Fourth day of Tony's vacation

Sorry to anyone who reads this blog for current news on my family, I've got tons of catching up to do!

On Thursday, July 22nd, we continued having fun. We hopped on the Frontrunner train and met Joy's family.

We then got to ride Trax to the Gateway where we arrived just before the Clark Planetarium opened.

We had fun with the exhibits . . .

and got to see two movies--an amazing IMAX "Under the Sea 3D" and then "Space Pirates" which was not as entertaining, but was kind of cool to watch in the dome. Luckily Jordan brought lots of treats.

We had a wonderful lunch at Z'Tejas,

and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Discovery Gateway Children's Museum.

Before we left the Gateway, we were sure to play in the fountain

and even get an ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry's because we were still so hot!

Our return train ride (Lily missed it because she was asleep).

 

Our ride ended with a bit of drama. When we came to the Layton stop, a group of teenage boys hopped on and started up the stairs just as Faith and Christian were on their way down. The kids were able to dodge them, but I couldn't get past and we had to yell to the kids not to get off without us. The boys couldn't find a seat where they wanted, so they just stood on the steps, blocking our way. By the time they finally moved, the doors shut and we were on our way to Clearfield! I was steaming mad that they were so discourteous that they would block children from their parents, and also concerned that it would be a LONG walk with tired little kids back to our car if there wasn't a southbound train for awhile. Luckily, the other train was at the stop just as we got off and we were able to zip right back to our stop.

Still a very fun-packed day!

Tony & I teach the "four turning five" primary class now, and I just had to post the song that makes it impossible for me to make it through singing time without bawling:

third day of Tony's vacation

On Wednesday through Friday we continued our "staycation" with the Salt Lake Connect Pass.  We got ours when they had a "three days for the price of two" special going on, so they were $36 for adults and $30 for kids.  It includes a whole bunch of attractions plus $10 toward dinner at the Lion House Pantry.  I told my sister Joy about the deal, and she wanted to do it with her family, too.  It even worked out to visit the attractions together!

Wednesday morning we started out with breakfast at the kids' favorite--Mc Donalds.

Then we drove up the canyon above Sandy to Snowbird ski resort and got to ride the tram up the mountain.

It was even cooler than I thought it would be!  The view from up there is amazing and the kids loved every minute of the ride and exploring at the top.  Joy even fed them peaches and blueberries.

Next, we drove down the canyon and to the Living Planet Aquarium.  Tony had taken the kids two years before when I was at the Shakespearean festival to wean Buddy :'( but I'd never been there before.  It is AWESOME!

One of our favorite things were the jellyfish.  I wish they would have photographed better!

Christian was afraid to pet the stingrays at first, then he couldn't get enough.

I loved all the touchable sea creatures.

While Joy and her family stayed for story time at the aquarium and headed over to the dino museum early, we took an extra trip into Utah county for our favorite Spanish Fork activities.  You know we have to make it there once or twice a year. We ate at Hickory Kist,

and fed the ducks at the industrial park.

After getting those in, we headed back to Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life.  I know the kids and I went not long ago, but they were itching to go back and really wanted to show it to their dad.  The sand and water table was a big hit again.  (I love how Lily is trying to climb into it in this picture.)

Even the big guys had to play!

We loved the exhibits, especially the scary ones:

And played in the sand.

At the end, we got to check out a special science lab that wasn't open last time we visited.  It had a bunch of experiments with light.  We learned so much and had so much fun!  This one had three colors of light, so therefore three colors of shadows.

This was a special wall that you stood against, struck a pose, and turned on the bright lights.  After several seconds, you turned the light off and your shadow was "stuck" to the wall.  Love those crazy poses!

On our way home we had to find a Dollar Tree store in Salt Lake to visit because we promised the kids they could pick two items there.  This was after Christian threw a gigantic fit at the aquarium in the gift shop.  We thought the promise would keep that from reoccurring at the museum, but Buddy was tired and ended up screaming at the door because they had closed.  Guess you can't win them all, but it was an amazing day!

