Girls Week 2016 - Orem Edition

Another year, another wonderful Girls Week! This year, I hosted. The best part was we finally had a house for people to come to; we didn’t have to go to Las Vegas or some other destination. Las Vegas was tons of fun, but having it at home definitely simplified things and it was so much fun planning local things that I love to do.

The girls arrived Wednesday, July 6th, and stayed until Sunday, July 10th. On Wednesday afternoon, Jason, Charlie, Colson, and I drove to Alpine to drop off the boys and pick up Nancy and the Yukon. Jason and the boys stayed in Alpine with George for the weekend to allow for more room at our house. Our car stayed with them and Nancy let us take their Yukon to travel around in. Nancy and I then drove to Riverton to pick up April. From there we went to the airport where Alli and Amy were waiting for us. They lucked out having flights less than an hour apart from each other. Finally we were all together! Hurray!

From the airport, I took everyone to the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake. I had been looking the week before with my friend, Amy, for a park near the airport so we could have a picnic, and Amy led me to this park that neither of us had been to. It was so beautiful and so much fun! I was so excited to bring everyone there and no one had ever been there before either, so that made it even better. No one could believe that the park even existed and that they had never been. I pulled out my cooler and we found a nice little spot for a picnic. We had chicken salad sandwiches, balsamic cucumber and tomato salad, chopped fruit, and water. It was delicious and the weather could not have been better. It was just delightful!

After enjoying our time there, we headed to Orem to unload and get situated at the house. We put on our pajamas and ate homemade Cinnamon Roll Cake and went over the week’s itinerary. I was so excited to have everyone there and for what was to come.

Thursday

9:30 am - Thanksgiving Point Gardens

11:30 am - Lunch at Trellis

1:15 pm - Pedicures

3:50 pm - Matinee movie: Tarzan at Thanksgiving Point

6:00 pm - Provo Food Truck Round Up

8:00 pm - Home for games and dessert

Some early morning athletes

The Thanksgiving Point Gardens were gorgeous, as to be expected. We had a great time walking around and it was early enough that it wasn’t too hot. Lunch at Trellis Cafe was also very pleasant and we had the perfect table outside in the shade overlooking the gardens.

Girls Week just wouldn’t be complete without a pedicure. Always a treat!

We had a little bit of time between our pedicures and our movie and so Amy spontaneously decided she wanted to get her haircut. We went for it and hit up Great Clips, which proved to be a poor choice. The hairdresser was very sweet and great to talk to, but ended up doing a hack job! The longer we stayed there, the worse it seemed to get so we had to just kind of say it looked good for the sake of getting her out of the chair before more damage was done. Sorry Amy! Regardless of the cutting technique, you look really cute with your haircut!

There were several different movie options, but we decided on seeing Tarzan, which didn’t disappoint. We all loved it! It was exciting, funny, dramatic, romantic...so many things that make an entertaining movie. Plus, we are just thrilled to be hitting up the movies in the middle of the day! When does that ever happen?!

Then we were off to our next adventure, the Provo Food Truck Round Up. None of us had ever been, but I had heard great things. This type of thing is a total crowd pleaser for this group of girls. We had a great time trying out a few of the food trucks and sharing the dishes. We got some pizza, some delicious steak and mashed potatoes, some Korean food, some cookie ice cream sandwiches, and some mini donuts. Everything was delicious and it was a lot of fun just trying whatever sounded good.

By the time we got home, we were pretty beat. We opted to not play games, but instead helped clean up Amy’s haircut. Alli worked it like a pro and helped blend the layers. It seriously looks really cute on Amy.

Before long, we were all off to bed.

Friday, July 8

9:30 am - Seven Peaks

4:30 pm - Home to shower and change

6:30 pm - Rockwells Ice Cream and walk around Provo City Center Temple

8:00 pm - Comedy Sportz

Friday was another exciting day. Thanks to an old coworker of mine, we got hooked up with free tickets to Seven Peaks! We couldn’t wait. We packed a lunch in a cooler and then we were on our way. When we arrived and picked up our admission tickets, we couldn’t believe the bundle of goodies Nick left for us! Not only did we get free admission, but we got free parking, free tube rental, a free meal, and a free dessert! The complete and total package! We were totally shocked and all giddy at the surprise! It was amazing! We were sure to send him a nice thank you note in return. We spent the day running around, sliding, wading, and relaxing to our heart's content. Nancy was a good sport and enjoyed the day as well. Due to our spoils, we just stayed longer at Seven Peaks than expected. We ate our packed food for lunch and then used our food vouchers for an early dinner (rather than going home early and making pizza).

After a great day at Seven Peaks, we went home to shower and get ready for evening in downtown Provo. We hit up a favorite of mine, Rockwell’s Ice Cream. Everyone loved it, of course. Then we went to Comedy Sportz. It was hilarious; there were some really talented comedians up there. After a night of good laughs, we walked across the street and enjoyed the beauty of the Provo City Center Temple. It really is a gorgeous temple, and it was beautiful all lit up at night.

Saturday, July 9

9:30 am - Leave for Sundance

10:00 am - Sundance Lift to Raymond’s Summit and hike to Steward Falls

1:00 pm - Lunch at Marley’s

2:30 pm - Home to change and relax

4:00 pm - Visit Grandma Gruber

6:30 pm - Dinner Wild Zucchini

8:00 pm - Dessert and Family in Alpine

On Saturday we got to enjoy more of Utah’s beauty. We packed some snacks and headed to Sundance, which is always a treat. The weather was gorgeous and couldn’t have been better. Rather than hiking the whole way to Stewart Falls, we splurged a little bit and rode the lift up to Raymond’s Summit. It was a beautiful ride and well worth it for the occasion. From there we hiked the rest of the way to the falls. Thanks to the lift, we didn’t have to do any really steep inclines. It was perfect. None of us had ever been to the falls and it was a great surprise. We loved it. A couple of us managed to brush up against some stinging nettle, but it wasn’t anything to slow us down. Amy even hiked up to the mid section of the falls. We then hiked the rest of the way down to Sundance.

Next we stopped at the Riverwoods. We ate at one of my favorite burger places, Marley’s. Everyone loved it, then we quickly checked out Blickenstaff’s.

Our next activity was visiting Grandma Gruber in Highland, so we went home, showered, and changed before heading over there (Of course, after having to climb through the window due to locking ourselves out).

It is always so pleasant visiting Grandma and Aunt Jean. Jean had prepared some light refreshment for us and we enjoyed visiting with them and taking some pictures.

After our visit, we went to another favorite restaurant of mine, Wild Zucchini. Again, no one had been there and everyone really liked it. We had some time to kill before our next activity so we headed to Alpine and drove around for a “historic” tour of Alpine including old friend’s homes. When the time was right we headed to George and Nancy’s where the Gruber men and children were waiting for us. This was a fun opportunity for Alli and Amy to see everyone else while they were still in town. We visited, had dessert, and went to the park to shoot off some rockets. It was such a fun evening just being together.

And just like that, we were at the close of our wonderful Girl’s Week. By 4:00 am the next morning, I was off with Alli and Amy to take them to the airport for their 6:00 and 7:00 flights. Later that morning, April and Nancy left as well. We had a wonderful time, and it is always sad to say our goodbyes, but at least we always have next year to look forward to.

Here are some pictures of my boys and their activities in Alpine during our Girls Week: