A Fun Trip to SLC!

We had a really fun time on our get together this week. We decided we were going to head into Salt Lake City and either see the Clarke Planetarium or the Kids Discovery Gateway Museum.

For some added fun, we decided to take the kids into SL on the Front Runner Train - a commuter train that runs from Ogden to SL at the present time. The kids have been looking forward to this all week.


It's a double decker type train, so we sat on the upper level and the kids had a blast! I think if this is all we had done, they would have been completely happy.


As if that wasn't exciting enough, once we got into the Front Runner Station, we switched to the TRAX - the lite rail commuter train to take us closer to the Gateway. There we had lunch and the decided to go to the Clarke Planetarium.

There were so many interesting things to see - telescopes, pendulums, lenses, and much more. Some of the favorites that the kids liked were:

1. Newton's Gravity Display - this was a display of balls rolling along a bunch of different paths to show that they kept going based on the pull of gravity. Other than the motor that would take them back to the top, they moved all on their own. The kids loved watching the balls and moving the little handles at the bottom to send them in all different directions.


2. The Weight Scale - this was so fun. Once you stood on the scale it would tell your weight and then when you clicked a different planet, it would tell you how much you would weigh there. Since different planets have different gravity pulls, it was fun to see the differences - Zach weighed over 700 lbs on Jupiter - wow!


3. The Channel 2 Weather Screen - the kids just loved standing in front of the weather screen, then looking into the monitors on either side to see themselves. We had to find Utah and Idaho, then pretend to do a forecast. They had so much fun. The best part was when Branson was so insistent that he lived in the hurricane off the coast of Florida. So cute!


4. The Moon Landscape - this was so neat! They had a little landscape set up to look just like the moon. The kids could walk through it and even sit on the rocks. It looked very realistic and we spent most of our time here.




5. The Mars Landscape - just like the Moon one next door, they had a Mars Landscape set up for the kids to explore. It was really neat to stand there and watch the kids walk around. With the colors and the light set as it was, it really seemed like we were on Mars!


6. The Rocket and Shuttle Section - the boys loved this place because it had scaled down models of all of the rockets, space shuttle, and even the International Space Station. Each of the scaled down model had a little miniature person next to it so that you could really see the scale based on a regular person. The kids didn't really understand this and thought those little people were really funny!


7. The Planet Area - this was my favorite place. They had each of the planets sized to scale and so much information on each of them. It was interesting to realize how small the earth really is compared to some of the other planets. I also liked the section that talked about the Hubble Telescope and showed a bunch of pictures it has taken of the universe. It really is amazing to realize we are one tiny little speck out there - the whole "worlds without number" thing really starts to make sense and yet hurts my mind at the same time!


The best part of the whole Planetarium was that everything we were able to see was absolutely free! If you live close and haven't been to the Planetarium in a while, it's definitely worth the trip.

After another fun ride on TRAX and Front Runner and some yummy ice cream, we headed to Nana and Papa's house to play for a bit. When we eventually headed home, the kids were exhausted and fell right to sleep in the car. Aren't they cute?




We had a wonderful day in Salt Lake and the kids keep asking when we're going to go again.

Let's Play Some Baseball

That's right, it's baseball season! And our little resident sports buff (notice I said little to distinguish him from the other sports buff at our house) has been having a blast playing baseball this year. A few of the games have been during slight sprinkling of rain, so I wasn't able to take my camera until this last Thursday.

This is his little team. They are all so cute in their little green shirts and hats.

He's always all smiles when he plays, it's great to see him having such a fun time!

Here he is getting ready to throw the ball. He's a really good infielder and can pretty much stop anything hit in his direction.

Here he is batting. He looks so grown up standing there holding that bat. He has gotten a hit every time he's been up - which I think is impressive for a 6 year old!

And here he is on first base after getting another great hit. He always looks towards where we are sitting to be sure we saw his hit. He's always so excited and we just love seeing him so happy.


Of course I can't help but put a little video on here of him hitting. He's so cute! As proud as I am of him, I still have a hard time realizing that little boy out there is my baby - he's just growing up so fast!



He really has some great natural talent in the sports area and even more, he really enjoys playing. He's just so much fun to watch! Thanks to all the family who have taken time out to come and watch him play, it really has meant a lot to him and to us.

