Day 1 – Saturday, September 27th, 2008
I picked my parents up around 1 pm and we went to lunch at my favorite place to eat, Barbacoa. They also loved it so it’s not just me! Their flights went smooth and everything was on time, they even got all their luggage! We stayed around the house that night since my parents left at around 4 a.m. that morning to fly out, they both took naps and I had only been up for a few hours but I’m always up for a nap. My parents finally got to meet little Minnie, she barked at first but soon came to love them, especially my mom who she would let hold her and snuggle her almost right away. This is a bad picture, but look how lovingly Minnie is looking up at her!
That night we ate dinner at Noodles & Co. which my parents have never had. What's better for dinner than mac & cheese and a rice krispie treat?!?
www.barbacoa.com
www.noodles.com
Day 2 – Sunday, September 28th, 2008
Sunday we drove up to Snowbird to ride the tram. As it turns out, Oktoberfest was going on so we got to see some German dress, German dancing and music and the food was definitely interesting.
The tram ride was fun, the views were absolutely amazing. There was a storm moving in so it was a little scary being that high up and there were some parts on the mountain that there was snow. That night we went to Red Robin and had some great cheeseburgers and fries.
See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35714898@N00/sets/72157608239616388
www.snowbird.com
Www.redrobin.com
Day 3 – Monday, September 29th, 2008
Another semi lazy day, we slept in and then hung out around the apartment. Since my dad’s birthday was September 2nd and my mom’s was September 15th, I held on to their birthday cards and gifts till they came out, and they got to open gifts this day while we were all together. My dad made his meatloaf from scratch and hand mashed potatoes with some buttered french bread. Blake came over and the four of us had a delicious dinner while Minnie stayed under the table, ready to take care of anything that dropped “accidentally” to the floor. Turns out, Minnie loves meat loaf too.
Day 4 – Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
We dropped Minnie off at Blake’s parent’s house so she could play with his nephews and nieces. His dad was baby sitting a 4 year old, a two year old and a 1-1/2 year old so I think he was happy to have some distraction for them! While we did that, we stopped to see the elk and bison farm and my dad enjoyed seeing all of the elk.
After that we headed to Gardner Village and ate at Archibald’s Restaurant. Some friends from work (Sara, Cynthia, Stacey, Seth & Haley) met us for lunch and got to meet the parents. We laughed and the food was great, they all went back to work (ha ha) and we stayed to look around all the shops. My mom and did some shopping and my dad visited all the benches OUTSIDE the shops to wait for us while we looked. Gardner Village was all set up for halloween, decked out with witch statues and pumpkins and bales of hay. It was a fun sight to see! While we were there I saw a beautiful bracelet that I liked and that’s what my mom bought me for my birthday.
See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35714898@N00/sets/72157608252117473/
http://www.gardnervillage.com/shops.php
http://www.gardnervillage.com/dining/index.php
Day 5 – Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
Happy birthday to me! I opened some birthday cards and gifts from family at home. We went to see one of Blake’s league basketball games and then the four of us went to my favorite Japanese steak house, Bonsai for my birthday dinner.
It was delicious as always and it was a fun night, I made my mom PROMISE not to tell them it was my birthday because they ring this embarrassing gong for your birthday song. No thanks. I opened my gift from Blake which was a really nice Jazz sweatshirt like I asked for and the card he found looked like minnie on the front. Since it was dark, I drove all the way up to Suncrest so they could check out a night view of the city. We stopped at Maggie Moo’s to get some ice cream and then hung out at Barnes & Nobles for a bit.
Day 6 – Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Thursday we drove down to Lehi to visit Thanksgiving Point. We had lunch at the deli and I got a strawberry milkshake at the ice cream parlor that was amazing. They have a Dinosaur Museum that’s one of the best in the world. My dad and I went through the museum and my mom shopped in the atrium. It was actually really fascinating to see, there were some skeletons that were ginormous and the T-rex’s GIGANTIC head and jaw were still pretty frightening to see.
Also, I didn’t know that ancient sea turtles were this big.
After that we went to Thanksgiving Point Gardens, they were amazingly beautiful and we took a ton of pictures. It was kind of a long walk but the weather was awesome and it wasn’t crowded since it was a Thursday, so it was pretty peaceful.
My favorites were the Rose Garden:
And also the waterfalls.
We only went to the main gardens, there was a childrens garden that I think would actually be really cool to see so I’d like to go back sometime for that.
After that, we went home and watched the Utah vs. Oregon State football game that was an AMAZING game, especially since Utah pulled off the win. My mom didn’t watch but even my dad was cheering for Louie Sakoda in the end.
See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35714898@N00/sets/72157608252712855/
Www.ThanksgivingPoint.com
Museum of Ancient Life - http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/visit/museum_of_ancient_life/about.html
Thanksgiving Point Gardens - http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/visit/gardens/about/history.html
Day 7 – Friday, October 3rd, 2008
We started out with a late lunch at the Blue Plate Diner in Sugarhouse. My dad saw some show about it on the Food Network and wanted to go. The food was good and it was nice enough, we could sit outside.
Then we went downtown to the Gateway to do a little shopping, which meant my dad spent a lot of time in Dick’s Sporting Goods while my mom and I walked around and shopped for several hours.
We had dinner at a place called Good Wood that says they have Carolina style barbecue so being from Lexington, North Carolina – barbecue capital of the world, we thought we’d try it out. It didn’t taste anything like OUR barbecue but it was still really delicious so I guess that’s what really counts.
Www.goodwoodbbq.com
Day 8 – Saturday, October 4th, 2008
My parents flight was pretty early so we stopped Einstein Bagels and grabbed some breakfast before heading to the airport. It was such amazing weather all week but then the day they flew out, it was pouring in the valley and snowing in the mountains. All in all I think it was a good vacation, my parents seemed to have fun. It was nice to have them out here and nice to have some time off of work. I probably could have used another week, but it was nice to relax and have Blake and Minnie back home.
