Another Buffet - yes, I'm serious

So, the very next day after eating a ton of Thai food we made plans to go to another buffet.  We wanted to spend a little more time with Grandma Church.  Our first week in Utah, we went over to visit and played Rook and we also saw her on July 4th, but that was pretty much it.

We wanted to see her again and we also know that she likes to eat at Chuck-A-Rama buffet.  So we decided to meet Grandma Church for lunch.  Even better, was that Kelley and her kids came too and Grandma Smith was also with us.  My sister Debby and my dad, dropped off Paige and Ashley on their  way to airport.  Deb was flying home after spending a few days with us!

I don't know, maybe its because Utah has big families or is more cheap but Utah does buffet's much better than Chicagoland.  We don't eat at buffets at home.  There really aren't any good ones.  Not that Chuck-A-Rama is a beacon of fine dining, but its really not too bad, especially for a buffet.  Besides it's always fun to eat at a place that has its own slurpee machine.

Again, it was a fun time and again, I have no pictures.  Kelley and I sat at a table with all the little kids, so we had our hands full filling our plates but pretending that we were getting more food for the kids!

After lunch we all had plans.  Dave and I were going to the first of our high school reunion events.  Ashley was going with Grandpa and Grandma Smith to Hill Force Base to serve a bbq dinner to the airmen and their families.  And Paige was saved by Aunt Kelley and her kids.  Paige went with her cousins, Ali and Nicki, to their house to work on a play they had been creating since we got to Utah.  Seriously, Kelley was a saint to not only take Paige for the day and feed her dinner, but to sit through the whole production of the play.  Somehow, I never saw the play - I can't believe I allowed that to happen ;) !

Thai Feast and Girl Time

My dad planned and helped prepare a fabulous feast of Thai food while we were there.  He has some friends that own a Thai restaurant in Ogden.  On occasion he will go over and help them out in the kitchen, he loves cooking so much.  So while we were all together, he hosted a great family dinner at the restaurant.  He also invited Dave's parents and Kristin and Brian's family too.

Unfortunately, and I can just kick myself for this, I didn't get any pictures!  I just get so busy eating and socializing I completely forget the camera thing.  I feel terrible because it was such a fun evening that I probably can't do it justice with just words, but I'm going to have to try.

Anyway, we had one whole side of the restaurant reserved and they set up a buffet of food for us.  It was so good.  We had spring rolls, Tom Yum soup, green curry, waterfall beef salad, Som Tum papaya salad, fried rice, Pad Thai, fresh fruit, etc., etc.  It was a true feast.  We definitely took "all you can eat" to the limits!

I really appreciate my dad.  It was a fabulous dinner and a great way to get everyone together!

After dinner, our family went up to Kristin and Brian's house for a little while to see Payton's 7 pets!  Payton spent the whole day cleaning up the house so we could come over and see his pets and also so that he and Ashley could practice playing the Smash Brother's video game.  The kids had been invited to a video game tournament at Uncle Scott and Aunt Katie's house and the kids wanted to get some practice time in!  Payton is so sweet and such a good boy.

At the Holt's we saw Payton's fish, crabs, and of course their dog Beau!  We also got a tour of their motor home!  It was fun for Dave and I to visit with Kristin and Brian while the kids played downstairs.  

After our visit, Dave and I dropped the girls off at my dad's house with my sisters, Debby and Katey.  Ashley and Paige were spending the night with Debby for some girl time of nails, hair and movies.  They were so excited and it was so sweet of Debby to play with them.

Once we dropped the girls off, Dave and I went and met his parents at the movie theater for a 10pm movie!  I tell ya, the fun never stops!  We saw the movie, Pacific Rim.  It's pretty much a miracle I was able to stay awake.

Surf and Swim

When we first got to Utah, my dad, mom and sister Katey were in Thailand.  They didn't get home until a week after we arrived so we had to wait a little while to see them.  Of course, they brought us home lots of fun gifts from Thailand...thank you!!

My sister, Debby, decided to come to Utah from California to see everyone too.  Unfortunately, my other sister Becky had to work 12 hours shifts pretty much the whole last week were there but we did get to see her boys.

