22 hours stuck in the truck with the hubby? Heck ya!

Orrin and I ran away took a little four day trip to Utah a little bit ago.  Thank goodness for an awesome Mom and cousin who came down from Utah to watch our four.. err, energetic children (oh, and Aunt Whit helped out too).  Thanks for sending us pics of you guys!

Orrin and I sat off, pulling OP's friend's truck behind us.  Let's just say it took a long time to get up the canyons pulling that beast.  I entertained myself by browsing Pinterest when we had reception and taking nonsensical pictures when we didn't.

As we drove into the Salt Lake Valley, we beheld what seemed to be millions of peeps (I'm exaggerating for story purposes) paragliding off the Point of the Mountain. 

We spent the extended weekend with our best Utah amigos, Eli and Vanessa (and their sick bambino Peyton).

Thanks for letting us crash when you were in the middle of a move!  You guys rock.

For Merrill and Lopez posterity remembrance, here's what your fathers did when they had down time:

Nerds!  Vanessa and I, of course, sneaked out and did a little Utah-specific shopping.

OP and I did actually spend some time alone.  Mostly at movies.

No judging.  Babysitters are scarce and we rarely get to go to see any new shows.  So yeah, we were really excited to watch a few without the worry of hurrying home to relieve the poor person left with our kiddos.

We did a little bit of site-seeing.  Which means we drove around where we used to live and mumbled over the changes.

The best part for me?  I didn't have to cook once in four days!  Vacations do not get better than that.  We shared a couple of meals with my Dad (whom my mother ditched to watch the kiddos), ate at the famous Five Guys, and yes, we even got breakfast at Chik-Fil-A.

We even let an old friend join us at the movies (lucky you, Jonathon).

Yeah, when you're the third wheel in a bromance, you get stuck standing out in the movie theater parking lot while the boys drool over a motorcycle.

We left in the wee morning hours of the fourth day,

And hey- Orrin even let me drive for two hours (I prefer not driving, however).

Let this be a lesson to you: never fall asleep on a road trip when I'm in the car with you.  You will likely end up with an embarrassing photo of yourself on my blog :)

Getting some Orrin and Courtney time was pretty darn awesome (we had entire conversations without being interrupted by screaming babies!),

But, honestly, getting home to these little nerds was even better.

*these were their rewards for good behavior while we were gone: the older kids got Speedo goggles and the little one got Teddy Grahams.  We're keeping their expectations in gifts low*