How Much Fun Can One Family Have?

The fun has been non-stop since our plane touched ground. We've been busy doing all sorts of activities and visiting with lots of friends and family.

After a day of swimming and fun with old friends, Chad and Amy took us to an Orem Owls game. It was a close one, but the home team pulled it out. We had lots of fun hooting in the stands.

The girls especially loved the mascot.

The next day, on our way to visit a former co-worker and good friend in Pleasant Grove, I just had to introduce the kids to one of my favorite ice cream places, The Purple Turtle.

Those are the kid-size shakes! No wonder I loved this place so much. I went for my old regular, a rootbeer freeze. Caleb was the only one that managed to finish his treat.

Later that night, we had lots of fun catching up with old cheer buddies and their families. These are some of my very best friends from college.

The Heritage Park at the This is the Place Monument was a wonderful highlight. It's a really fun pioneer park with lots of activities for the kids.

The first little cabin had lots of chores for the kids to try. Caleb beat the rug as if he were swinging a baseball bat.

There are families that volunteer at the park and dress up as pioneers. The pioneer boy was so nice to Caleb as he taught him traditional games and how to drive a plow.

Natalie had so much fun doing laundry that she wanted to do the whole bucket. We finally pulled her away but she kept asking to go back later to finish the job.

The kids were glad they didn't really have to go to school in the school house that had a large paddle used for swatting misbehaving students.

They panned for gold...

...went on a mini train ride,

and then bargained with the banker. Caleb decided to trade his gold for four pieces of taffy. The girls decided to keep their gold.

The kids then picked out treats from the gift shop with Chad and Amy while I ran to the airport to pick up Jon. After a fun dinner with Chad, Amy, Sarah and Maureen, we walked to temple square to see the new replica of the the temple. Then we walked over to see the Christus.

We started the next morning with a drive down many memory lanes. We drove past our old house and past many other nostalgic locations. Then we decided, on a whim, to hike the "Y".

It is one tough hike to the top. Caleb raced ahead of the rest of us as he couldn't wait to sit down on the "Y" and overlook his beloved BYU.

Natalie and Jon were the perfect hiking buddies. They pushed each other along and reached the top together. Natalie was such a trooper. She had only flip flops for shoes but ended up hiking most of the way in her bare feet!

When we got down, we headed straight to Hogi Yogi for a cold treat. I love that place even if it doesn't look anything like it did back in the day when I frequented it.

We then did our bookstore shopping which of course included some cinnamon bears.

Legacy Hall was our final campus stop for the day. It is full of so many really cool displays.

Here is Lys posed in front of the shortest athlete, a gymnast, in BYU history. Could she be the first to break that record?

All of the kids wanted their picture with the cougar.

Caleb was particular about getting his picture in front of the National Championship trophy.

We then headed to my Aunt Shauna's house for a 4th of July BBQ. Almost all of the cousins were there and it was great to be able to visit with them as I hadn't seen them in years!

We left Shauna's and head back to BYU for Stadium of Fire. Oh how we love this stadium. Caleb was wishing we were there for football instead.

The festivites were really great with Carrie Underwood being the headline act. She's really good.

Sarah helped Caleb plug his ears during the fireworks.

The fireworks were definitely loud but it was a really spectacular show.

On Sunday morning we headed back to temple square to watch Maureen sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Music and the Spoken Word. It was a special Independence Day program and it was really wonderful.

We then roamed the grounds,watched the Joesph Smith movie and toured the conference center.

A trip to Utah would simply not be complete without a game at the BYU bowling alley, so Monday morning we headed back to campus.

Caleb had his heart set on a Creamery ice cream cone after bowling. He's particularly fond of LaVell's Vanilla. But when we saw the really long lines, I convinced him to give the Macey's cone a try instead. I never thought I'd see the day that Caleb would be unable to finish an ice cream cone but Caleb was defeated by the Kong Kone. It's even bigger than it used to be and they now turn it into a cup after filling the cone. The ice cream literally filled a 64 oz. cup. I'd say Caleb ate about half. All that for $1.29!

We woke this morning and drove to Moab. After checking into our hotel we headed off to Arches National Park. The arches and rock formations are truly amazing but the kids didn't do well in the 100 degree weather.

This picture of Alyssa was right before a nose bleed.

Natalie was unhappy with her shoes that are too big.

But we kept pushing them along until we finally reached the delicate arch.

The kids were happy as soon as they were able to cool off in the hotel pool.

Our family reunion begins tomorrow. Is this much fun even legal?