Izatt family circus reunion: Friday and Saturday

The end of September found us buckling up in the ol' (er, new) minivan for its maiden road trip. Destination: Salt Lake City, for a weekend of fun with Chuck's family! The trip down went very well, mostly because Chuck drove the whole way and I curled up in the very back for a nap :).

We stopped in Ogden to have lunch at Fat Boy's and see Big Will. He and Clyde played legos, Will ran around like he owned the place, and Chuck checked out the 'UFO Hall of Fame', upon which he someday hopes to be featured.

Then we drove to Amanda and Steve's place in Kaysville and met up with Grandma and Pops for a quick visit, which baby Anna mostly slept through :).

Then we hopped back on the road and ended up at the hotel in SLC. We got settled in, went swimming with Grandma and Pops, made a grocery store run with Grandma for the essentials (peanut butter, honey, bread), and then crashed - unfortunately before seeing Melissa and Lee and their families, who rolled in later that night.
The next morning we got up early and headed back up to Ogden for some rock climbing. Amanda and Steve are both avid climbers (and Melissa and Kevin and their kids are into it too), so it was a natural choice for a morning activity. I was pretty impressed with the climbing gym; the staff was really friendly and verrry patient, especially with my little boys. They do have a location in Boise, and it looks like they have some neat specials running during the month of October - here's that website link.

Clyde initially liked the idea of rock climbing more than the actual activity, but then he (mostly) got over his apprehension.

Sooo high!

Coming down may have been his favorite part :). Thanks to Aunt Amanda for her awesome belaying skills!

Cute little boy.

I figured Will would be all over this, but I guess he prefers his climbing to be more furniture and kitchen counter oriented. Luckily he found other ways to stay occupied!

Here's my super cute husband climbing. Again, mad props to Amanda who is super buff and can nonchalantly belay her big brother!

Mallory, Courtney, George and Lily climbing.

Mallory and I decided to try to the 'slackline' - I made it about a step before I bailed :).

More shots of the fam at the climbing gym. We were bummed that we missed Lee and Aleesha and their kids, they rolled in after Chuck and I left for lunch and afternoon naps.


And since we were just down the road, we went back to Fat Boy's for lunch.

Will and Pops got some good bonding in :).

After naps for my three boys (somehow I managed not to get one since Clyde and Will's naps did not overlap, boo!), it was time to join the whole fam for a big dinner. We took over three big tables at the restaurant and ate to our hearts' content.

Will was crazily rambunctious/grumpy until Aunt Melissa whipped out some sort of magical device with alphabet games on it and he chilled on her lap for the next hour (Lily was sweet enough to share her mom!). I love that two three-year-olds are this adept at technology.

After dinner we met back up at the hotel and walked down to the arena for the circus. Here are Lee, Aleesha, Bri, and Eli posing by one of the circus trailers.

We got there early so that we could mill around the floor with all the performers, which was super cool. The Blue kids got in on the act and took advantage of the awesome photo ops.

My kids were more content to stand back and watch, although they did participate in the 'dance instruction' that the peppy dancers gave . . . of course, I had to do it with them. It's cool; I have no pride.

And then it was CIRCUS time! We had really good seats (thanks Mom and Pops!!) and the visual aspect was pretty amazing. I really liked the physical comedy of the clowns - and I was super relieved to see that clowns have gotten decidedly less creepy since I was young. The boys were, naturally, mesmerized by the tigers and elephants and their tricks. I was likewise impressed but also slightly nervous about the undoubtedly rigorous training that led to such tricks . . . what can I say, I'm pretty 'bleeding heart' :).

Will got pretty wiggly starting at intermission; I think the fact that not even a circus can hold his attention for an hour is pretty telling - how the flip am I supposed to keep him quiet at church?? :) The grand finale was pretty sweet; I was constantly impressed at the choreography - how they could have SO many performers on the floor at once without any issues or collisions! And then it was over and time to head back to the hotel to tuck in very worn out boys . . . and their mom and dad!

Thanks again to Chuck's generous parents for treating us to such a fun adventure!!