This past week Ellie and I went to Utah. My friend LaShay wanted to go and Visit her family and wanted someone to drive with her. I took Ellie along, but Tanner stayed home. We left on Tuesday May 25th and came home Yesterday! It was along trip, but we had fun! Our first stop was at her sister Ashley's house in Stansbury Park, Utah. We got there late Tuesday night. When we got there Ellie was being her usual non-talkative, hide behind mommy with her thumb in her mouth self. Ashley's son Elijah, who was suppose to be in bed, ran up stairs... he was too excited to sleep and gave Mason and Ellie little princess polly pockets. Ellie was instantly a different girl. She was talkative and friendly... who knew that a disney princess could work such wonders? On Wednesday we took a trip to the Hoogle Zoo. It was a cute zoo and the kids had lots of fun. We took the kids on a train ride around the zoo twice and they got to ride a marry-go-round. That night LaShay, Ashley, and I went to the movies, while Ashley's husband watched the girls. The movie was... well it was not very good, but we still had fun! Thursday we went to Temple Square and met up with LaShay's parent's, two of her sister-in-laws, and some nieces and nephews. Ellie loved the visitor's center. She kept going up to the plaques and asking me to read them to her. Ellie also decided that the Salt Lake Temple looked like a castle and was excitied to see a princess getting married to a prince. That night we had another delicious meal cooked by Ashely and watched the kids play outside. On Friday we went to West Jordan. I droped LaShay and her kids off at our friend Annaleesa's house and Ellie and I went to visit her Great Grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Markham took us out to Lunch and then we went back to their house to visit. Brian's Aunt Marilyn came over too. Ellie had lots of fun at their house. She thought it was funny that Grandma Diane had a mommy and daddy. After our visit we went to Annaleesa's house. LaShay, Anna and I went on a girls night out. We went to dinner at Iggy's were I got a yummy Cabo Wabo Salad. Then we walked around and visited some of the shops. We ended the night with a movie. On Saturday we drove to Famington and stayed at LaShay's brother's house for the remainder of the trip. On Saturday LaShay's mom took us to the Distribution Center. It was a fun outing. On Sunday night they had a family dinner. The kids had lots of fun playing with eachother. After dinner the girls took off for a walk. LaShay's mom dropped us off at a walking trail. The keys got locked in the car while switching drivers, but LaShay's brother came and were able to open the door with a hanger. The walking trail was beautiful. It made me wish I lived somewhere like Farmington. On Monday we headed to Lehi for another family get together. On our way ther LaShay and I stopped at Ikea. Neither of us had ever been. The store is massive! We didn't walk all the way around, but it was fun! I bought Tanner a birthday present and I bought plastic utensils for Ellie and Tanner. We had to make ourselves leave so we wouldn't spend anymore money. Next we stopped by Cabela's. Our hubands requested that we bring home a few things for them. We bought some freshly made fudge... who knew Cabela's had such yummy items in their store?! Once we made it to LaShay's brother's house we hung out for a little while. Once Ashely arivved. LaShay's sister-in-law Caraline took us to a cute little place in the Salt Lake area with a bunch of little shops. I bought some cute tops and more fudge! Then we went back to the house for the dinner, but I didn't eat. I had to save room for The Melting Pot. At 9:00 that night we arrived at The Melting Pot. There were seven of us girls total. The whole purpose of this restertaunt is Fondue. It was a fun and tasty experience. We got back to Farmington really late that night, but that didn't stop us from waking up at 5:00 the next morning... then we were back in the car for the long drive home.
Pictures from our trip
Hoogle Zoo
The first thing we did when we got to the Zoo was the train ride!
Ellie sitting on the train looking with her map on her lap.
This elephant is hilarious. It makes odd noises and every once in awhile it squirts water out of its trunk. The kids thought this was so funny. Apparently it was the best part of the zoo for Ellie. She wanted to go back and visit the funny elephant.
The zoo had some indoor areas to view the animals. It was nice to get out of the sun.
We sat down at some tables to have a snack and had a great view of the Zebras.
Ellie and I in front of the Salt Lake Temple
Ellie loved looking at the paintings inside of the Visitor's Center. She wanted to know the story of each painting.
Ellie and Mason were so much fun to follow around. They were having so much fun watching the videos and looking at all the displays.
Ellie with Mason and her cousins in front of the Tabernacle
Ellie in front of the Conference Center. She thought that the waterfall was so cool. When she first saw it she said, "Look there's water coming off that castle!"
This picture is so funny. I was trying to get Ellie to smile for a picture, but the smiles were looking forced and painful. To get a real smile out of her I said something about her butt ( potty talk is all the rage at this age). Instead of a smile I got this look. Apparently Mason's cousin Elijah had told Ellie that butt was a swear word and that swear words are bad to say. So this is the expression of a child who has just heard her mom say... oh no... a swear word!
Great Grandpa showing Ellie the horses.
Ellie and her Great Aunt Marilyn
Goodbye hugs.
Yay for Girls Night Out!
Before
After
It was a long drive home!
A little boy.
The little boy was so excited to cover up his unsightly diaper that he gave the pretty princess a pretty huge hug to show his appreciation.
From that moment on ( well maybe it was only 30 minutes) The little boy and the pretty, pretty princess played pretty games and had a pretty good time.
And they lived prettily ever after.
