They finally released my dad from the hospital on Thursday night around 8 pm, so they spent Friday in town. We went to have lunch with them and visit. We enjoyed a short visit before they were tired again, so we left them to rest and recuperate. Them we took a trip to "This is the Place Stare Heritage Park. We told the kids we could pet baby animals there, so that was the thing they were looking forward to the most. My parents spoiled us with annual membership so we can go anytime and enjoy the festivities year round. Very fun. We started out on the train, where we got a little historic guided tour of the park. They pointed out the historic Brigham Young home that was painted pink. Interesting fact is that pink was a masculine color, until the 1900's when is suddenly became a famine color. We then got off on the 2nd stop, or the "downtown" area and walked down a bit to have a pony ride. Both Tayton and Noah got to ride their own horse with one of us walking beside them. Noah absolutely loved it and Tayton enjoyed it too until the pony snorted twice, scaring her, then she wanted nothing else to do with that event. We got to see a tub full of baby chicks and ducks and even got to hold them. We then got to go to the petting corral where we got to play with lambs, and kids and learn a few things as well. Then it was off to the hotel/saloon to have a little ice cream and then to the very first and original ZCMI for some old fashion candy. Then back on the train to the gold miners camp to pan for golf. We found about five gold nuggets. There was a much smaller train that you could ride in around the pond, which we also enjoyed. At one point, there was a goose on the track, so Tayton kept yelling for it to move and then whenever we'd see it on our ride around, she would say, "hi goose!" Noah had a great day, but I think the winner was Tayton who kept hollering at us to look at something new at every turn and keep saying, "I like this!" during the entire trip.
Then on Saturday, we spent some time at our old house in Sandy, turning on the sprinklers for the renters and ensuring they were all set for summer. Then a brief visit to Grandma Crane's place before heading out to City Creek Mall for a stroll. None of us have been to the new mall, so we decided it would be a fun thing to check out. They've done a beautiful job on the mall. We love how the creek runs down the middle and we especially loved that there are places in the river stocked with trout. I swear Tayton just about dislocated her shoulder violently pointing at every fish that swam by. Both Jon and I aren't much for mall shopping where you just shop for fun. We are both about getting in, getting your item and getting out, which you can't do in a mall like that, but it was still fun to visit and walk around with the family. Our very favorite part of the mall though were the fountains next to Nordstrom's. They have a very large one that the kids loved walking around and putting their hands in, which was Noah's favorite and another one that would shoot out of the ground, which was Tayton's favorite. She loves getting wet! Then at the very end, they wanted to ride the escalator, so Dad look them for a few rides up and down. I am sure people looked at me funny for taking pictures of folks going up and down the escalator, but it was one of the highlights of the day, so how could I not?
On the way home, Jon decided he wanted to have a BBQ, so we invited the neighbors and roasted hot dogs over the fire. We had a lot of fun getting to know the neighbors better and letting the kids play and despite the planning with only 1 hour notice, we pulled it off fairly well I think. The greatest lesson of the day though was that those huge campfire marshmallows that you see in the store and you think would be so fabulous over a fire possibly as a s'more is totally deceiving. They are more marshmallow than one person can handle. And pay attention to the package. . . It has pictures and everything to tell you that you need 2 entire whole graham cracker rectangles to make it work. None of this take one rectangle and break it in half like I normally do. We had marshmallows EVERYWHERE!! Including one very large one stuck all over Jon's back! Sad to say, the neighbors had experienced similar drama with those huge marshmallows before but didn't bother warning us until it was too late. We really had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with the neighbors!
It's interesting to watch Noah's shyness come and go. If Jon or I are around, Noah acts very shy and takes a very long time to warm up to people before he'll talk to them or interact. However, if Jon and I aren't around, he warms up to them very quickly and talks to them the minute we walk out the door? Not sure what's up with that. Today I am so proud of him. This is the first time since the first of the year when I started teaching his class that he didn't sit next to me in primary. He started out next to me, but then moved over and another kid sat between us and Noah did just fine sitting by his friends. We even interacted a little in primary today. Then when we got home, I found him over at the other neighbor's house that he normally doesn't play at, the one's we had the BBQ with last night. He had walked over and was playing with their daughter and their dogs and was talking to the dad and throwing balls to the dogs. Very fun to watch him open up some days. I'm not sure if he's overcoming it a little or if it just depends on his mood that day, but it's nice for others to see the side of him that I know and love.
2 comments:
Great entry! We sure had a fun weekend!
Cute blog. What a fun family time you have. Keep writing.
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