Busy days in Utah

We're back home after a great week in Utah. I can't believe how busy we were! Being still morning sick I wasn't sure I'd be able to do much during the week, but I really started to feel much better during my stay there. After getting back home, I'm still feeling pretty darn good - it's nice to know I'm on the upswing of getting better and reaching more pleasant times in this pregnancy. So, my parents came on Thursday in the early afternoon - we chatted for a while and gave them the tour of the house - since this was their first time seeing it. They got the lucky privilege of sleeping on the air mattress in Becca's bedroom (while Becca spent the night in the playpen in our big closet). We took a little outing to Trader Joes while they were here. I talk about the place all the time, because it's one of my favorite places to buy great food. They were glad to finally see what all the fuss was about and it was a good excuse to stock up on car snacks for our drive to Utah the next day. The drive went well - I didn't even throw up... however, Becca did! We only had about 10 minutes left till home when she threw up all over herself and the carseat. The poor girl is known for this - we suspect she gets really motion sick and car rides can be rough for her. I guess it was good that we were so close to home, or that would have made for a really miserable trip. We stopped a lot on our drive up - which was much needed considering we each had to take turns sitting in between the two car seats - it was a tight fit, but we made it! We did a lot of fun stuff while in Utah - I'll make a list of our happenings:

• Farmer's Market- They have a great farmer's market in downtown Salt Lake every Saturday. The best part were all the samples! Even better than Costco! Mom and Dad loaded up on produce for the week (peaches, apples, corn, watermelon, salsa, etc) - so yummy. We also bought an eggplant - it reminded me of myself (wearing a purple shirt and feeling rather wide around the middle), so I had my picture taken with it.
  
• Park visits - We spent a couple afternoons at local parks, playing tennis, walking, and letting the kids play. I really was trying to soak in the cooler weather while I could!
• Children's Museum- As is tradition, we spent a morning at the Discovery Center at the Gateway. What a great place! This was the first time that Becca really got something out of it as well. It's fun to see her grow up and really be able to play.
• IKEA- We may have an IKEA in Arizona, but we don't make it there very often since it's about a 30 minute drive away. So, it's always nice to make an visit there while in Utah with it only about 10 minutes from the house. Emma enjoys the play area and it's a nice inexpensive lunch outing. We even bought a few things, including some yummy chocolate.
  
• So You Think You Can Dance!!! - Totally AWESOME! My sister and I got tickets a couple months ago. She's actually never watched the show, but I couldn't go alone! Now she says she'll watch next season, since it was so awesome! The top 12 dancers from this past season performed all the most popular dances from the show. I was just in awe the whole time. 3 of the dancers were from Utah, so there was lots of screaming and plenty of support for the hometown faves. :) It may not be David Archuleta, but c'mon, isn't Gev just so cute! My favorite dance was the Bleeding Love performance with Chelsea and Mark. It was amazing and even cooler to see it live! My other fave was the hip hop dance by Comfort and Twitch - amazing!! The video below is not from the tour show, of course, but one I pulled off of You Tube from the show itself. I wish I could dance! Could that be a show? So You Wish You Could Dance?!

• Hogle Zoo - The weather was so great the day we went to the zoo; it just felt so nice to be outside! Becca loved riding the train and even exhibited her skills in signing train. When we were heading into the zoo, I asked Emma what animals she wanted to see and she said, "Dolphins!". I was sorry to disappoint her with the fact that there were no dolphins at the zoo. But there were penguins and she liked that. :)
  
• Provo time!- It's never a complete Utah visit until we've spent sometime in lovely Provo. :) So many memories. Since my brother Aaron is going to BYU right now, we had a good excuse to drive down for a visit. We met up with Aaron after his workday was over and drove over Gandolfo's for dinner (we call it "creepy basement Gandolfos"... the one on center street.. but it's the best one!) and then we mini-golfed at Cascade. What a great night!
• Wheeler Farm- Another favorite place to visit. We fed the ducks (despite the all the crazy scary geese attacking us for bread!), ate a picnic lunch, rode the wagon, visited the animals, and Emma rode a pony. A lovely afternoon indeed.
  
• Great-grandma's house- We love to see my grandma and grandpa in Salt Lake while we're there. Emma loves swinging in their backyard and she helped great-grandpa pick tomatoes and beans from their garden.
• Picnic in the canyon- The leaves are starting to change to fall colors up in the mountains and it was definitely nice to see. We ate our picnic lunch and then walked through the trails a bit.
• Corn Maze!- We did this maze last year at Thanksgiving Point. It's a really great event. They have a ton of kids activities in addition to the big corn maze. We let the kids play first. Emma got to dress up like a princess, jump on the giant inflatable pillow, ride the cow train, and slide down some huge slides. We totally got lost in the maze. Aaron and Sarah split up from us and got out in like 20 minutes, but it took the rest of us an hour I think - and we chose the easy maze. Apparently from above, the maze is shaped like David Archuletta - funny! After the maze we went to Cafe Rio for dinner... mmmm...
  

Anyway, it was a great week - the kids did well on the flight home. There were extra seats on the plane, so Becca got to have her own seat - she enjoyed not being in a car seat and Emma loved watching out the window and drinking apple juice. I loved that the flight was only 1hr and 30 minutes. :)