Kid Conversations on Vacation

Prepping for a red eye flight home

We just got back from a Utah/Yellowstone/Sun Valley family trip- spurred by Jay's cousin getting married in Sun Valley (Thanks Lauren!).

We flew into the Salt Lake City airport (cheaper! and to visit friends and family) and rented a car there.  Needless to say, we spent a LOT of time in the car.  I thought it would be generous to allow each child to pick out a "road trip treat" at Trader Joe's for everyone to enjoy and snack on together, during the long drives.

At our favorite burger joint in Provo

The Frog: [with great frustration and annoyance in his voice] The reason I don't like living in this family is because all we do is share!

He almost left his jelly beans behind so that he wouldn't have to share them.  We could not seem to convince him that some jelly beans were better than none.  (I still can't believe I was trying to convince my son to let me buy him some candy!!) Once he found out he would get to be the jelly bean manager, he decided it might be worth it after all.  (me thinks the sleep deprivation may have been talking all along...)

Toad's first In-n-Out

The next day after about hour 4 or 5 in the car Hazel was getting really fed up.
Hazel: The only things I want to do are eat cookies or GO. HOME!

Pretty soon we saw our first buffalo, and boy did that create some excitement!  We pulled over and everyone got out of the car so we could point to the one, tiny buffalo off in the distance.  Everyone got back into the car, more enthusiastic, and then we rounded the corner and there were seemingly hundreds of buffalo, EVERYWHERE, including crossing the road right in front of us.

Wedding welcome dinner w/ cousin P

When we got to our cabin that night, The Frog got the roll away bed and we didn't set it up properly, so if he didn't balance perfectly in the middle, it would fall over or close up on him.  We had a good laugh imagining him trying to sleep there all night.  Jay to the rescue- fixed it :)

Cousin A meeting Toad

We had fun convincing the kids there was a dragon living in "dragon's breath cave" at Yellowstone.  We enjoyed the general scenery, paint pots and bubbling mud pits, more buffalo, elk, a pronghorn and even spotted a coyote.  The burgers we had were actually good and reasonably priced- a very pleasant surprise after our overpriced, subpar meal at the hotel where we stayed.  The scenery was beautiful and it only felt crowded when we approached "Old Faithful".  Turns out their predicted times are not quite as "faithful" and even though we were there 45 min early to get a good seat, we ended up watching it shoot up into the air from the car as we were on our way to the parking lot.  After seeing the gigantic parking lot and how completely packed it was, we opted not to get out and deal with the post-eruption traffic that would soon emerge.

Treats at "The Chocolate"

We drove back through the Tetons, the next day, on our way to Sun Valley for a delightful 48 hours of outdoor wedding celebrations with kids everywhere and delicious food.  Bonus: our airbnb condo rental had a community pool, hot tub, and sauna.

Back to Salt Lake City to visit grandma, cousins, and friends.

Krispy Kreme!

After all this driving, you can imagine our surprise when The Frog suddenly exclaims: Hey! They have McDonald's in Utah!  I thought it was only in Massachusetts!

Jay and I got a good laugh out of that.

Me: They have McDonald's all over the world!
Jay: They have it in Paris!
Me: They have them in Hungary and Japan!
Peach:  [matter-of-factly, in a very know-it-all tone of voice] Of course they have it in Hungary, 'cause it's hungry!

These are all just cell phone shots.  I still haven't uploaded any camera pics.  Don't hold your breath.  It's been awhile since I've uploaded any photos, yeah?