Cruisin' for a Bruisin' in Utah

Last week, Arthur was up in San Francisco for the annual Game Developers Conference, so I took the boys to Utah to visit Steve, Patty and their 4 kids (Amanda, Jimmy, Todd, and Tyson).

Even though Tyler has been on an airplane several times as a baby, it seemed to him that this was his first time. He was so excited when we entered Long Beach Airport to see the planes and to be able to go "up in the sky"!




I was so nervous about managing the two boys alone on the plane. Thinking back, I should have known that going to the house of the brother who has jumped out of airplanes, broken his arm playing football, and had a nail impaled into his foot would be much more adventurous than a 2 hour flight!

Once we arrived in Utah, there was a bit of snow on the ground, so Uncle Steve decided to take Tyler for a ride on his 4-wheeler up the mountain. Of course, Tyler did not complain at all!



Later that night we tucked all the kids into the big bedroom upstairs. Thinking that they had finally settled down to go to sleep, we enjoyed the first quiet moment of the day. This was soon interrupted by screams from Tyler. Apparently, he had been jumping on the beds and had fallen and hit his face. He ended up with a pretty bad swollen black eye and a scratch on his face. So, it seems my fears a few weeks ago actually foreshadowed this event.




Not to worry, Grandma and Grandpa - he only complained that one night and was back to his normal active self the next day. While Amanda and Jimmy were at school, Todd played with Dylan and Tyler.





On Friday, I took the boys into my old office at Harmans to see all my former co-workers. Tyler amused himself by collecting candy from every one's desk and by raiding the free soda machine. Meanwhile, Dylan had fun being passed around the office so that everyone could have a turn holding him. After that, we went to Ashle's house to visit with her kids Kjardin and Bergen as well as Jessica's girls Sarah, Carolyn and Grace. I forgot my camera that day, so I don't have any fun pictures to show you.

Saturday, we went to the Fire Museum in Tooele where the kids had fun playing on an old fire truck. Tyler wandered around making sure to count every tire in the museum. When we were ready to leave, we spent about 10 minutes chasing the two year olds (Tyler and Tyson) to get them back into the car.



Then it was back to Steve's house for a final 4-wheeler drive before we returned home. If you double-click on the last picture, you can get a glimpse of Steve and a couple of the boys on the 4-wheeler at the top of the mountain behind their house.



We had a great time, and Tyler now is back to his boring life in South Pasadena. He is excited to be reunited with his cousins at the beach house in Florida in May.

Thank you, Steve and Patty!