Salt Lake, Week One

Thank you for all the friends who have commented that we should have gotten together while we were in Salt Lake. You're right, we should have. I wish we could have stayed long enough to see everyone we wanted to see. Unfortunately, this was our only time in Utah for the rest of the year and the only time to see our families. Please know that we DO want to see you and catch up. Read on and you'll understand why we really didn't have any time.

Our first week in Salt Lake was a Warner family vacation in Midway. We did some figuring and realized that this was the first vacation in seven years with everyone there. And David and Grace were up and down the whole time because of work. It was wonderful to be together and we would have loved to have spent more time with everyone; it never feels like enough.

The first night we arrived, Dad set up the tent in the backyard and the grandkids had a campout with Gramps, including pancakes over the camping stove in the morning. Our girls had never slept in a tent before and are pretty sure that Gramps is the greatest guy ever... after Kelly, of course.
We were lucky enough to have had the Winegars' boat in Midway and they had a ski that allowed all my girls to waterski! Here is Lizzie:
And Anna:
Daisy, Savannah, and Romney loved being on the boat.
And Daisy, who I didn't think would try it since she isn't confident in water deeper than her knees (a product of living in a place where it is too cold to swim most of the summer):
Here is Kelly skiing. Notice the snow in the mountains. Utah was so green this year thanks to all the late snow and rain. I completely love watching him ski!
And here is my mom, still proving that she has got it.
Some of the days were a bit rainy or windy, so we found an awesome indoor pool in Kamas. The water was like bathwater so the kids didn't get too cold. Because she has no body fat, Lucy gets cold often. Even in this warm pool, her lips are still a little blue:
The water slide was one of the hits of the trip. Every kid went down multiple times. I don't love water slides; somehow I always end up tipping over and swallowing tons of water. Weird, I know. But I got pretty good at this one. Not good enough to take Lucy on my lap or anything, but once I managed to land on my feet without going under.
There was also a little lazy river, my favorite part of any water park. Here are Mom and Dad enjoying the current.

Best of all, the pool had an outdoor patio so when the kids did get cold or wanted to eat lunch, we could go right outside, lay on the hot cement, and eat, then go right back into the pool (after half an hour to let the food settle, of course).
The second day we tried to spend at the lake, a sudden wind came up, whipping the reservoir into a whitecapped, choppy mess in under a minute. I have never seen anything like it! Here we are right before the wind started:
We abandoned the lake and went to Cascade Springs, the one thing Mom was hoping to do the whole trip. The drive was spectacular; I had forgotten how beautiful American Fork Canyon is.

When we got there, there was a posse of real cowboys at the trailhead. Romney was in heaven because Gramps had been telling him cowboy stories all week. And even though they were designed for him, the girls loved hearing them, too.
Cascade Springs was beautiful, a really great way to spend a windy day.
The last night in Midway, Mom planned a talent show. Annie brought her beautiful ballet recital costume, eliciting many oohs and aahs from my girls.
But the highlight was "levitation." The kids still can't figure out how Grammy waved her arms and Gramps' legs went up and up. It was the perfect end to a magical week.