Saturday, July 27, 2019

The Great Relocation

We are totally, 100% moved into our new home (not counting many boxes of toys. Shh!) and I say it was a great move. What else can it be, when you didn't have to box up, load up, store, transport, or unload a single thing? I've moved many times, I've been moved a couple times. I know which I prefer. Anyway, pictures of the house will appear when it is a little more homey, with pictures on the walls and such.
It's been a lot of work so far, and there is more to come because the downstairs has several unfinished rooms. We're hoping to do some of that work by the end of the year, we'll see how that goes! In the mean time, here are some of the adventures we've been on since our move.

June 1st: We drove from LA to St. George, UT and stayed the night. Before finishing our drive, we stopped at Zion National Park. After our abysmal trip in March, we wanted to try again and do it right. It didn't snow on us, our kids didn't whine more than usual, and no one was hospitalized! 1000% better!







 We hiked to the Lower Emerald Pools (the Upper and Middle are closed. The trails got washed out)
After some hiking we went to lunch at Blondie's, the best restaurant in the area according to me. On your next trip to the area you should stop by! And do try the pie.



We stayed at hotel Grandma while we did our house hunting. As a result, Paul doesn't like our new house. It isn't as good as Grandma's house so he isn't too pleased with our move. We found a house, did all that paperwork, and by the time we were officially signing papers, my sister and her family were on their way from West Virginia to visit. 
My mom had graciously offered to babysit for a week so my sister and husband could go on a cruise. I assisted by having a giant van to drive kids around in. Here are a few adventures we went on with cousins.

The Hogle Zoo:









Going places with my nieces and nephews always makes me think two things: First, that my kids look like they could be siblings of their cousins; second, that none of them look like they would be my children.
When the cruisers returned, we all went to This is the Place and spent the day at the pioneer village. I recommend the donuts. Paul was convinced that this was going to be a stupid place, but he loved it and didn't want to leave. It's really come a long way since my youth. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to out of town visitors.




We rode the train, learned the Virginia Reel, ate donuts, rode ponies, got very wet, learned the Deseret alphabet, met some sheep and goats, panned for gold, got very wet again, visited a hogan, ate ice cream, played pirates, tried (and failed) to rob the bank, got a shave, and mastered the stilts.