Just So You Know

St. George, Utah: The perfect escape from November snow in Salt Lake City.

And it was absolutely perfect! The weather could not have been more beautiful.

We spent two afternoons at the pool. We had it completely to ourselves. On the second day, we were sitting in the hot tub, enjoying the warmth and watching the kids jump in and out of the pool. Kade was asleep in the stroller.

I looked over and saw his little feet kicking and moving and announced: "Looks like Kade decided to wake up."

Macy immediately jumped out of the water and ran to check on her "buds" (as she calls him).

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and very carefully started tiptoeing back to the hot tub.

"Uh, Dad. There's a spider."

We look over and a tarantula had crawled out from under the stroller.

Greg bravely saved my baby from the giant, hairy monster. First, he attempted to use a frisbee, but as the beast reared up, he quickly decided on a tool with handle - a long handle. He grabbed the net hanging on the side of the pool and nudged it (from a much safer, 10-foot distance) toward the rock wall.

Everyone was mesmerized.

We spent the next half hour watching the creature crawl up the wall, fall down, and eventually into a small crevice. As far as capturing the kids attention, it was better than any movie or video game.

* * *

While we were on our mini vacation, we spent some time at Fiesta Fun. Getting there was definitely a fiesta, and in the end, pretty dang funny. We used the GPS to guide us to our destination and ended up in the middle of a trailer park community for "Over 55". As we were stopped in the corner, surrounded by immaculate white trailers, fake grass, and little garden gnomes, Greg said he felt like Michael Scott ("The Office") who drove into a river because the GPS told him to. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

Despite the confusing prices, and the even more confusing young teenagers running the joint, the kids had a blast on the go carts, and the guys took full advantage of a broken batting cage. To our luck, it never shut off. After hundreds of balls, and a few blisters (I forgot to take off my wedding ring) it seemed a shame to walk away. We had fun.

As we were buckling our crew into the car (takes us a while), I witnessed a family exit the Fun Center and walk to the car. It was a dad with his three children. The oldest child (probably 9 or 10 years old) was walking next to him. She was pitching a major fit! She was sobbing, begging, whining - all at once. The two younger children were skipping happily behind. Suddenly, the dad stopped, turned to his oldest child, and very calmly said, "I am never taking you anywhere ever again in your entire life...Just so you know." Then he calmly got into his car.

We have been kindred spirits ever since.