Extended Family Reunion

Last weekend we spent a day in Vernal... yes, a very LONG day by the time it was over, but maybe all days should be 20 hours long! :) We got up at 4 am to get ready to go - and we got home at midnight... not bad.

We started our day out up in Dinosaur National Park where one of our ancestors built a cabin. Her children donated the property to the park, so they have preserved the cabin and have made it into a monument of sorts. There was a neat little hike too that we enjoyed.



After the cabin we got to see some hieroglyphs - I wish my graffiti would someday turn into cool artifacts!
We spent a lot of the day at Chris' Aunt Marlene's house. They had a ginormous dog - and Abby loved it. Oh how she would love if we let her get a dog! She'll just have to go visit Lisa and Lance more often!
We had lots of fun in the water - at least the kids did...

Chris took a little snooze with Andrew- I was jealous!!
Eric loved Marlene's backyard - It had a play set, water and a HUGE sandbox. He was in little boy heaven! He even had cousins to play with.


Abby enjoyed herself too - she was a little trooper!!
Saturday night we rented out the local 'Big Kahuna' swimming pool. We all got to swim, except Andrew who stayed dry with Grandma (thanks!). Abby absolutely loved this slide. She kept running up the stairs and going down. She didn't want anyone to go with her - she wanted to go alone. She is growing up so fast! She was so brave, I'm amazed at all the things she does.
Eric loved the water too - but the slide wasn't his favorite part. He went with us quite a few times, but his real love is just floating in the water in the big pool. He was quite content here!
Chris and I had a great day with family - we love being together with everyone. I'm glad we got the chance to see some of our Aunts, Uncles and Cousins!
Andrew and McKaylee sure had a good evening chilling with Grandma!
The boys had a good time lounging...
I thought for sure I would fall asleep on the way home from Vernal - but amazingly I didn't. I guess it was just too nice to be with Chris and have 3 hours to talk about anything we wanted since the kids were all sound asleep in the back! We haven't had time like that for a while - we usually get interrupted. I was grateful I could stay awake so I didn't feel guilty having Chris drive! We both had stuff to get back to on Sunday - but it was sure a fun little get away. Abby's already asking when we can go back to the water park. I'm sure that will be a stop we make every time we go to Vernal! :)