Avery was loving the window. She wanted to sit there all day. Darren went and grabbed us all some breakfast at McDonald's while I got things ready for the day and then we hit the pool for a quick swim before check-out. 
Avery was much happier about the pool in the day light. She had a lot more fun and loved splashing us! The pool was so fun. It was snowing really lightly and I always think it is fun to be out swimming in the snow. 
Logan and Rylee chilling in the pool
Ry loves to float on her back
Logan loves to swim. In case you are wondering, Logan has a Band aid in all these pictures because he had a laser removal treatment in November for a blood vessel growth on his face (another post I haven't finished...) In all of the packing craziness, I forgot his band aids and his got really wet from swimming the night before. He had a bit of a meltdown when we took it off, so we got one from the front desk. He didn't really like this one because it was so noticeable. He was pretty self conscious about it and hated telling people over and over about his band aid and what happened.
All my cute monkeys in the pool with Dad. It started to hail, which was fine at first, but then it really started coming down hard and the kids didn't really like it, so we packed up and headed out.
We were able to meet our good friend's, the Barker's, for lunch. Well...at least Jenn and her kids. Dean had to work. We hardly ever get a chance to see them, so we were really excited. We decided to try Kneader's - I always see them on Good Things Utah and everything they make looks so yummy! It was delicious! The only problem was it was SO packed and a little crazy with all the little ones, but we still had fun. 
Logan loved his cool Santa cookie that came with his meal. They had such yummy desserts! 
Logan and Drew - I wish I would have gotten a picture of the 2 babies in high chairs. Their baby is named Avery, too and is about 2 months older than our Avery. It was a little crazy though, so I didn't get any... 
After lunch, the kids were grumpy and there was a bit of a storm, so we decided to make the drive to Salt Lake and let them take a nap. While they were asleep, we drove around for awhile, and Darren drove past his old house. Kind of funny to see all the changes! We hadn't really planned what we were doing, but while the kids were asleep, we made a plan. Once the kids woke up, we had another surprise for them - A trip to the Living Planet Aquarium! Logan wasn't sure this was a good surprise at first. He was really scared for some reason. Once we got inside, he really liked it though and we had so much fun! 
I don't know if I have ever seen Avery so happy as at the Aquarium! It was so fun for her to toddle around and discover so much on her own without being in the silly stroller. She was laughing and smiling the entire time we were there. 
She was in LOVE with this frog! 
She loved these frogs, too. She had so much fun watching everything. I didn't expect her to be so into it, but I think she had the most fun of all. 
They came over and fed the frogs while we were there. Avery LOVED it! She was laughing so hard she sounded like she was screaming. It was pretty funny! 
Everyone watching the frogs eat - It was pretty interesting! Some of the crickets would get on the backs of the frogs and just sit there. Maybe the frogs couldn't eat them that way? The kids thought it was hilarious! 
Avery watching the fish 
Rylee 
They had one little area with little caves the kids could climb into. Avery just kept climbing in and sitting down and then getting up over and over. 
They were having some special activities for their Arctic Nights and had a story time about Polar Bears. Logan ended up being the only kid there because our girls wouldn't sit still. He loved it and the lady was so impressed with how smart he was and how much he wanted to learn. 
Rylee spent story time exploring the little caves. She loved to peek out of this window. 
Avery looking at either a LARGE spider or snake...I can't remember which one because I was too grossed out to get very close. Avery was way into it though. 
We have been to the Living Planet Aquarium before, but it has been awhile and the reason we wanted to go back was to see the new Sea Turtle and the penguins. Here are Daddy and Ry watching the penguins. They were so cute! 
Logan measuring up to the penguin 
Rylee's turn 
Avery - She couldn't stop looking at the penguin to look at the camera
Logan and Rylee watching a demonstration about how polar bears can walk on snow. 
