End of Summer Fun!

Although Greg was still in Dallas and wouldn't be able to join us, Rachel, Erin and I decided we needed one last trip before summer band started. We decided to pack our bags and head to Utah with the goal of hanging with the northern Utah cousins. We had originally planned on flying out on Thursday, but once again flights didn't cooperate. So we had to leave a day early. After getting someone to pick up my shift at work, and a very kind offer from my sister-in-law Michelle to pick us up at the airport at midnight--we were on our way.

We spent Thursday at Kevin and Michelle's house. We spent our first day at Kevin and Michelle's. Kevin is out of town, but got to spend a lot of time with Catherine and some with Michelle, and Grandma and briefly with Grandpa and Nick.

Rachel and Erin really wanted to spend time with their little cousins, so we arranged to pick up Jenna and Garret Friday morning and spend the day with them. While doing some research on possible activities I discovered that our membership to the Houston Zoo would get us free admission to the Hogle Zoo, so the decision was made to spend the day at the zoo. Jenna and Garrett were so much fun, and ran out of steam just before it was time to leave. Randy and Becca both got hung up at work, so we drove to their house and waited for them to be able to slip away. Once they were home, we all went out to dinner--which was a great ending to a very fun day.







We rode the carousel











and the train















We saw lots of animals. We loved the giraffes...


















... and Jenna loved the snakes








Jenna and Garrett both needed their own map and Garret was better at reading it then we were.












Garrett tried bagels and cream cheese--and was surprised he liked it!










After we left dinner, the girls and I headed up to Provo. We had made arrangements to spend the night at Amanda Robinson's grandparents house for the night. Amanda is currently living with them for the summer while she attends BYU. And her grandparents were out of town so she was thrilled to have some company. We had also contacted Clarissa McLemore and Tiffany Pyper in hopes that we could all go see a movie together. Clarissa made it, but Tiff was swamped and didn't see the message until Saturday. The Dark Knight opened that night and we had hoped to go see it--but Amanda and Clarissa weren't able to buy tickets in advance and by the time we started hitting theatres it was sold out everywhere. So instead we opted for Wall-E. It was pretty cute and we had a great time hanging with the girls.






The girls and I hanging at the mall












Rachel & Clarissa













Amanda & Rachel















Sweat treats before the movie








We got up Saturday morning and headed to Brett and Tonia's. Randy and Becca came up too and we all went hiking to Stewart Falls. I had never heard of this waterfall before this month, but before we left for Utah I saw photos of a trip that Cindy Richardson took to see it while visiting her daughter Melissa. It looked pretty cool, so I talked everyone into going--making sure they understood that they were going to have to be patient with hiking with an old, out of shape woman who lives at sea level. It was a pretty intense hike (especially for us oxygen deprived Houstonians) and very dusty, but it was so worth it. It was a beautiful hike and a great photo op with the waterfall. After we finished the hike, we cleaned off the dirt as best we could and went out for Mexican food. We then returned to Bret and Tonia's and hung out the rest of the day. It was Brett & Tonia's anniversary and we had told them to cancel their babysitter and we would play with their boys while they celebrated. Randy and Becca stayed the rest of the day too--so we all had a great time.






Start of the hike














Sam, Cobe and Erin
















Becca and Randy














Cousins
















Rachel and Jenna enjoy a rest at the top














Stewart Falls




































Two tired hikers














On the way down--check out the dirt on my legs













On Sunday we went to church with Tonia and the boys (Brett had to work), and after lunch went back to Kevin & Michelle's. Michelle had friends in from out of town and had a big game night. So we were able to spend a little more time with the Stays and enjoy some serious gaming. We flew home the day after lunch at Carl Jr's with Michelle, Nick and Catherine. It was great end of summer trip!






Lunch with Michelle, Nick and Catherine