Day 4...Heading Home

We got up and went down to breakfast again. We ate and then went up and got ready and packed everything up and checked out. As I was running yesterday I saw a place where the trail went by the river and I thought it would be fun to go on a little walk and let the boys throw rocks in the river for awhile before we left.
We had a good time, it was warm and we had heard there was a big storm in Spanish Fork so we weren't really anxious to leave.
We walked around and climbed up a trail a little way and Max was having a great time. He liked to climb up on all the rocks.
We decided that we better get going so we went back to the car and headed for the St George Temple. Since we didn't go to church we thought we would go to the visitor center for a little while. It was a good time as always.
After, we found a park and had a little picnic for lunch and the kids played on the toys for a bit. The wind had started to pick up and things were blowing away. We decided it was time to get going so we loaded up and hit the road.
We left around 3pm and it was 75 degrees outside, by the time we got to Cedar City, Rich wanted to turn around and go back, it had already dropped to 50 degrees. Pulling into Spanish Fork the thermometer read 27 degrees...so much for the sunshine!! Oh yeah and Rich was driving home, I was reading really wanting to finish my book...I had like 10 pages left and he told me he was falling asleep so I had to drive the rest of the way home and I had to wait til later that night to finish but that's OK, I guess!!!

Day 3

Rich took the boys down to breakfast again and I went for a run. St George has a great trail system and luckily we were really close to it so I enjoyed a great 5 mile run on the trails. It was a beautiful morning and I knew we were going to have great weather all day and was really excited.
Rich had the kids at the pool when I got back so we traded places and he went running again and I was excited to sit by the pool and finish my book. It was perfect.
Alex loves doing tricks in the pool and really wanted to make sure I got some pictures of him doing handstands in the water. He was making a 4 with his legs and thought that was really tricky!!

They didn't have a kid pool but the stairs were really big and that is where Max spent most of his time. He thought he was such a big boy jumping into the water all by himself, he just kept doing it over and over again.

 

Max started getting tired and came and sat on my lap. I realized that he had fallen asleep so I wrapped him up in some towels and put him on the lawn chair. He didn't stay asleep very long though.

We went to get changed and decide what to get for dinner. Alex picked Chuckarama so we went there and ate. Max did fall asleep there and he stayed asleep the whole time we were there. We went to a couple stores after and then...you guessed it, headed back to the hot tub one last time.
Max was waiting for us to get our swimsuits on and I thought these pictures were too cute!!
Alexa was hanging out at the condo all day so we didn't get to see her until bedtime. She came back about 10pm and got showered and we all watched Madagascar 2 and went to bed!!

Day 2

We went and had breakfast down in the lobby, yummy waffles and toast and fruit etc. I decided to go to a few stores and Rich and the boys went back to the room to watch Bolt. When I got back Rich went running and me and the boys headed to the pool. It was such a perfect day, high 60's low 70's. I read alot and the kids had so much fun in the pool. When Rich got back he brought us down some lunch and we just hung out by the pool all afternoon.
Alexa and Paige came back to get ready for their dance competition. Me and Alex went to watch and Rich and Max decided to go watch baseball instead. They did an incredible job and they got 1st place!!

 

 

We were only there for about an hour then we went to Fazzoli's for dinner. The girls had to go back for awards so we dropped them off again and headed back to the hotel.
We suited up again and headed for the hot tub. I bought Max some swim toys they were Batman, Superman and Flash. I also got Alex a ball so Max had fun playing with his guys in the hot tub.

 

Alex stayed in the pool most the night. Alexa came back and me and her walked over to Walmart to buy fingernail polish. She was texting Paige the whole time and was telling me about all the fun they were having.
We got back to the room and like 15 minutes later she asked me to take her back to their condo. It was almost midnight but I am a nice mom so I decided that I would.
Rich watched Quantum of Solace while I was gone so that kept him busy. Another great day down 2 more to go!!!

St. George Here We Come!!!

We left at about 10:30am for St. George. It was cold and rainy and like 30 degrees when we left. It only took us 3 hours to get there, I read most the way and the kids watched movies and listened to ipod's. We took Alexa's friend, Paige with us.
Once we arrived we pulled into In-N-Out for lunch...it was delicious as usual. It was in the 50's and sunny but a little windy.
We went to check into the hotel. It was really nice, we had a fridge and microwave in our room.
We watched TV for a bit and got everything out of the car. The kids were anxious to go swimming so they got ready and went out for a swim. The pool was heated and the hot tub was HOT!! The wind really started to pick up though and I thought we might blow away!!!

The kids were having such a great time I don't think the wind really even bothered them.

I love these pictures...they were trying to get the High School Musical "jump" just right and I think they got it!!
Rich checked his email while we were outside braving the wind. It was nice they had 2computers in the business center for their guests to use. We were also able to hook up our portable DVD player to the TV so we could watch movies.
Alexa and Paige ditched us and went to hang out with her sister and friends. They went to dinner and then they slept at their condo.
Me, Rich and the boys hit the hot tub later that night (after a trip to Walmart, which was right next door) for an hour or so and then headed back to the room to watch a movie. The boys fell asleep quick and Rich and I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I had just read the book and the movie was a really good adaptation...very, very sad though.
It was a great start to our little vacation.

The Funeral and Lunch

We met at the mortuary this morning for the family prayer and then went to the Stake Center for the funeral services. 4 of his children spoke and they all did a wonderful job. There were some beautiful musical numbers as well. Grandpa Cope helped build the Stake Center that the services were held in 50 years ago.

We all proceeded to the cemetery afterwards where the flag was folded and given to Grandma and they shot the rifles and played Taps. It was cold and windy but the services were very touching. I know that Grandpa Cope was a great man who influenced many lives while he was here on earth and I am really thankful that I had the chance to know him and that I am part of his family.

 

 

We then headed back to the church for lunch. It was really yummy and they had a microphone where people told their favorite memories of Grandpa while we ate. It was a really nice day and everything was really well organized.

Classic Skating

For Parker's Birthday he wanted to go to "Classic Skates" and since it was Monday night they decided to invite everyone to come and have some fun skating...and that is exactly what we did.
Max was SO excited to get his skates on, it took some convincing from me to get Rich to participate but he finally did and he ended up having a great time.
It was Alex's first time skating and he was not very patient with the learning proccess. He was having a really hard time keeping his balance.
Alexa took him over to the place where you can practice and he was getting really frustrated with himself. I think I should have got him rollerblades instead of old school skates but who knows if that would have made a difference.
I held his hand and tried to teach him the best I could (but it has been along time for me too). He made it around without falling and I thought he was finally getting the hang of it. A few minutes later he came over and took off the skates, guess I was wrong.
Alexa held Max and skated around with him for a little bit. He was having a blast...
even if he was just rolling around on the floor, he thought it was really cool to have skates on. He wasn't too interested in the actual skating.

Rich needed to go to the practice area too...he fell down and looked so funny trying to walk on his skates cause he didn't dare skate. Finally he grabbed the stroller and pushed Madison around and having the stability helped him alot and he just kept going and going and going.

Here are pictures of everyone else that was there. Janet and Todd came with their two girls, Jennifer and Dustin and Kynli and Creed came and us and the Duvall's. We all had a great time!!