In direct response to yesterday’s subpar hotel breakfast, we started our day at IHOP. We don’t go out to eat for breakfast pretty much ever, so it was actually a nice treat. And while it didn’t quite hit homemade pancake standards, it far exceeded the standards of the hotel food we choked down yesterday. One of the hard things about travel is the fact that Matthew and Malia can’t eat out much, but we let them choose what they wanted to eat before we left home, and they were pretty pleased with what they had. Matthew ate his hot breakfast sandwich with gusto and Malia thoroughly enjoyed her Pop Tarts and Captain Crunch, a couple more things we don’t usually have around. They did get to partake of the on-menu orange juice which helped a bit. I’m always so proud of how they handle the food stuff. They don’t complain about what they can’t have. They help plan their meals before we leave home, we try to supplement their choices with some special additions as much as possible, and they are troopers about the whole thing. Not having them be able to eat what the rest of us have is hard for me though. Depending on where we are and how long we are gone we can cook for everyone, but on a shorter trip like this where we don’t have a trailer to pack in lots of food items and no full kitchen in the hotel, it just isn’t practical. We use the space we have to make sure we have safe food for them, knowing that the rest of us can eat whatever is available. But it is hard to eat out knowing that they would love to be able to and can’t. It feels like we’re rubbing it in their faces. But they are rock stars about the whole thing and I love them for their stalwart attitudes.
Sometimes the drive home at the end of a vacation seems extra-long since all the excitement is past, but we actually made a few neat stops that made today’s trek home enjoyable. As we were exploring the Cedar City area several days before our trip, we discovered that there is a national monument that we could see on our drive home. Cedar Breaks National Monument is the much-overlooked baby brother of Zion and Bryce National Parks. But you know what? It was spectacular. And even in July, it was not busy at all. We were all so glad that we discovered it. We took some amazing photos, had a picnic lunch, listened to a ranger give us a ten minute explanation of the millions of years that led to Cedar Breaks looking like it does today, and jived with her comparison of the three geological wonders to musicians: Cedar Breaks is whoever is popular today (she lives without cell service or internet in the canyon so she isn’t up to date on current pop sensations), Bryce is the Beatles and Zion is Mozart. It was a metaphor that worked particularly well for my crew.
Another hour down the road we stopped in Fillmore to see the Utah Territorial Statehouse Museum. This is one that Kev knew about, but I did not. It seems that in the early days of settlement in Utah, Fillmore was slated to be the capitol. It was located in the center of the territory and had a good supply of water and building supplies. The first wing of what was planned to be the state capitol building was constructed with plans for the rest to follow as funding was acquired. However, Fillmore’s moment in the spotlight didn’t last long and the capitol was moved to the more highly populated Salt Lake City. As a result, the remainder of the building was never constructed. The existing wing is now a museum, and it holds a variety of interesting mementos. I think my favorite was the pump organ that is located on the top floor. It is still in working order and visitors are allowed to play it. We just happened to have a skilled pianist in our party, so Nathan took a stab at the instrument. It didn’t take him long to discover that pumping the pedals was hard and trying to remember to pump while playing was a challenge. It gave me a better perspective for the references to children pumping the pedals while someone else actually played the organ.
The last leg of our journey home was filled with more Red Vines and more Corn Nuts. Add some beef jerky to the mix and the cacophony of smells in the car was . . . interesting. By the time we arrived home, the tub of Red Vines was pretty much obliterated. My crew consumed the entire thing in three days which is not great, but I’m ok with it because it is not an everyday kind of a thing. In general, our diets are healthier than that. And it was vacation after all.
We arrived home just at dinner time and breakfast for dinner is always super-fast, so I whipped up some pancakes. We could have done something else, but it made me feel better to give Matthew and Malia an opportunity to enjoy a part of what we ate for breakfast. They were quick to agree that it was a great idea and it made me feel a bit better about their hauled from home morning meal. I love my kids and being able to provide them with a large variety of tasty food so that they don’t feel left out any more often than necessary is one of my main goals as a food allergy mom.