In front of the penguins 
Since they were doing the Arctic Nights thing, they had a craft set-up. Rylee had to do it! She is our crafty girl and loves art projects and things. Her and Logan had fun making this underwater scene...or maybe it was supposed to be the Northern Lights. I'm not too sure - Either way, they had fun! 
While they were crafting, Avery was shopping! The gift shop was right next to the craft and Avery kept running over and picking out different stuffed animals. Then she would yell "Da, Da" and run over to show Daddy what she had picked out. Then I would take her and have her put them back, and she would pick something else and do the same thing. It kept her very entertained! 
Finished art projects! 
They were also serving up some hot chocolate. Yummy! 
This is Rylee with her favorite thing at the Aquarium - the jellyfish! I think she liked them because they looked pink and purple from the light they had in there, and she LOVES anything pink! 
Logan couldn't decide on a favorite thing - He said it was all his favorite! Kind of funny for a little boy who didn't even want to go inside!After that, we took the kids to stay with Uncle Dean and Aunt Laura for a couple hours. They were thrilled with that and had the best time and keep asking to go back. They made cookies and watched movies and Logan got to play Xbox with Uncle Dean. Darren and I went to his family's Christmas party at the Little America. Every other year, their family Christmas party is an adults only dinner. It is really fun to get together with everyone without all the kids and have a nice, relaxed (FREE) dinner. It was a nice night out! After that, we picked up the kids and headed to Grandma and Grandpa Webber's house for a surprise sleepover!
The next morning (Sat Dec 11) was even more fun. It started with family pictures with Darren's entire family, which is 35 people! No small feat! It was a little crazy, but we survived somehow. I wish I had a picture to post as proof of our success (or at least survival, which in this case IS success!) but I don't think that they gave any digital files. To be honest, I don't even really know how our picture came out and I haven't seen it yet, but I heard it turned out OK. After the pictures, we grabbed a bite at In N Out Burger and then headed to a double birthday party for my nieces, Lauren and Raegan.
The birthday party for my nieces was at Kangaroo Zoo. Avery was in HEAVEN! She loved bouncing in the little inflatable things and didn't seem to mind all the crazy bigger kids jumping around her. It was a little stressful to watch her, but she had a blast! 
Rylee and her cute cousin, Raegan! These two are such cute buddies. Rylee is so lost at family functions when Raegan isn't there, so when she is in town, Rylee is so happy! 
Avery jumping - She kept running away from us whenever we tried to get her out. She loved it! 
Logan had so much fun! It was so hard to keep track of him because he never stopped running from place to place. He especially liked this one maze that reminded him of Wipeout, the TV show, and he kept pretending he was doing the Wipeout course when he went through. His shirt even had sweat on it when we were done! GROSS! 
They had a cute separate room where we had pizza and cake and the bubbles came down from the ceiling. The kids thought that was so cool! 
Raegan and Rylee having some cakeAfter the birthday party, we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Boman's house and then headed home. On the way home, we decided to stop for one last surprise. We always drive by the lights at Willard Bay and say we want to stop, but we never have time or the kids are always asleep. So, we decided to stop. We saw a Santa with a short line, so we decided to go and see him while we were there.
For some reason, Logan was NOT impressed with this Santa. He told us that this wasn't the REAL Santa because he talked weird. I was worried that this would ruin Santa for him, so we ended up going to see another Santa a little later... 
Rylee and Santa
Avery checking Santa out - I think she might not be convinced he is the REAL Santa either. 
Avery did like Santa once he gave her a candy cane. 
All 3 kids with Santa
The lights at Willard Bay were pretty impressive, although I thought it was a little expensive for what it was. The kids especially liked the Disney characters. Rylee loved that they had Tinkerbell and Cinderella! 
Logan liked the cool dinosaurs. 
Avery liked it all! She was totally mezmerized by all the lights and just stared out the window the whole time. Whew! I am tired just typing this - It was a busy and super fun weekend! I love all the fun things there are to do at the holidays and I was so glad that we could get away and have some time with our little family to do some fun things. These are some of my most favorite times with the kids.
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