Summer Vacation - Part 4

Our summer vacation took us to many different places including Spokane (Washington), Lacey (Washington), Las Vegas (Nevada), Bear Lake (Idaho), Paris (France), Amiens (France), and our home town of North Salt Lake (Utah).  Although our home was occupied with renters, we still had a place to call home at Grandma's and Grandpa's (having a home 2 doors down the street from Grandma and Grandpa has lots of advantages including a home away from home - thanks again Mom and Dad for letting us stay for the summer).

While in Utah we got to see many of our friends, family, and neighbors and participate in some typical summer activities.  I loved going to lunch or dinner with friends, watching fireworks, having BBQs, attending the temple, visiting with neighbors on walks and fun get-togethers, going to movies with friends and family, swimming and hiking, and just hanging out with loved ones we haven't seen for almost a year.  Each of the kids also had some great play dates with friends and Cade got to go to day camp with his Cub Scout group.  Here's a few other summer activities we enjoyed in Utah:

   

A trip to the zoo is always fun but

with life-size Lego animal creations it was even better.

We spent many days playing at the new park that was built in our neighborhood while we were gone.  The kids loved the rope climb and often pretended to be orangutans.  

We also explored the hiking trails along this park and enjoyed the great views looking out over Salt Lake City.

Visiting great-grandma Lillian, at age 94, is a treat because she's always overjoyed to see us.  She couldn't believe how tall the kids had gotten and she told us repeatedly (at least a hundred times - no exaggeration!). 

Hanging out with Uncle Tyler makes the kids super happy.  They missed him so much when he and Marisa moved to Hawaii.

We spent lots of time at the cousins' house in Orem, Utah and you can see why:

cousins + water + trampolines = lots of FUN!

We attended our first Days of '47 Parade which celebrates the pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.

We spent a fun day at Boondocks, a family activity center, with Grandpa Ted and Grandma Gloria, who came down to Utah to visit us before we left for Macau.

Some of the fun activities included arcade games, miniature golf, jungle gym, roller ball, and bumper boats.

We went to the new, popular shop in town that makes authentic island treats -

Hawaii shave ice - YUM YUM!

My kids LOVE Kid's Camp.  Every summer, teenage girls in the neighborhood earn money by organizing a 3 day Kid's Camp, where younger kids come to play games, make crafts, do activities, eat treats, and just have fun while the parents get a 3 hour kid-free break (a win-win for everyone!).  

We celebrated Leah's 4th birthday with a princess party.

The girls had a blast playing a game where they put on high heels, jewelry, scarfs, and crowns.  There was lots of giggling and dancing and beautiful smiles. 

 Leah was excited to share her special day with friends and cousins. 

And, with the miracle of technology and Skype, even Kyle was able to watch Leah open her presents from the other side of the world in Macau.

It's been a fantastic summer!  We packed lots of trips and activities into our summer vacation but most importantly we spent lots of time with loved ones.  We have many wonderful memories that will fill us during our next year abroad.  We love and miss all our family and friends already.

Summer Vacation - Part 3

We filled our summer vacation with some of my favorite things - road trips.  After living on an island geographically smaller than the city of Bountiful, Utah for the past year, we were excited to get in a car and drive and experience wide, open spaces again.  Plus, we wanted to visit as many extended family members as possible.  Two of our road trips this summer took us to Bear Lake and Las Vegas.

Bear Lake

For the past 13 years, the Farrell family spends a few days each summer at Bear Lake.  What started as a fun get-away for a family of 9 (Mom, Dad, me, Stacy, JD, baby Josh, Becky, Bobby, and Tyler) has turned into a large family (the Farrell clan numbers 23 with 2 more on the way) summer tradition that everyone looks forward to each year.

Since my family missed going to Bear Lake last summer we were especially excited to go this year.  The entire Farrell family group wasn't able to come (we missed Bobby and Amy, Tyler and Marisa, most of the Leuluai family, and Kyle) but we still had some good times.

We spent 2 days at the beach hanging out and enjoying the sun,

 playing in the water, jet skiing, paddle boating,

"conquering the lake",

building sand castles, digging holes,

 and making other fun sand creations,

like the man-eating crocodile and a BYU tribute - Go Cougars!

We rode 4-wheelers,

a favorite activity for all the kids,

especially for Cade, who learned to drive them this year.

We also played games, swung on the tire swing,

watched movies, and ate Bear Lake's famous raspberry shakes. 

Another great summer trip to Bear Lake!

Las Vegas

We also drove to Las Vegas to spend a few days with the Leuluai family and see their new house.  Having lived in Vegas, we knew the middle of summer could be scorchingly hot but we went anyways.  While we were there, the temperature reached 115 F  and I was reminded how glad I am that we don't live there anymore!

Despite the heat, we had a wonderful visit.  The kids had a blast running around the new house, playing in an inflatable pool outside, teasing the dog, playing at a water park, going to a movie,

and just being together.  

Because they played hard, they slept well!

One thing that I missed the most while living in Macau was Mexican food.  So, being in Vegas I had to make sure we got some real, authentic Mexican food from our favorite restaurant, Lindo Michoacan.

Visiting my sister and her family was lots of fun.  We love them and miss them so much.

Road trips are great but even more fun is being with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas.  Families are the best!

Another Year...

It's been 1 year since we embarked on our Macau adventure.  It was a challenging year but we made some very special friends and have lots of wonderful memories.  As a family and as individuals, we grew in so many different ways.  I like to think we're all a little stronger, kinder, more patient, more forgiving, and more aware of others.

With an unknown end date to our Macau adventures, we came back to America for summer vacation (a few more posts about our summer fun are still to come).  While here, it became clear that Kyle needed to change jobs and our family needed to return to Asia for another year.  So, Kyle accepted a position with Energenz, a Hong Kong based company, and the kids and I committed to extending our Asian adventures.  Although final plans and details are still in the works, this coming year will be very different from last as we live in Hong Kong and homeschool the kids.  We're all really excited about the new adventure that awaits us.  I'll continue to share our experiences through this blog.