This is the Place

London had her first plane ride on our trip to Utah two weeks ago, and she did amazingly well. The passengers around us complimented her on what a good baby she had been during the flight. On the way up, our plane had mechanical problems in Austin, so we were several hours late getting to Denver and missed our connection to Salt Lake. Luckily the airline gave us food vouchers, a hotel room, and 4 airplane vouchers to compensate us....and we caught the first plane to Salt Lake the next morning! Nate is hoping that happens every time we go to Utah in the future. :)

The Carroll family reunion was filled with various events in the pictures below. One of the first activities was a trip to the new Eccles Dinosaur Park, and the kids loved it.




Jackson and Kennedy enjoyed being archaeologists while digging for dinosaur bones in the park.

We then had dinner at my grandparents' house in Ogden, where we learned for the first time that Jackson aspires to play in the NFL someday.

The next day we went to the This is the Place Heritage park, which is like a Pioneer Village up by Hogle Zoo. They have Brigham Young's original house (in pink below), and lots of other fun activities for kids.

Jackson enjoyed trying out the Pioneer era bed.....he told us he could have easily handled living in the little cabins. :)

Here's Kennedy with her two favorite cousins to pal around with, Kylee and Delaney, after they had their toes painted.

London is on the far right, with three of her other girl cousins that are all close in age.

One night we went up the canyon to roast hotdogs and cook smores with all the cousins. We never miss Utah more than when we're up in the mountains like that night. The weather was so cool up in the canyon and the trees and river were beautiful.

We all went to my other Grandma's farm in Heber for a dinner one night too. The kids got to ride horses and we had lots of great food.

Here's a picture of the whole group on the farm in Heber. Never mind that the setting looks like something off of Beverly Hillbillies.

The final event of the reunion was a trip to Lagoon. It had been years since Nate or I last went to Lagoon, and we were pleasantly surprised by how many fun new rides they had. The lines were all pretty short too, since we went on a Weds. Our kids had never been to an amusement park before, and I think Kennedy and Jackson would like to become professional amusement park riders. We've never seen them so excited. Jackson and Kennedy were both fearless; it was hilarious. By dinner time, the kids were all exhausted, so my brother and his wife volunteered to take all the kids home in two cars so the adults could stay and ride the big rides. Wicked lived up to its name, and I'm pretty sure Nate had his eyes closed the whole ride. :)

After my family reunion was over, we spent a few days with Nate's family before coming home. Dan and Lisa were in Georgia until the day before we left, so we barely caught them. Gram's trampoline was a favorite hangout as usual.

Nate's brother, Dan, is a photographer for Busath, an award-winning photography studio in Utah. We were lucky enough to squeeze in a picture session with Dan before coming home. Here are a few of the pictures we liked. Thanks Dan!

Unfortunately, on our trip back to Texas there was bad weather in Austin, so our plane was temporarily diverted to Waco and didn't get to Austin until about two hours later than scheduled. To top it all off, we finally got home to College Station after the 90 minute drive from the Austin airport....only to discover that one of the bags we brought home with us belonged to someone else. So we quickly put the kids down to bed and called our friend Lisa to come stay with them while Nate and I drove all the way back to Austin to switch bags. We got home around 1:00 AM. We'll be more careful next time! :) It was so nice to be able to spend time with family and friends back in Utah. I think a summer trip up there could become a nice tradition....