Fish

This post is all about fish - seeing fish and being fish. I"m sure you're wondering what on earth I'm talking about right? Well, I'll explain.

First the seeing fish part. On Wednesday we took the kids to the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake. We've been there a few times before, but the kids love it each and every time.

There were so many times when the kids just got so excited to see something. Half of the time I don't think they had any idea what they were actually looking at, but they were exited none-the-less. Hailey's pose in this picture was how they all were pretty much the whole time. I think I heard "Mom, look at this!" about a hundred times.

This is all 4 of the kids on the "boat. They have a boat set up where you can go in and drive on the open water (well, the tv screen in front of you makes you feel that way). It's fun and the kids love it. It was quite the effort getting them all to look at the camera at the same time, but we did it.


I seemed to get a bunch of pictures with just the backs of their heads. But in a way that's good because it meant they were really enjoying what they were looking at (they are cute heads though aren't they?).


One of the favorite spots to stop is the fish petting pool. They have all kids of fish and stingrays that you can actually touch. The kids always thing this is fascinating, but I don't think one of them has been brave enough to touch anything yet. Jeremiah was the only brave soul this trip and touched a stingray as it swam by. Hailey and Zach actually put their hands in the water, but neither came anywhere near to touching anything and they were perfectly fine with that!


The boys absolutely love the shark tank. The sharks are very small, probably only 3-4 feet long, but scary enough to make them jump a few times when they swam by.


I think my favorite thing about the aquarium is the tropical fish tanks. All the brightly colored fish are so beautiful. Of course Nemo and Dori were the favorites to spot for the kids.


And the trip to the aquarium wouldn't be complete without playing in the coral - a little area where the kids can go around the coral and play in the tunnels and caves. We actually got all of them to stop for a picture - it was a miracle!



We had a blast at the aquarium and can't wait to go back again next year!

Ok, so that's the seeing fish part, so what about the being fish part? Well, that comes after we left the aquarium and went to Nana's house for lunch and playing in the pool. Yes, our kids are literally fish when it comes to playing in the water. They are in and out, jumping, laughing, and playing - they just can't get enough.

This time we had a slip 'n slide to play with too. Boy did the kids have fun running and sliding on the wet plastic. Hailey and Branson were practially unseparable as they wanted to go together down the slip 'n slide every time!


Zach had a perma-grin the whole afternoon as he went from the pool to the slip 'n slide and back again. He really is my little fish!


As as if the pool and slip 'n slide wasn't enough, we pulled out the squirt guns too.



So in all, it was a pretty fun day of seeing and being fish. We all were tired, but it was definitely worth it. We can't wait to do it again.

WAHOO - WE LOVE LAGOON!

Actually, that's quite the understatement at our house. We've been to Lagoon a few times on my Mom and Dad's Stake Lagoon Day, but up until this year, we've just decide to ride on the rides we had free tickets for. Last year, the kids literally were drooling watching all the other kids ride the rides and we decided this was the year to buy them tickets to ride any kiddie ride they wanted. Needless to say, it was a huge success.

One of the first rides was the helicopters. Hailey was a bit apprehensive at first, when she realized that pushing or pulling the bar in front of her made her go up and down, but before long she was smiling and giggling and of course wanted to ride it again right away.


Zach loved the helicopters too and always wanted to be in the "camoflage" one.


I again forgot my camera, so my thanks goes out to my sister who dutifully took pictures of not only her own kids, but mine as well - thanks Michelle! This was one of my favorites - don't they look excited to ride this water plane? This one went up and down too, much to their delight.


Our tickets actually included a few free adult rides as well. The Musik Express is a must for our family, having been there while I was growing up. I remember riding it every time we went to Lagoon. The boys love it too and persuaded almost everyone to ride with them at some point. Aunt Kylie was the first victim and I couldn't stop laughing as we watched them go around and around with big smiles on their faces.


Since the younger ones weren't too excited about the speed of the Musik Express, Nana took them back to the kiddie rides and they rode a few while we were finishing up.


It's not surprising that one of the most favorite rides was the swings. My kids love to swing, not matter when and where we are. I watch them outside - swinging for hours on our swingset, so when they wanted to ride this ride over and over, I was not at all shocked.


