Last day in Utah

It's amazing how many things we were able to cram into our last day in Utah. Everyone wanted to do something different, so we did it all!

Remember how we were going to go rock climbing but couldn't because it rained? Well some people still really wanted to do it, so we did that first thing in the morning. Dave found an awesome place in Draper called Red Rock. 

Unfortunately, I forgot my good camera that day. All of these pictures are from my phone.

There were tons of good handholds on this craggy rock. And what a view!

It's quartzite, which is a different kind of rock than they usually climb. A dentist set it up, so the names of the climbs are things like Baby Teeth, Bad Case of Gingivitis and Always Leave a Generous Root Tip. Funny!

It got pretty hot there, so we were happy to have lots of morning shade.

We were right next to the Draper temple!

Emily and her kids came to join us after she got off work, and I went to pick up my nephew Caleb (he lives in Draper, after all!). We were glad we packed all our rock climbing gear and chose to do it - that was a fun experience.

Next we rushed to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City before the front gate closed, and we made it JUST in time!! 

Troy and Emily were able to get us free tickets through their health insurance! It was a one-day thing, so that worked out great. Troy met us there after work.

It was SO hot there, which was crazy because it was after 5:00. The nice thing was that they had lots of water sprayers everywhere, so we were all soaking wet the whole time. 

The spraying dinosaur was a huge hit.

This was the highlight of the zoo! The lions were very active and starting pacing and staring down a dog on the other of the glass. It was awesome.

After the zoo we picked up pizza for dinner and headed over to temple square. This is one of the main things the kids wanted to do in Utah. Spencer took this great shot of the temple.

Thursday happens to be the night the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has practice, and we were able to sit in for a bit and watch them for free. That was really cool!!

Spencer was so tempted to go up and play that organ! He has started playing the organ at church, so he actually knows how. 

We could have spent more time looking around; but it was a long day, and we were exhausted!

We drove home the next day and saw this nifty little tornado near Las Vegas. What a great family vacation!!