with my Uncle Steve's infamous quote..."There is nothing more natural and beautiful than your parents doing it". Boom. Of course he said that regarding my grandparents years ago and that, was in fact, puke worthy. But...infamous and oft quoted...it has become. Thanks Uncle Steve.
We drove back down to Provo so that Reilly could check out beauty schools. Hmm. This parenting thing gets difficult when children have their own ideas about how they would like their lives to go and they aren't quite in line with what we, as parents, would like them to do. Reilly did humor us by looking at several colleges and we returned the favor by letting her check out these schools.
She and Tyler checked out both the Aveda and Paul Mitchell schools, took tours, and met with the advisers there to discuss the various programs. I will say that Tyler came out feeling much better about this idea and much more supportive. Reilly came out glowing and with her eyes sparkling. Parenting is hard. For me though, I feel better...I feel like she would still be "going away" to school and having a somewhat of a college-like experience. The Paul Mitchell school is right off of BYU campus and she could still live in BYU student housing and attend a BYU ward etc. Those things are making the idea a bit more palatable to me. I just really had my hopes set on her following in my footsteps, going to BYU, and living the dream...my dream. Reality check Kristin!! Gosh...parenting is full of them. I am sure I will have many more coming my way. That said, the bottom line is... if this is what Reilly wants to do, she now has our full support. One perk is that I will look glamorous all my days. Right, Reilly? :)
We grabbed lunch at JCW's which was delicious!! For all you vegetarians out there who think you can't eat there...think again. They had AMAZING veggie burgers. Hands down the best I have ever had!! Then we made our way back up to SLC and out of town.
Another favorite stop of this trip was Scheels. Oh My!! There was something there for everyone. We could have stayed for days!! It was unbelievable...and they have a huge Ferris Wheel. Awesome.
Then it was time to go home. We had okay roads until Montana and then our trip that takes around 12 hours turned into 16 hours of pure hell. White outs, semi- trucks crossing the median, slide offs and jack knifes, ice...it was awful. We were very thankful to get home alive!! For reals.
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