Let me sum up the past three days with a few successes:
Vacation success #1-after three days together I still have four living children and they all still like each other.
Vacation success #2-my 9-year-old is learning to love classic literature.
Vacation success #3-all my kids have become somewhat addicted to Corn Nuts. (I’m not sure why I consider that a success, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I had to force 50% of my kids to try them and five seconds later they were hoarding the whole bag.)
Vacation success #4-we visited two cool places that I didn’t know existed.
Vacation success #5-we had a wonderful time.
This week has been a much-needed break for all of us. The past year and a half have been very emotion and stress filled. We all needed a chance to let go of all our day to day worries and enjoy some time together. The next six months will hold more changes for our family and having this time together has been a blessing.
Sometimes the drive home at the end of a vacation seems extra-long since all the excitement is past, but we actually made a few neat stops that made today’s trek home enjoyable. As we were exploring the Cedar City area several days before our trip, we discovered that there is a national monument that we could see on our drive home. Cedar Breaks National Monument is the much-overlooked baby brother of Zion and Bryce National Parks. But you know what? It was spectacular. And even in July, it was not busy at all. We were all so glad that we discovered it. We took some amazing photos, had a picnic lunch, listened to a ranger give us a ten minute explanation of the millions of years that led to Cedar Breaks looking like it does today, and jived with her comparison of the three geological wonders to musicians: Cedar Breaks is whoever is popular today (she lives without cell service or internet in the canyon so she isn’t up to date on current pop sensations), Bryce is the Beatles and Zion is Mozart. It was a metaphor that worked particularly well for my crew.
Another hour down the road we stopped in Fillmore to see the Utah Territorial Statehouse Museum. This is one that Kev knew about, but I did not. It seems that in the early days of settlement in Utah, Fillmore was slated to be the capitol. It was located in the center of the territory and had a good supply of water and building supplies. The first wing of what was planned to be the state capitol building was constructed with plans for the rest to follow as funding was acquired. However, Fillmore’s moment in the spotlight didn’t last long and the capitol was moved to the more highly populated Salt Lake City. As a result, the remainder of the building was never constructed. The existing wing is now a museum, and it holds a variety of interesting mementos. I think my favorite was the pump organ that is located on the top floor. It is still in working order and visitors are allowed to play it. We just happened to have a skilled pianist in our party, so Nathan took a stab at the instrument. It didn’t take him long to discover that pumping the pedals was hard and trying to remember to pump while playing was a challenge. It gave me a better perspective for the references to children pumping the pedals while someone else actually played the organ.
The last leg of our journey home was filled with more Red Vines and more Corn Nuts. Add some beef jerky to the mix and the cacophony of smells in the car was . . . interesting. By the time we arrived home, the tub of Red Vines was pretty much obliterated. My crew consumed the entire thing in three days which is not great, but I’m ok with it because it is not an everyday kind of a thing. In general, our diets are healthier than that. And it was vacation after all.
We arrived home just at dinner time and breakfast for dinner is always super-fast, so I whipped up some pancakes. We could have done something else, but it made me feel better to give Matthew and Malia an opportunity to enjoy a part of what we ate for breakfast. They were quick to agree that it was a great idea and it made me feel a bit better about their hauled from home morning meal. I love my kids and being able to provide them with a large variety of tasty food so that they don’t feel left out any more often than necessary is one of my main goals as a food allergy mom.
Let me sum up the past three days with a few successes:
Vacation success #1-after three days together I still have four living children and they all still like each other.
Vacation success #2-my 9-year-old is learning to love classic literature.
Vacation success #3-all my kids have become somewhat addicted to Corn Nuts. (I’m not sure why I consider that a success, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I had to force 50% of my kids to try them and five seconds later they were hoarding the whole bag.)
Vacation success #4-we visited two cool places that I didn’t know existed.
Vacation success #5-we had a wonderful time.
This week has been a much-needed break for all of us. The past year and a half have been very emotion and stress filled. We all needed a chance to let go of all our day to day worries and enjoy some time together. The next six months will hold more changes for our family and having this time together has been a blessing.
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