Mom and The Kids-Mini Vacation to Fillmore

A few weeks ago all of the stars aligned-no practices or games for either of the older kids, and Tanner had a few days off work-so I took the opportunity to take the kids and get the heck out of town. I think we were all needing a little get away from our busy lives and stressful things going on. I figured a little trip to visit Grandpa and Grandma Ellison and my sister Mandy was just what we needed as well as the break from reality and some good old country R&R.

Thursday morning we finished packing, loaded up the car, and headed out.

We decided to stop in Beaver on our way at the Cache Valley Cheese Factory for some squeaky cheese and ice cream. My kids love stopping here, but usually we are going through after it is already closed for the day. We all enjoyed the little treat. Even Bryce liked the squeaky cheese.

We got into town Thursday afternoon and went and unloaded our stuff. After visiting with Grandpa Dave for awhile we headed out to meet up with my sister and go explore the Meadow Hot Pots.

There are three different hot pots. Two of them are warm and one of them is hot. On Thursday we visited both of the warm ones. The kids had fun exploring the first one. There are cool caves you can look under and this one even has little fish. Bryce got in and explored that one for a bit, he didn't really like the fish or moss at all though.

After a bit they were ready to see the second one. This one is the biggest of the three. Once again there were more fish and some moss and Bryce really wasn't liking it. There was a big dock the kids could jump off. Tanner took Bryce off of it one time and after that Bryce would not get in the hot pots. For some reason it freaked him out. Poor Guy.

After visiting the second hot pot we decided to call it a day. We headed back to Grandpa and Grandmas where we spent the rest of the evening visiting, relaxing, reading (for Mom-good thing I brought three books with me), and playing outside (for the kids).

Friday morning we got up and just chilled for awhile. Some of the cousins from down the street showed up so the kids all had fun hanging out. After lunch we decided to go back out to the hot pots with my sister Mandy again. We brought the other Ellison Family (cousins from down the road) kids along this time as well. We started off in the hot pot from the day before, but after a bit we moved to the third hot pot. The one that is like a nice big hot tub. This one has no fish and very little moss. It is so nice to sit in and the best part we had it all to ourselves. LUCKILY! We were a little worried when we pulled up and saw the bare end of an old hippy guy, but luckily he was getting in his camper to leave and most of the kids didn't see him.

Bryce was still having nothing to do with the hot pots, so while everyone else swam he sat on the side and watched.

 Bryce had my phone part of the time he was on the edge and he took this nice picture of me. HA!

After swimming for quite awhile it was once again back to Grandpa and Grandmas for some visiting and relaxing and pizza for dinner.

One of Bryce's favorite things to do while we were there was to ride on the swing line. It's what used to be the zip line but someone has converted it to a swing line for the younger kids. They sit in it and someone pulls the swing up the line, then they let it go, and they zip down the line. Bryce could have spent hours doing it, if only Chloe and I would have wanted to pull him up it for that long. He did spend quite a bit of time on it though. But whenever it was time to get off he always wanted just one more time.

Saturday morning we got up, packed up and headed home. The kids, especially the younger two took quite a bit of effort to get them out the door. They loved our little get away and they wanted to stay. Chloe especially she always ends up crying and begging to stay whenever it is time to go.

I'm glad they enjoy their time at Grandpa and Grandma's and hopefully we will be able to visit again soon.