We were very excited for our three week road trip this summer!
First stop- Utah! We stayed with Heidi's mom, visited her youngest sister, cousins, and friends, as well as some fun antique shops. Emily's favorite thing to do in Utah is visit Kangaroo Zoo and jump in all the bounce houses.
Our cousin has some horses that Emily helped to feed
Grandma took Emily to the Princess Festival where she got her face
painted, got autographs of lots of princesses and fairy tale characters,
went on "quests" where she learned about princess values like kindness,
honesty, bravery, and compassion... and ended the day with cotton candy
:)
Our beautiful princess!
Next stop- Montana! We met several relatives in Glacier National Park where we
shared a cabin, went on adventures, and played some intense games of Spoons!
We hiked to a beautiful waterfall- the scenery was gorgeous!
We spent a whole day swimming and kayaking at a lake with a dock so we
could jump in the deep water, which was so clear and refreshing.
Next stop- Nebraska! Jason's family lives here and we made it in time for the 4th of July. We had a blast
celebrating with fireworks, a BBQ, and a slip-n-slide. Emily
tried to keep her ears covered since some fireworks could
be loud.
The next day Jason's youngest brother was married in the Winter Quarters Temple.
Grandma bought Emily a pretty lace dress to wear and she danced and
danced with her cousins. Her favorite part of the wedding reception was the
candy table :)
While Emily spent a couple more days playing with Grandma, Grandpa, and
cousins, Jason and Heidi drove to Chicago to celebrate our 13th anniversary!
At the top of the Willis Tower there is a sky deck where you can stand over the city
The paintings and art at the famous Art Institute Museum were amazing!
The artist featured in the photography wing is one of Heidi's favorites :)
A warm afternoon rainstorm got us a little wet during the architectural river tour, but we still got some pictures- the tall black building is the Willis Tower where the sky deck was!
Next stop- Nauvoo, Illinois! Jason's parents brought Emily to meet us here and we spent the day touring the historic city, playing pioneer games at a country fair, and saw the Nauvoo Pageant in the evening.
Emily decided she is strong enough to pull a handcart all by herself! (That's a sock puppet on her hand from the fair)
Next stop- Colorado! We camped at the Rocky Mountain National Park and had a gorgeous view of the hills behind our campsite.
Emily and Jason played cards in the tent
We went on a hike to Alberta Falls
The birch trees were so beautiful and Emily got a shoulder ride... as always!
Emily is our super trooper!
We made it to the waterfall!
Mom and Emily at the bottom of the falls
Next stop- another day of camping in Colorado at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. There was an astronomy group that invited all the campers to come look
at planets and constellations with their high-power telescopes. We saw
the moon up close, the rings around Saturn, a nebula, and the Milky Way
was very bright.
Emily decided this rock was just her size :)
The views of the canyon were incredible! There were several viewpoints that we drove to and each had a different feature of the geology of the cliffs.
Last stop- Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah! It was so hot here that we hiked to the Mesa Arch early in the day (amazing scenery!) and then found an RV park with air-conditioned cabins and a swimming pool where we relaxed and stayed cool.
Yet another summer adventure under our belts! We are blessed that we have this time off together while Jason is on summer break from teaching. He is already starting to plan next year's trip...
