Salt Lake in the House

 

On our agenda for Day one up in the SLC was:

• Meet up with my sisters Laura and Emily (plus their kids, of course) and my brother Freddie
• Do the Temple Square touristy thing
• Eat at City Creek Mall across the street and let the kids play at the Dino Land
• Hit up the Church history museum on the other side of the street
• Drop a small fortune at Deseret Book
• Pick up pizza from The Pie for dinner and eat at a nearby park 
• And of course -- play with cousins!  

 Waiting for the cuzzies!

We got off to a later start than we were planning that morning, and the kids had been up until after midnight the night before with their other cousins, so emotions were running a bit high and we quickly realized we would need to drop something.  After deciding almost immediately to scratch the Temple Square visitor's center (to save it for a nice Sunday afternoon activity), we met up with Laura and baby Everett and headed over to the food court at the mall to get some food in the kids' bellies and to let them run around and play a bit.  Emily and Freddie joined us with Pearce, Henry, and Kate, and we got that party started!!  Hahahaha.

 The first meet-up -- Everett and Isaac are 8 months apart.

Dinosaur Land -- or whatever it's called -- has consistently been a hit with my kids when we've visited Salt Lake.  Even the older ones had a blast running around and playing with the little ones.  They were so helpful with the babies.  Although, technically, Everett and Kate are toddlers -- not babies. 

The following series of pictures document the first meeting of Isaac and Kate:

 Hahahahahahaha.  They're so cute!!!

Meanwhile, here are the first couple in a whole sequence of pictures documenting Jane and Pearce's BFF-ness:

 Uncle DoDo is everyone's favorite!!!

After everyone had eaten and gotten their wiggles out, we went over to the Church History museum and the kids played around on the top floor with the Primary children's exhibit, before we went downstairs to watch the new video on the Restoration.  An added bonus was running into one of Scott's good friends from where he grew up in Michigan and then later roomed with at BYU!! 

 Andy and Amy with me and Scott

After the museum, we realized the little ones were running out of steam and that there was no way they'd handle a shopping trip to Deseret Book.  Emily's kids were ready to go, too, so she graciously offered to take Alex and Jane home with her to play with Pearce and Henry.  It was a win-win situation!!   

 The new set of BFFs.  They were so cute!

Scott and Ethan ran over to the new conference center really quick for a snapshot before joining up with us at the Deseret Book.

 Modeling a pioneer bonnet.  :)

 Emily made some happy campers here with a Sonic slush run on the way home!

Hanging with Uncle DoDo.

By the time we were done shopping, it was pretty much time to eat again!  We ordered pizza from The Pie, to-go, and then met up with Jeremy and Trevor at a nearby park for dinner al fresco.  :)  Even though it was DEATHLY hot, the kids had a blast running around playing with the cousins and making lots of memories.

 The siblings!

Because it was SOOO hot -- and I love me some shaved ice -- Freddie, Laura, and Trevor joined me and Scott and the kids at a little shaved ice stand when we were finished at the park.  Once we got home, it was time to get those kids in bed!  Hahaha.  After a long, hard day of playing, they all crashed pretty hard.  Whew! 

And that was the end of our very BUSY first day in Salt Lake.  Can you believe how much we've packed into this trip already???  And we're maybe halfway done!  Best. Trip. Ever!!!  Stay tuned for more Salt Lake fun...