We spent one day at the Layton Surf and Swim.  My girls love wave pools and they really wanted to go to one, so it was pretty convenient to have one nearby.  Swimming is also a great activity when it is 100 degrees outside.  So everyone in my family plus Dave's sister, Kristin and her kids met and spent one whole day on the "waves."

Everyone had a great time and we had so much fun playing with Becky's boys and Kristin's kids.  They are so cute and we love them all so much, makes me wish my girls had their cousins nearby all the time.

We swam for hours until we were all wrinkly and nice and sunburned!

Afterwards, Kristin had to go home but the rest of us went to Red Robin for some food!!

St. George

The next day and half we spent sight-seeing in St. George.

We went to the St. George Temple which is absolutely stunning.  The bright white stucco facade is so beautiful against the red rock background and blue sky of St. George.  At the visitor center we watched a sweet video about  obedience based on a story about a young pioneer girl babysitting her little brother.

At the Hayden Wells Church historic home

We also went to the historic home of Hayden Wells Church a pioneer, member of the Mormon Battalion and one of the first to settle St. George.  He is relative on Grandma's side of the family.

It was pretty hot on this day so we decided to enjoy the air conditioning at the movie theater while watching Despicable Me 2.  After a dinner at Cafe Rio, we went back to the condo for swimming and cards games.

The next day before we started the drive home, Grandpa took us on a little field trip to a local park/outdoor area.  It was all red rock and in case you have been to St. George, its the rocks that have the word "DIXIE" painted on them.  What a great area.  There is a small parking lot, an amphitheater, fire pit, and picnic tables.  But mostly, you can just climb around on all rocks.  It was pretty fun.

After hiking around for a while we went to eat at a wonderful breakfast place in downtown St. George.  I think the name was Bear Paw or something like that.  The girls had some delicious crepes as we all ate a pretty filling breakfast.  After eating we took the girls over to the outdoor splash pad to play in the water for a little while before cleaning up and starting the drive home.

What a great "vacation with-in a vacation"  I'm so glad we did it and are really grateful to Grandma and Grandpa.  I love to do new things and go new places with my girls.  I know that they will always have wonderful memories of times like this!

Zion National Park

On the second day of our Southern Utah trip, we went to Zion National Park.  It had been over 10 years since Dave and I had last been and the first time for the girls.  Grandpa and Grandma go every year, so once again they were great guides.

I should mention that it was the middle of July in Southern Utah and the temps in St. George were about 108 degrees.  Fortunately, in the canyons of Zions Park it is a little cooler but it was still hot.  Good thing our primary activity was to hike the Narrows.  Pretty much access to the park is by shuttle bus.  You park your car at the entrance and hop on a shuttle bus that takes you through the park and makes intermittent stops.

We decided to go straight for the narrows because we knew that hiking in the river and getting wet would keep us cool.  Plus I doubt Paige would have had enough patience to wait, she wanted to go straight for the water.  When the bus dropped us at the trailhead for the Narrows we each ate a granola bar for a snack and began the 1 mile walk to the Narrows.  Zions is so beautiful and the red rock canyons are breathtaking.

Once the trail entered the river we learned that it's not easy to walk on a rocky river bed against a current.  We found Dave a huge walking stick but with his neuropathy and balance problems it was pretty likely that he might fall so he went with us for a little ways and then decided to wait while the rest of us went ahead.  Grandma, being the loving mom that she is, also stopped and went back with Dave.

Grandpa, the girls and I decided to keep going for just a little ways longer, and then all of a sudden I felt a rumble in my stomach.  I think it was the granola bar not sitting well with me and I knew that if I kept going up the river, I'd be getting farther away from a bathroom, so I turned back too!

Thank goodness for a fit Grandpa who stuck with the girls and kept going.  By the time I got out of the river, I decided to hike back the 1 mile to the bathroom -- better safe than sorry.   In the meantime, Grandpa and the girls finished their hike and came back to a little water hole were Paige jumped all-in and went swimming.  They had so much fun.  It was great to just sit and watch them especially in such a picturesque setting.

