4th of {July}.

So we did a very quick trip this year over the 4th of July holiday, we went to Utah!

We didn't have much time here, just a couple days really so we tried to pack in what we could.  Since my old house I grew up in was on the way to our hotel I made Mr. D pull in so our kids could see the type of house mom grew up in. 

G loves that there are letters on mountains, he remembers there is a "Y" in Provo for BYU so I snapped a photo specifically for him to have for years to come as a good memory. 

We even stopped and played a quick game of bowling, the kids decided it would be awesome to have silly names.  G chose "Bad Pig", Little R chose "White Bird", Baby R chose "Dumbo", I was "Big Bertha" and Mr. D was "Foo Man Chew".

Arcade fun is always a great way to pass the time when you are waiting to go to a fireworks show that night! 

The mall we stopped at to not only to reminisce where I used to work (Dillard's) also got two giant thumbs up from each of these kiddos when animals were provided for them to get around! 

The most awesome thing about these animals was that they had a 220lb limit so adults were welcome to ride too!  How often does that happen, that adults get to play too??  Baby R insisted I ride with her till she realized she was cool on her own;)

Then, off to Stadium of Fire at BYU!  A little fact for you all, Stadium of Fire is the largest stadium fireworks show produced in the USA, it's quite the ticket if you want to go. 

This place was PACKED!  And funny story...see that entire red section in the background?  Yep, my sister and her family were in that red crowd.  I knew she was there by her FB posts but in all honesty, with the amount of people at this place the odds were stacked against us even running into to each other.  WELL, as we were walking back to our hotel I heard a very familiar voice behind me, it was her family!!  You see, no one knew we were coming into town so for her to be right behind us walking after this show was a fun thing to have happen:)  They were all shocked so to have a quick 5 minutes with them all was cool.

Mr. D bought us 10th row seats on the field. 

But they were passing out earplugs to all us "fielders", should I be worried?? 

Lots of show to be seen, all these girls were from dance studios all over the western United States.  Our hotel was packed with a ton of them as well.

There were skydivers coming straight into the stadium, it was so fun to see! 

The host of the evening was J.R. Martinez, he was injured in Afghanistan and went on to be on Dancing with the Stars:) 

Raising of our Nations flag. 

Super Hero's!! 

 

 

 The Super Hero act was going on behind us so the rest of us were watching on the jumbo screens but Little R turned herself around and watched them no matter how small they looked from our seats:)

But the main act was Carrie Underwood! 

We may have not been able to see the dancers and Super Hero's and such behind us very well but having 10th row from the main stage made for a good view of Carrie. 

The next day we made a trip to Salt Lake and went to an aquarium, the kids and Mr. D had a good time on the rope bridge. 

 

 

We also went to another mall in town and the kids enjoyed their play area for kids.  It was dinosaur themed, fitting since so many dinosaur fossils are found in Utah. 

 

 

And to top off our quick trip to Utah, we got to see Uncle Willis at the airport cause that's where he works:)

But, now that we are home, it feels good because it's been a very busy summer so far and I for one need a retreat to find solitude for awhile before school starts back up in a few weeks.

Hope your 4th of July was just as great!