Perry Peeks: Family Vacation 2014

We really enjoy going on road trips and when we go, we go many miles! This trip we went several places and saw many neat and fun things. We left Vernal at 4:30pm on Wednesday April16th heading towards southern Utah. We decided we would just drive until the kids got cranky. I made egg salad sandwiches, cut up apples with lemon juice, and grabbed some drinks for later. Miss P slept all the way from Vernal to Heber where we stopped for a potty break, gas, and get out our sandwiches. We then hit the road and ate on the go. The boys watched movies in the back and Kadence drew pics and looked out the window, everyone was doing great! We saw elk out on side hills when the sun was setting. We drove all the way to Beaver, arriving around 9:30pm, and stayed at the Super 8. Our room was small but clean and just perfect for our family. Pais slept from 10:30-5 then had a hard time settling back down, but finally did from 5:40-7:10 when Kadence started sobbing. I think she was lost, LOL. It was a good time to get up and get going. We had some toast and juice for breakfast and got back in the suburban. We stopped at Kolob Canyons first, what beautiful views! We then headed south and drove through Zion National Park, make a few stops to get out, stretch, and look around. The kids loved playing in the warm sand and finding lizards (Stets favorite) Pais ate the sand, well cause thats what Pais does, then when we were just about out of the park we saw big horned sheep right out the window.
After being stuck in construction for 30 minutes Miss P was fussy and ready for a nap!! She nursed then got buckled back up and slept all the way to Mesquite where we stopped and got some chicken to eat at Popeye's. We had reached warm weather, hooray! 85 degrees, feeling so good even with the breeze/wind!! The kids loved the hot! Once we reached Las Vegas we checked in to Circus Circus and took our luggage to our rooms. We got two rooms that connected both with two queen beds, the rooms were clean and spacious. We laid around 30 minutes to rest then put Pais in the babybjorn and went to explore. We told our kids they had to stay right by us, they had never seen so many people or stayed in such a huge hotel. They were absolutely mesmerized by everything. We walked all around Circus Circus, seeing the Adventure dome, Midway (games)-watched free circus acts the juggler and clown, then Roy had the fabulous idea of catching a cab to the MGM and walking the strip back up.
What an adventure! It was probably close to 9pm when we started walking. The kids loved the m&m store, they were super entertained looking at all the m&m's! We saw many types of people and things all the way up the strip. We saw lots of homeless people, transformers, show girls, Elmo(which P LOVED), hello Kitty, minions, and of course many undesirables. We also watched the fountains of Bellagio and the volcano show at the Mirage. The kids were real troopers walking that far! They loved all the escalators and elevators. I was so glad I had brought the Bjorn backpack for P, I can't imagine trying to push the stroller through all the crowds. By the time we got back to Circus Circus and our room it was 12:30 am-Vegas time, home time was 1:30am!! We all slept like rocks until P woke up at 7:10. By 7:45 the rooms were alive with children talking, giggling, and trying to whisper. Sleep was useless at this point, although Roy was trying like heck to sleep through it! We packed up our stuff, put it in the car and went to breakfast the Circus Circus buffet and holy cow was it GOOD! We loaded up on french toast, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, ham, fruit, eggs, potato's, yogurt, juice and crepes. I think we walked off the calories the night before!!
We then hit up the adventure dome where we bought the kids all day passes to ride every ride. Mom and Stet rode the two big roller coasters and Dad and Stet rode one of the roller coasters. It was super fun! We also went back to the Midway to play games and win prizes. P slept through the rides and games, she was in the stroller this time and she got to hold all the prizes. The kids just kept throwing their stuff on top of her, LOL! Once we had seen enough of Vegas we loaded up in the burb and headed to Boulder City where we planned to spend the night. We got checked in to a hotel and went to eat at a little diner. We got a slice of Blueberry pie and one of Strawberry Rhubarb-BEST pie ever! Both were amazing! Then we went back to relax for a few and hit the pool and hot tub. The kids LOVE swimming and their dad is so fun with them. They have cannon ball wars, play a game he calls motor boat. Roy is such a good sport to go swim and play with them. P loves the water as well, we stayed in the pool til her lips were purple! Then we warmed up the hot tub and went to the room for showers and bed. Once again we were woken up to the sounds of little children by 7:10 or so. We all got ready and headed out for a delicious breakfast then it was on to the Hoover Dam. We walked all around there and saw amazing views! Then it was time to get a souvineer, go potty, feed P and hit the road....again! This time we were heading to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were now back to home time.
While driving the kids were EXCELLENT! P slept for quite awhile and so did Kadence. The boys were quietly watching movies. When we go to Williams AZ, we stopped for ice cream and to fill up our windshield washer fluid. And of course potty breaks. Once we entered the Grand Canyon we made several stops and saw spectacular views. Breath taking beautiful views! We also saw a couple heards of elk right off the sides of the road. When we got up that morning it was 85 degrees and SUNNY, by that evening our travels brought us to a chilly 55-60 degrees and rain! Funny how the weather and temps change so quickly from place to place. We then drove to Cameron and ate dinner of Navajo tacos, steak, and burgers-all DELICIOUS! We couldn't decide if we should drive to Page or the other way towards Kayenta. When I started calling Page hotels they were full for the night...so we went to Kayenta where we got a family suite with three queen beds, it was fantastic. We got in around 10 pm and hit the sack. We all slept wonderfully until around 8:15. Then it was up, ready, breakfast and back to UTAH! It felt good to cross back into our home state, I was having some anxiety about all the people.
So this was Sunday, we drove up through Moab stopping at Hole 'N' the rock and Arches National Park where once again we load P in the baby Bjorn and did a bunch of hiking and walking. It was so fun to see things we've never seen and go to new places. I love spending time with my family exploring the country. We then decided to extend our trip one more day and go stay in Grand Junction CO. So we ate dinner at Red Lobster and stayed at the Hampton Inn. Monday Morning we got up around 8, got ready, ate breakfast, hit up Sam's Club, Target, Old Navy, the gas station and headed for home! We pulled in the driveway at 3:00. In 5 days we hit 4 states, and went right about 1620 miles! It was a blast, but always good to be home :)