After finishing at the narrows, we rode the shuttle and made a few stops at the Lodge, Big Bend and Weeping Rock.

Once we left the park, we stopped to eat at a great pizza place.  I think it was in Springdale, I don't even remember the name of the place.  I just know that we were so hungry and thirsty that everything tasted so delicious and we all ate a lot of pizza!!  What a fun day.  This was a major highlight of our whole trip.

St. George - here we come!

One great thing about Grandma and Grandpa is that they always take us to fun places.  This year, Grandma suggested we go to Southern Utah.  Our girls had never been before so we were game.

Our plan was to drive to St. George and stop in Cedar City at the Shakespeare Festival on our way.  Its about a 5 hour drive and we did have to take two cars because we couldn't all fit in one.  Grandpa and Grandma Smith have done this trip numerous times so they knew all the places to stop which it made lots of fun for us.  

On the drive down we stopped in Beaver, Utah at a the "El Bambi" cafe.  It's pretty much a hole-in-the wall with duct-tape covering the rips in the vinyl seats but the food is good.  They make their own breads, sausage, pies, etc.  It was a fun place to stop for lunch.  I had a very tasty Monte Cristo sandwich and the girls enjoyed a yummy vanilla shake (Dave and Grandpa helped!)  We all left very full but satisfied.

    

While we were nearby we also stopped in Fillmore to see the original state capital building of Utah.  Always good to add a little history and learning to your road trips.

We arrived in Cedar City by the afternoon and went right over to the Utah Shakespeare Festival at Southern Utah University.  We had tickets to see the play "Peter and the Star Catcher".  Honestly, I didn't know anything about this play but Grandma did all the research and figured that if it was at the festival it was probably pretty good.  It was also the "family friendly" selection which was just what we wanted because the girls were going with us to the show.

We went to the orientation for the play and learned that "Peter and the Star Catcher" is a prequel to Peter Pan based on a children's book co-written by Dave Barry.  The play started in community theaters  in New York and eventually became a big hit.  It's unique in that it is has minimalist set and staging, the actors use props to set the scene.  It's very creative.

Once we got into the play we understood how it all worked and it was worth watching to just see how creatively they used props.  The play was also very funny with some very memorable song and dance numbers.  The actor who played Captain Stache (Captain Hook) stole the show.  He was so great and just played to the audience.  Grandma pointed out that he is a festival favorite.  A couple of years ago Dave and I saw him as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet and I was pretty much in love with him then!

After the show we went to a little Thai restaurant for dinner then, came back to look around campus and watch the Green Show.

Onstage at the Adam's outdoor theater

SUU campus with a bronze of William Shakespeare

Grandpa and Grandma really wanted the girls to see the Green Show and enjoy some fruit tarts.  It was a perfect night to set up on the grass and watch the show.  We all had a great time and of course a few delicious tarts!

After the show, we drove the rest of the way to St. George and checked into the condo we were staying at.  The condo was part of Grandpa and Grandma's time share and it was a very nice property with two swimming pools and plenty of room for all of us.

Family Field Trip - Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

So anyone who knows anything about us, knows that recently Dave has developed a birding hobby.  The girls and I are supportive so we have been doing a lot of bird watching recently.  It's actually helped us to get outdoors more and go visit some nature preserves, forests and other places we normally wouldn't have.

CASE IN POINT - the National Fish and Wildlife Service, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  Growing up in Utah, Dave and I had heard of the refuge.  We even went to the city of Bear River to play high school sports, but we never went to the refuge...or at least I never did.  I'll have to double check if Dave has been before.

The Refuge also happens to be close to a favorite Utah restaurant called Maddox.  And that pretty much sealed the deal.  We decided to go do some birding at the Refuge and then stop for dinner at Maddox afterwards.

Having not been to the Refuge before, we didn't really know what to expect.  There is a small visitor center which turned out to be very nice.  We looked around for a while and then signed in.  We were pleasantly surprised to learn that you can check out maps, birding guides, binoculars, audio tour cds, and even kids activity packs for free.  Pretty much all you will need for bird watching.

