Utah week 4

I can't believe we have been here for 4 weeks!  I also can't believe its time to leave for our West Coast adventures. We are so excited and are having the best summer!

Sue came home from California Monday afternoon so after we went swimming we I spent some time making sure the house was ready for her. I have been working very hard to make sure her flowers stayed alive why she was gone.  They were looking great and then when I went out to hang up our swimming suits I noticed that 3 of her pots looked all wilted.  We checked the timer for her watering system, it seemed fine then we noticed that someone with little hands had turned off the water faucet! That means they missed one or two days of water. I could not believe it happened on the day she was returning.  She has lots of flowers and all the others one looked good but I was so sad those 3 didn't. I hope they can bounce back. They are already looking a little better today. After we celebrated Sue being home we headed over to Neptune park.  We had fun swinging and sliding. Mark go tout a kite to fly but Jared and Lydia were too busy playing.  This park has this huge pyramid and ever since we first went 2 years ago I have wanted to climb it but have always been too busy interacting with our kids.  This time since Sue was there and it wasn't too crowded Mark and I climbed up it. It was fun.  We tried to get Jared to come with us but he was not very interested.  Maybe some other time.

 At the top!

Watching Paw Patrol with Grandma Sue, their favorite way to start the day here. 

Tuesday was pretty chilly here. Not at all summer like. It was just under 60 degrees in the morning with light sprinkles so we headed indoors. We went over to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. Sue has the Grandparent membership so she gets in free as do all of her grandkids and adults get in for half price. There are lots of fun things at Thanksgiving Point but it could get quite pricey so we think her membership is awesome.  We will probably be spending a lot of time there this last week. We had fun checking out the fossils and exhibits then made our way over to the sand and water table.  Before we left we stopped in the "fossil" room.  There is a large sand pit with a dinosaur fossil underneath. Jared loves digging so he had a hey day in there. Lydia enjoyed it too. Jared just wanted to dig holes while Lydia did actually attempt to brush some of the sand off the fossil.  It was a nice outing.

By the time Jared and Lydia got up from their naps it was 49 degrees with a steady rain.  So we decided hot chocolate would be the perfect afternoon snack.  It was funny timing because just the other day Jared was wishing we could have some hot chocolate.  He kept talking about how we only drink it in winter time like January when it really cold.  It was a fun treat for him.  He says hot chocolate is his favorite drink but he also says that about anything that isn't water or milk which is what we have most often.

Tuesday night Mark and I headed up to Sugarhouse in Salt Lake to catch up with my some of my family.  My brother Derek and his wife Allison are actually on tour right now with their band PETS, and their first stop was in Salt Lake! Derek had sent a message to me and Susanna about meeting up in Seattle and in that message Susanna mentioned that she and Ryan were planning on going to their show here in Sugarhouse! When I read that I got so excited.  We are only 30 - 40 minutes from Sugarhouse!  I quickly wrote back that we would come to the show too.  It's so fun that they are playing here while we are here and that Susanna and Ryan are coming down from Twin Falls.  We met up with Susanna and Ryan for dinner at Cafe Zupas which was grew because I have been wanting to try out that place.  All of Mark's family loves it. It was delicious and then after that we went over for some Gelatto, also delicious. For some reason whenever my sister Susanna and I get together everything seems funnier to me and I have so much fun just laughing.  When we lived together in college we always said we would try to be next door neighbors. Sadly this has not worked out for us but it sure would be fun if it did.  I am so glad that we got to get together to see PETS. Derek and Allison just released a new CD so it was extra fun to hear their new music.  They really love performing and do a really good job. I think it makes them really happy.  I am so glad we could see them and visit a little bit.

Mark, Aprillee, Derek, Allison (PETS), Ryan, and Susanna.

Wednesday we headed back to the Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Jared and Lydia had a lot of fun last time we went and were so happy when they found out where we were going.

Since we had gone before we spent some time in the places we isn't get to do much in last time. Jared had fun in the little market and Lydia loved this little toddler "gym" area. Jared wanted to climb on the rope ladders and jungle gym temple so Mark took Lydia to the water area and I Stayed with Jared. In the jungle gym temple area there is a little tunnel that is pitch dark. The idea is to crawl through using your senses to get out. Sadly Jared could not find his way out because it was so dark and got really scared. He started crying so I crawled in there and together we found the way out.  I felt bad that he got so scared and am glad I could find the way out. Seriously so dark! Lydia loved the water area.  We got there right when it opened so it wasn't too crowded yet so she could play with lots of things as much as she wanted.

Last time we went we didn't go outside at all. We fixed that today and spent a good amount of time out there. Jared always loves playgrounds that have these excavator toys so he was a happy boy. Lydia just loves swinging so she was happy as can be.

 They were both proud of themselves for climbing as high as they did on this structure. 

With a little coaxing Jared was willing to try out this tunnel. After his experience inside he was not very interested in them. I am glad he went through this one because he really loves them.  All too soon it was time to go back to the house for lunch and naps.  We had so much fun we decided that we would go back after naps.  We did but it was way too crowded. You really couldn't enjoy the exhibits because there were so many kids and adults there.  They also switched out the large block area for some science experiments.  Jared was really looking forward to the blocks so that was a bummer. I am glad we had as much fun as we did in the morning. We spent most of our time outside again.  We found a little digging area which Jared loves, he is always up for a good dig!  We spent some more time at the playground and then we headed over to the Noah's Ark exhibit.  Which is really cool. We didn't put our kids in their swimming suits but sometimes I think splash park things are more fun when you are in your clothes because its unexpected.  They had a great time getting soaking wet.

Jared with Noah.

Thursday we went swimming with Sue in the morning. After that we headed back to Thanksgiving Point.  This time we went over to the gardens there. They are so beautiful! Sue rented a golf cart and we drove around enjoying all the open green space and good smelling flowers.  We stopped by the pond and fed the Koi which is always fun.  Those fish are so big and are really fun to feed. There are so many of them they jump up out of the water and flop all over each other.  Jared and Lydia enjoyed it. We had a little picnic and then went back to Sue's for naps.

 Loving the Golf Cart. 

Koi Pond

 Secret Garden

Perfect hill for rolling down. 

After naps we headed down to Provo to revisit the Rec Center. Both kids had a blast swimming and going down the slides.

Jared by the beloved orange slide! 

Friday we went shopping for the Southern California portion of our trip, did laundry, and packed.  That night Shannon and her family came over for dinner. Jared and Lydia were so happy to play with their cousins again. We had such a great time here in Utah. It's hard to believe we were here for so long.  It really did go so fast. If only we knew where we would be going after this West Coast part of our trip. That would be amazing!