One of the best things about this trip to Lagoon was being able to go with family. Zach and Hailey have cousins that are fairly close to their ages, so it really made it fun to go with each other, and then with their cousins on rides. Zach and Ashton were big boys in the picture above and wanted to go in separate swings, but sit near each other. Branson and Hailey on the other hand, decided they wanted to go together the first time. They were so cute together and it was fun to watch them enjoying the rides with each other.


Everyone took a ride on the Tilt-a-Wirl because we had free tickets for that too. Jeremiah took the boys the first time and although Ashton didn't like it, Zach had a blast! Of course, it seems that Jeremiah was having a pretty good time too!


I'm extremely surprised at how well my kids did. Both of them rode a few rides they weren't quite sure about, but decided to try anyway. Hailey found out that a few of them weren't ones she wanted to do again, but I was very proud of her for giving them a shot. Zach on the other hand loved every single ride and wanted to ride everything over and over. I've been really impressed with how much he's come out of his shell the last few years - not only socially, but mentally too. He's much more brave and willing to try new things. I really am proud of him.

So in summary, we had a great day! We were there from 11am to 9pm and literally had to drag the kids away. I would have guessed that after a hot day of standing in lines and riding rides that they would have fallen right to sleep on the ride home. But both were so excited about the day that they literally chatted with us and each other almost all the way home. Hailey finally fell asleep during the last 10 minutes and Zach made it all the way. What a fun day we had and we all can't wait to go again next year. Even though we were all tired and exhausted the next day, it was well worth it! Thanks Nana and Papa for sharing your tickets with us - we all had a great time!

Cool in the Pool

Despite the above 90 degree temperatures lately, we hadn't had time to pull out the pool. Until last week that is. After walking around the Hill AFB Museum, the kids decided they needed to cool down quick. So we inflated the pool, set up the awning, and let them have a blast.

Do they look like they're having fun or what?


We couldn't resist pulling out the pool noodles, even though they were really intended for much bigger pools. The kids had a blast with them.


Since this was our first time with the pool, it meant the first time in the kids' new swimming suits. They were so cute, I couldn't help taking a few pictures of them. Here's Hailey in her princess suit.


And Zachary in his big boy swimming suit. He's getting old enough now that he has a hard time deciding if he wants a character suit or one like his Dad's that's just plain and like he puts it "like the big boys wear." He decided on the plain one this year, so we had to choose a fun shirt to wear with it, which makes him more than happy.


What a fun afternoon of watching them play in the pool. I'll admit that there were a few splashes and squirts from the water gun that kept us adults nice and cool as well.

Welcome summer, we're looking forward to many more hot and sunny days that require us to cool down with some water!

I Love To See The Temple

Yesterday, we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was absolutely beautiful! We were lucky to choose a day when not many other people were there, so we were through the whole thing in a little over an hour. A big contrast to our Draper Temple Open House experience of 4 hours! We'll never go on a school holiday again, that's for sure.

We are lucky enough to have Jeremiah's parents and brother visit us this week and decided it would be fun to go all together to the open house. Our kids are usually very active and loud, but they must understand a little bit about the importance of the temple, because they were very good, reverent, and quiet during both this and the last open house we went to. We were very proud of them and gave them a cookie at the end for being so good (ok, they would have gotten a cookie at the reception afterwards anyway, but they don't need to know that).

It was a beautiful day yesterday and the sun was shining. After watching the video, touring the temple, and enjoying a cookie and some water, we headed to the front of the temple to take some pictures. I had seen some beautiful family pictures from our friends' blogs right in front of this fountain and really wanted one of our family there too (thanks for the great idea everyone!).

How beautiful is this temple?


Here's our whole group


I also got a quick picture of just our little family


I don't know what it was about this fountain, but I absolutely loved it.


This is Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Troy


And they wanted one with them and the kids too


The flowers were beautiful and as we were waiting for another group to get done taking pictures, I grabbed this quick one of the kids, it's one of my favorites from yesterday


This is the side of the temple, it looks so majestic standing there


I love the cornerstones of the temple, I guess it has to do with the fact that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our religion, the symbolism is just so strong to me


Hailey and I sat in the back of the car and I snapped this quick picture of her with her little legs crossed - too cute!


Then she caught me and smiled big for the camera


Not to be left out, Zach wanted one of him taken too. He was in the middle seats between Grandma and Troy, so it was hard to get the focus just right



We had a great time and the kids were so good. We're so blessed to have so many temples so near us. What a spiritually uplifting day it was for all of us!