First I flew east to pick them up.
Once we got here the kids got to see Temple Square and the Conference Center.
We took a hike to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Ten seconds into the hike, which starts out on a hill, Claire said, "I hate hiking," and repeated those words all the way to the falls. Then she saw the falls! She had a great time scrambling up the rocks and exploring. Not one complaint on the way back down.
We hiked Arches National Park and felt how the desert is. How hot? It was 100°F but it felt hotter with the desert reflecting the heat back and no shade. The terrain here is so alien. We saw a lizard, and the kids were amazed to see cactus growing everywhere for the first time!
We've been visiting zoos around the country, so Hogle Zoo was definitely on our list.
We played with cousins, lit fireworks with them, and we went to see The BFG movie.
We also went to Seven Peaks water park — twice!
And Claire and I had snacks on the deck most nights as we watched the gorgeous Utah sunsets.
We watched 100 fireworks shows from the east side of the Salt Lake Valley on the Fourth.
Two nights before on Saturday we were on a plane taking off from our connection in Chicago — it was around 9:30 p.m. so all of Chicago was launching fireworks. What an incredible sendoff from our plane window seat.
Full vacation pictures on Flickr.