Early July and Tony's first two days off

We spent July 4th mostly hanging out at home and then celebrating with a barbecue at Tony's parents'.  The Monday afterward, we went to Toy Story 3 and then watched the Layton City fireworks.  We parked just off Main street, got out our chairs, and watched from there.  Great view and quick exit! 

Because I'm a terrible mother, Faith loves Lady Gaga.  Here is the outfit and makeup she came up with to lip sync a music video.

Christian has gotten much better at drawing figures.  Here is his self portrait done on a dry erase Micky Mouse learning book I got on clearance at WalMart.

On the 16th I got to go to lunch at the Olive Garden with my friend Ann while her husband Mike watched the kids.  He made them a giant slip-n-slide!  They had tons of fun, but I think the moms enjoyed their time even more!!

I sold the majority of my baby stuff on KSL classifieds and made over a hundred bucks!  Hopefully I won't need any of it in the future. . .

On Monday the 19th Tony started his summer week off work and we headed up to the Uintahs for some camping and fishing.  I'm not sure what's happening in this picture.  Apparently, Faith's a tree-hugger and Christian is up to heaven-only-knows-what.

Buddy was much more of a firebug this year.

Faith was obsessed with fishing!

That first afternoon we hiked around to the opposite side of Butterfly lake from where we were camping.  We were having fun fishing even though we weren't lucky enough to get a bite, that is, until a massive swarm of mosquitoes descended upon us and ATE US ALIVE. 

I knew it was time to go when I swatted Faith's calf and squished six of those buggers in one slap (that was a gross, bloody mess). I had doused the kids with repellent and used super "most deet  allowable by law" spray on myself (I don't use that kind on the kids for fear that it will cause them to grow cancerous tumors or a second head). Mine did an okay job even though mosquitoes tend to love me more than anyone, but Faith's was a total fail and she apparently inherited tasting awesome from me.  Tony, on the other hand, was annoyed by the bugs biting him, but didn't get any itchy bumps out of the ordeal!  Christian got some, but didn't fare too badly.

After reapplying bug spray in a big way, we went back to fishing, but closer to our camp.  Tony caught one and let Christian reel it in.  Buddy loved that thing and told me "I not want you to dead it!"  He came around after it was cooked and enjoyed eating him, but shed a tear the next morning because "him family will miss him!"

The other tragedy besides Faith being made into a giant, itchy lump (I have never seen so many mosquito bites on one person before) was that I forgot the marshmallows.  We brought plenty of treats, though, so the kids were somewhat satisfied by sticking anything else that they could think of in the fire.

The next morning I had to cook our breakfast directly on the campfire because the new mini propane tank that we brought to hook up to our camp stove was a dud and the metal grate was broken off our fire pit.  I thought our plastic handled frying pan was done for, but it survived!

Right next to our camp parking spot, we spotted this nest of baby robins directly at eye level.  We kept checking on them and even got to see the mother feed them.  We really needed some baby birds in our lives to heal our hearts after the satellite dish nest incident earlier this spring.

That morning even before breakfast (but after applying half a tube of anti-itch ointment), Faith headed down to the lake, by herself, to fish.  Our campsite was practically on the lake, so we could keep a good eye on her.  She didn't catch anything until coming back after breakfast, but then--success!

Tony removed the fish from her line, and on her very next cast out, she immediately caught another one!

And what, do you ask, was Buddy up to while Faith and Tony were fishing? 

And let me tell you, he got waaayyy muddier than that!  I had to strip him down and wash him in the cold spigot outside the outhouse.  Hopefully the fun was worth it!

Here is how great Baby is at casting this year:

Faith went on to catch two more before we left later that afternoon, and Tony only managed to reel five nearly onto shore and then lose them.  Tony's ego was a bit crushed because he loves a good competition (and you should hear Faith trash talk, by the way), but he sure was proud of his little girl!  We ate these guys for dinner at home on Tuesday, not too shabby, huh?  Way to go Baby Faith!!!

We were thinking about watching a video that night, but we were just plumb exhausted.  Tony and I learned that we are far too old to sleep on the ground in a tent anymore!