The refuge is basically a place for waterbirds.  So we had the opportunity to see lots of waterbirds that are passing through on migrations and a few who are permanent residents.

I should also mention that the refuge is accessible by a 12 mile self-guided driving tour.  You aren't allowed to do this on foot, which is even better when it is really hot and you would rather not drag complaining kids on big long hike.  So after getting our supplies we started out on the driving tour.  Of course, we weren't 100% clear on the map and where exactly the tour began and when to start the audio cd.  I'm sure some smarter people would have figured this out sooner.  Let's just say that it is a 12 mile drive from the visitor center to the beginning of the auto tour.  We ended spending a lot of this 12 miles thinking we were on the tour and we were stopping and straining to see every little bird possible.  It wasn't until after about an hour of this that we hit the actual auto tour route.  Looking back it's pretty obvious now since on "the 12 mile pre-tour" we saw about a dozen birds, but once we got to the actual refuge we saw about 1200 birds!

Here's a story to prove our point.  While driving to the refuge, we saw a Clark's Grebe swimming in a canal.  Its a long-necked black bird that kept diving under the water.  We pulled the car over to take a look.  You had to have quick eyes as it popped up and then went back under the water.  Of course, everyone saw it but Paige and she was going nuts because she couldn't see it, which in turn was driving  the rest of us nuts.  Let's just say after a long period of time, and lots of encouraging her to be patient she finally saw the Grebe.  When she finally said, "I see it!" I'm pretty sure I said, "Thank God!"  The irony of all this is that at this location we were not officially on the refuge auto tour, but once we got to the tour we must have seen about 200 Grebes.  There were so many everywhere, that by the end, we didn't even stop to look at them anymore, which is pretty funny (i.e. frustrating) considering the amount of effort and grief we all suffered earlier!

Okay, so now to the official tour of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  We finally matched up the cd with the sites we were by and we saw tons of birds.  Over 20 new species we had not seen before.  There were a lot of huge and beautiful pelicans, along with Clark and Western Grebes.  We also some very cool waterbirds with long curved beaks called American Avocets, Gadwalls, White-faced Ibis, Long-billed Curlew, and Black-necked Stilt.  We also some familiar birds like Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Cormorants, Kildeer, and Turkey Vultures.  It was a very successful birding trip even for the summertime.  It would be great to go back in the spring and fall during migration season.

pelicans

We also saw a ton of huge dead carp!  The girls got a kick out of that.  The refuge is marshy and when the water rises and recedes it traps the carp on dry land and they die.

Here's a pic collage Paige made

After our tour, we were all starving because we had spent more time than we anticipated and so we hurried over to Maddox Restaurant only to be greeted by a huge line!  It seems like everyone loves to eat at Maddox.  We had to wait about 20 minutes which wasn't too bad considering there seemed to be a lot of people ahead of us.  Funny story - while waiting you have plenty of chance for people watching.  After a while Ashley turns to us and says, "there sure are a lot of old people in Utah!"  It was funny because honestly, most the people waiting to eat were on the older side.  That's what happens when you hit a home cookin' restaurant in a small town at about 3pm!

Maddox is a home cooking place famous for homemade food including fried chicken, fresh rolls with raspberry butter, turkey steaks and fresh beef.  Let's just say we ready to eat when we finally got to our table.  Ashley ordered the fried-chicken and it was delicious.  Dave had fried shrimp which are really some of the best we have ever had and I had the shrimp steak.  It's a unique thing so I decided to do it and it was good too.  Everything was just like we remembered it and expected it to be.  This was the girls first time eating here but they loved it too.  We all left sick full and with a take-out tray of fresh rolls.  Yes!

Anyways, while in Utah we took a few other opportunities to do some birding and see birds that we would never see in the Midwest.  One place happened to be right next to Dave's parent's house in Farmington.  It is a pond system managed by the Utah State University.  Dave, his mom, and I went walking there a couple of times and saw pelicans, yellow-headed blackbirds, long-tailed Grackles, American Coots, Say's Phoebe, and Western Kingbirds.