Our Trip & Expectaions

Oh Boy! Where do I even begin? We found out in February that Clayn was going to be attending a conference for technology through ISU in Salt Lake. We also, found out that he was going to be presenting at this conference. The college was going to be paying for the hotel & gas. Then they would pay for Clayn's food. So, we decided that it would be worth our time & money for the family to go with him. We thought that we would take advantage of the situation & make it a little get away for all of us.

The Conference began last Thursday at the U of U. We left Wednesday evening. We had our hotel booked for just about 2 months. We had it all planned out. The weather was supposed to be pretty decent & we were staying at the Howard Johnson's & they had a outdoor pool. So, we thought that while Clayn was doing his presentation on Thursday; that the kids & I would hang out at the pool. Then, we would go & get a good dinner that night. Then on Friday, I was going to take the kids to the Discovery Gateway Museum, then go for a fun dinner & swim in the afternoon. On Saturday, we were going to come home. So, we had had time to really plan out this trip & there were some expectations that we had. That we would have a great time & enjoy some fun summer weather, FINALLY!

Well, things sometimes don't turn out as planned. ISU gave Clayn his check to pay for everything & we cashed it & took the rest of our cash out of our account. Cash is safe, right? WRONG!!!! We get to SLC & go to check in at 7:30 Wednesday night & Clayn goes in to pay, & they want a credit card. Really!!! We only have $600 CASH, & you won't take it. NO, we will need a $300 deposit on top of the price of the room, if we take cash. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! So, we went around to 5 different hotels & they were all the same way. Well, here's our problem, we bank at ISU credit union that is only in Pocatello, not SLC. So, that night at 10:30, we had no where to stay, & we were in McDonald's . They have free WiFi. SO, the kids are hungry & tired & want to swim, & Clayn & I are just about as frustrated as can be. Not sure what to do. We ended up that night in Motel 6. Let's just say SCARY!!! There was a huge Tongan security guard at the door, & Clayn had to take through a huge thick glass screen to even get a room. OHHH, I have issues with hotels anyways, & that just topped it off! YUCK!

We hardly slept all night. We had 2 double beds. Clayn & Park shared & Tess & I shared beds. Clayn was up at 5:00, dressed & ready to head across the street to Star Bucks, to get back on the Internet. He came back with yummy donuts & the best apple cider drink that I have ever had, REALLY! I loved it! We called my Dad, & got my aunts phone # & we called her at 7:30 in the am. She lives in Poky. To make a ridiculous story shorter, she went to our bank & deposited some money in to our account. Then we decided to go to a different hotel, we had gone there the night before & they had been so good to us. So, we went back there. The Crystal Inn, it was so nice & we had an amazing room with a breakfast buffet that was amazing & they had a indoor pool & hot tub. Which totally made the trip so good for us.

Moral of the story, don't think that you are safe with cash. Stick with a credit card! We know that now! I feel like the trip turned out even better, after we got over the rocky Motel 6 horror story! We ended up eating at some yummy places, we swam at least twice on Thursday & Friday & then On Saturday they went before we checked out. We did take the kids to discovery museum & they loved it. I guess that it's just about being together & trying to make the best out of any situation!

This is my Favorite picture! I think it is soo cute!

My Little Fish!

Our room. . . so much nicer than the Bates Motel where we checked in the night before & I really wasn't sure if we would be alive to check out!

After having a great lunch in the Gateway, the kids saw the Olympic Water Park at Gateway & went CrAzY! They ran & played, & had the time of their lives!

Parker of course had to take his shirt off, I just had to make him keep his pants on, or he would have really been the naked boy who got kicked out! He is ALL Boy!

Tess my little bucky tooth beaver!

The next day at The Discovery Museum.

My mom, sister & niece met us there on Friday. They had a grand time. My mom & Tess playing a very impressive Mary had a little lamb!

Parker playing with the foam blocks; he was in heaven!

Tess & Paityn on the horse. Tess said that she had to sit like a lady. She makes me laugh!

Tess on the rock wall.

My mom thinking that she was the nightly news reporter. Yeah right Mom!

Tess & Paityn in the helicopter. I didn't get a picture of it on the outside.

And to end the trip with lovely, wonderful, sunny June weather.

There was rain, a little snow & hail!
Nothing like a sunny summer day!
Gotta love it!

A little side note that in this whole trip I only got 1 picture of Clayn & none of my self. That will be our goal for next time, let's try to get us in a picture of 2 to show that we were really there.