We were lucky enough to have Phil's parents come visit us and enjoy the beautiful Utah summer! Dad B. hadn't met Elle yet either and it was Phil's PhD graduation ceremonies it was an extra special visit. Lots of laughs, food, fun in the sun and love.
Mum & Dad arrived in Provo on August 7th, a Sunday night, bearing gifts of course! Aussie chocolate, I mean, you can't go wrong!
Then it was off to bed for the girls, but not without a (first of many) bedtime story reading with Grandma B!
The next day we started off with a pancake breakfast before heading to Seven Peaks for a swim. Seven peaks is our go-to. The girls LOVE it there and its less than a 5 min drive away. With passes we can stay as long or as short as we want without worrying if we've gotten our money's worth. Perfect!
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| Pancakes! |
For FHE we grabbed some pizzas from Little Caesars and had pizza in the park (we LOVE summer!) This particular park is a new favorite of Jayne's. It has beautiful big trees everywhere the keep the playground and slides nice and cool. Perfect for these hot summer days.
Right next to the park is a historic pioneer village. Its set up with pioneer shops and includes real pioneer cabins. They had a fun little scavenger hunt to play that kept us big kids occupied.
They have an actual working blacksmith shop which was interesting to sit and watch. The blacksmith made Jayne a little leaf and she was over the moon. Funny how something so small is so exciting for her.
The next day we dropped the girls off at with my mom and headed up to Olympic Park in Park City. It was a beautifully sunny (and hot!) day. I'd had influenza a week prior and was still feeling weak off and on, but everyone was patient enough with me and my rests and put up with me for the day :) We also conveniently forgot to bring sunscreen which we regretted later, but we still had a fun day! We had an unlimited day pass and we spent our day tubing, zip-lining and on the luge. We tubed down the hills that were used for the 2002 Olympic ski-jumping event. They wet the grass with a giant sprinkler and then let you go. The luge is a self-controlled cart on a track, and you don't really have to ever use the brakes, so that was our goal at the end of the day :)
Here's a video of a few of our tube runs:
We finished the night with food (of course) at Cafe Rio in American Fork. I swear half of their visits are always about the food...which is part of America that we LOVE to share! Then we and headed home while Mum & Dad stayed out and did a little shopping.
Wednesday morning Phil and his parents went to the new Provo City Center Temple to do a session together.
When they came home we walked to Gandolfo's for a family lunch
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| Jayne...collecting every flower along the way :) |
We had some fun playing together in the backyard before naptime. These two girls are so cute together!
After nap time and dinner we headed out for some shopping together. We had some fun with the littles!
And, I told you, we're all about the food, so after shopping we headed out for a night snack at Sodalicious/Hot Potato. Their Nutella shakes are a summer favorite for us!
Thursday and Friday were full of graduation festivities which I did a separate blog about here.
But here are a couple photos of the girls before we put them down for naps/left them with my sisters on Friday before Phil's convocation ceremony. They dress up every.single.day! Jayne has fun putting this dress up skirt on Elle and you can tell that Elle loves it too!
So...continuing to Saturday, we spent our morning at Trafalga. Jayne is the perfect age for enjoying their cute little rides. It was adorable.
Then it was off to (more) food up at Johnny Rockets. We had a coupon and they have malted shakes, which Phil's parents wanted so it was a win-win!
We headed home for a rest with the girls while Phil's parents headed up to SLC for some wedding shopping for Rachael they needed to do. It worked out perfectly with a belated birthday/mothers and fathers day present we arranged for them, a date at The Roof Restaurant. It overlooks the SLC Temple grounds and provides some views which can't be beat.
Sunday was a nice day to unwind, go to church, rest and then head to the my parents for a Perucca family dinner. We love Sunday dinners there followed by playing outdoor games together. We're so lucky we can easily combine both families and they get along so well. We had fun!
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| Jayne thought this was HILARIOUS! |
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| Summer Niiiiiiiights! |
Monday was a day of normal work for Phil (can't always be on vacation, darn it!) and Phil's dad also had some work meeting up in Riverton. Mum B enjoyed the day on campus at BYU''s Education Week. The girls and I met up with Phil and Mum for lunch at the duck pond, another one of our regular summer go-to's.
For FHE we started off with snow cones...another summer regular for us
Followed by a visit to BYU's Bean Museum. Its full of taxidermied animals which is perfect for young kids.
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| Thanks Daddy.... :) |
They even have a little slide/tunnel play area that kept the girls occupied for a good while
And when we left, we walked out to see this beautiful Utah sunset. Perfection!
After a long day, it was a quick bedtime story with Grandma B. before hitting the hay.
To be continued!...
