Summer Vacation: Part 1

Ok, finally some time to blog. I'm still recovering from the red eye but don't think I'd be able to sleep without getting something up here... I'm an addict, it's true. 

Alright, so I left off at Ryan and I realizing we forgot the laptop about an hour into our drive out of LA. Once we accepted that there was no turning back for it, we trudged forward with the rest of the drive to SLC. Westin did pretty well, given the fact that he's a 19 month old stuck in a carseat for 10 hours. After some Blue's Clues and a long nap (for Westin), we arrived in St. George where we stopped off for some lunch at our friend's house. (Side note - temperature read 110 degrees when we stepped out in St. George. No, I'm not kidding. It was beyond scorching. I don't know how they live down there. I was already missing my 75 degree beach weather.) 

I was so excited to see Tawni, and Westin was definitely in need of some playtime, so the timing couldn't have worked out better. Westin got inside and immediately found Stella's room and started playing with her toys. Stella was not super stoked about this little boy coming in and taking all her stuff for himself. I'm sure she was wondering why a boy would even want her PINK toys, but Westin doesn't discriminate based on color. If it's a toy, and especially if it has wheels, he'll take it.

Pink stroller, sure. Pink backpack, even better.

The two kiddos

Me with my gal-pal, Tawni

Thanks for having us over, Smiths. It was so fun to see you, even if it was just for an hour. 

Westin stayed awake the rest of the drive, so I ended up sitting in the back with him and watching DVDs and entertaining him the remaining four hours. Needless to say, we were all very eager to get to Ryan's sister's house that night.

The following day we drove down to Provo to meet up with our friends Brad and Krissy. We decided to meet at BYU and take a little walk down memory lane. I haven't been back since we left three years ago (such a long time, huh? haha). Anyway, we hung out in the Cougar-Eat for about an hour, where Westin enjoyed running around, rearranging chairs and playing with Makayla. 

Westin was very cute with Makayla. Any time I gave him a snack, he'd try to give Makayla some. So thoughtful.

And Makayla was clearly grateful...

One of our stops as we walked around BYU was the new alumni building. It's a gorgeous building. Here's Ryan reliving the good times watching clips of BYU football.

For lunch - Five Guys burgers. Yum!

That afternoon, Lily gave Westin a piano lesson... in other words, she played and Westin pounded the keys.

On another afternoon, we took W swimming at my mom's neighbor's house. They've got a great little kiddie size pool with a water slide. Perfect for Westin.

And the next day... more water fun. This time we headed to the splash park in Highland with Lindsay and her girls. Here's Westin chill'n in Gemma's carseat. Loving the leopard print!

The gang, Gemma, Lily and W

Snack time at the splash park. No surprise here, Westin is asking for someone else's food rather than just enjoying his own.

On another afternoon, we visited my mom where she taught Westin how to "paint" the porch. Listen up moms out there, this is a brilliant idea. My mom used to do this with us when we were little. She'd give us a bucket of water, a paint brush, and ask us to "paint" the wood porch in the backyard. We'd drenched our paintbrush in the water and eagerly stroke it on the wood. It would make the wood darker (obviously) and in our minds, we had clearly painted the porch since it had changed colors. We'd do this for hours. No joke. Each spot would eventually dry, so we'd have to do it again and again. Like I said, brilliant. 

Following the trend of water activities, we enjoyed Wednesday at Seven Peaks with Kurt and Erika. Westin loved the kiddie slides. Each time we'd get to the top, I'd count to three and then Westin would yell out, "GO!". Once we landed in the water, he'd say, "one more, one more." (It was more like two dozen more). 

Westin hanging out with his buddy Kurt.

Ryan and me

The day before Ryan and I left for Hawaii, we spent an afternoon at the Park City outlets with my mom, Kenzie and Trevor. Love this kid!

Uncle T playing with Dub.

So that's the recap of our first week. There's still Hawaii, family pictures, and the week ahead...