Free day at the zoo

Apparently every last Wednesday of the month from November through February is free at the zoo.  Today was such good weather that I decided to go for it today.  We headed up there after my meeting at the school. 
The parking was down the street to the stoplight!  That's a bad sign.
It was definitely crowded.  But we took it in stride and saw what we wanted.  For Josh that was only the elephants and kitty cats (tigers).   Everything else he passed by to find a spot to sit, empty his lunch bag, put his food back in his lunch bag (without eating a drop), and walk to the next spot to do it all over again.
But it was a nice day outside.  And free.

My chef

McKinley loves to cook.  She makes a mean scrambled eggs.  She has wanted to learn to make more things.  Yesterday I helped while she made us dinner.  She made chicken cordon bleu with an Alfredo sauce, broiled asparagus, and creme brûlée for dessert.  It was divine!  Can't wait for the day my little chef can go it alone and I can sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labor!

She used The Roof recipes for tonight.  Best creme brûlée ever!

Antelope Island

It was the kids first visit to the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island.  It was a long Sunday drive and the weather was great.
The kids wished they could get in the water and roll around in the sand, but that wasn't happening today.
It was lovely countryside with glassy water and beautiful reflections.  It was fun spotting the bison and a few deer and antelope, and no flies in sight.
We'll have to make our way back there in the warmer weather so they can actually play in the Great Salt Lake...at least once in their lives.

the antelope

Happy endings

We used McKinley's ski passport today to try out Brighton. 
After one run Hayden was done!  McKinley's gloves weren't working well, so there were some tears there too.
We took a break at 2:30 inside to warm and regroup.
Luckily we found a small little green run with it's own lift at the bottom of the hill to try out just "one time". 
Eureka!  That was the right fit for my kids second time ever skiing.  4 or 5 happy runs later...and I am glad we were able to end the day with a positive experience.
Sawyer opted out this time and spent the day with Josh and Daddy.

Sacred Gifts exhibit

The Sacred Gifts exhibit is open at BYU right now.  It features beautiful paintings by Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hoffman, and Frans Schwartz.  Tomorrow is the last day for the current installation, and then they switch over 4 of the paintings for the remainder of the exhibit.
I got my tickets and took a field trip today.  The information online says it takes about 1-2 hours to get through.
Ha!  With my 2 year old buddy pushing his stroller around we made it out in 30 minutes !  Fully prepared for that, it wasn't a disappointment.  And I rewarded him for not tripping any alarms with a trip to the park afterwards.
He wouldn't let me take any pictures of him this time, but he would let me take one of the pretty Y mountain.

Waffle Love

I've never had one, so when I heard that the Waffle Love truck was going to be at Gardner Village today, I put it on my calendar.
They make a scrumptious "leige" waffle from Belgium.  It has caramelized sugar that makes it crunchy and sugary on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside.  I opted for the "Nutella Love".  It had Nutella, strawberries and a giant scoop of whipped cream.
Josh and I shared the "nummy", as he called it, together.
Highly recommend!  I wonder if Kent would try one?

Coloring

Josh wanted to color yesterday.  He did pretty good unless I turned my back on him.  Then he colored on Josh, the counters, the chairs....you get the idea. 
At one point I cleaned it up because I thought we had moved on.  I was in another room when I heard blood curdling screams!  He made sure to find me and yell "color!". So our coloring stayed out until dinner.

More science

Tonight was the awards ceremony for the district science fair winners.  

After school today I fed the kids dinner.  At 4:00.  Sawyer and McKinley said they weren't hungry.  But that was our only chance of a homemade meal tonight.  At 4:15 I had to head over to the church for my new calling.  The one calling I never, ever wanted, but knew was inevitable with 3 boys in my house.  Den leader.  I left McKinley to do homework, while Hayden (who had finished his homework) played the ipad, and Josh was finally taking a late snooze after playing for a couple hours in his crib during his actual nap time. 

When I returned from a rambunctious craft hour with 8 year old boys, it was 5:40.  I had to wake up Josh and try to avert a meltdown from a post-nap awakening.  Mission accomplished.  I had him buckled in his seat, and ran back inside to gather the camera, herd the other kids into the car, get Josh's juice, snacks, and shoes.  Check, check, and check!  Set the alarm.  Out the door.  We're going to make it on time! 

Where's my car keys?

In the house.  The locked house.

Luckily I had my cell phone. So I called my dad, who was already sitting patiently at the ceremony, since they had arrived early!  He came and picked us up so we could make it to McKinley's award ceremony on time.  Kent had to come home from work to get us a key, but at least he got to see her ceremony when he otherwise wouldn't have been able to.  

At any rate, she is excited to go to BYU!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  The kids are off to school with their Valentines boxes and treats.  

I made Sawyer's box into an evil minion from Despicable me.

McKinley decorated her box with Duct tape into a little monster.  At first she wanted to do a realistic Olaf, but we couldn't figure out how to make a sturdy snowman.  Her class treats are a little snack snowman making kit that say "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

And Hayden has been decorating his box in class at school.  Yay!  So here he is this morning holding up one of the treats he is passing out today.  We went with the twinkies made up like minions that say "you're one in a minion".

BYU

Just got the call that McKinley is advancing to the regional science fair at BYU!  We are so happy for her.  She really wanted to go this year.  I'm sure this will be her (and my) happy part of the day!

District Fair

She's all set up for the District Science Fair.  Tonight she has to go through the interview portion.

FHE Olympics

For FHE tonight we had a little Olympics competition. 
Each of us chose a flag to represent the country we would be from.
There was a bobsled event (skateboard down the driveway), curling (with bottle caps), ice skating (spinning quarters), and hockey (blowing a cotton ball into the goal).
Luckily everyone won a gold medal (gold chocolate coins).
They were begging to play more hockey as I dragged them off to bed.

Ice Castles

Yesterday we visited the ice castles in Midway.  It was incredible!  We left our house around 4 pm so we could see the ice castles in the daylight as well as in the dark when they turn on colored lights in the ice.  

It was so magical!  

The kids tried out the ice slide there.  Josh wanted to do it by himself so we heard screaming coming from the tunnel voicing his anger at the prospect of having to sit with his sister.  She finally let him go alone. 

At night with some of the lights glowing through the ice.

There are different sections, such as the ice maze, the slide, and here we are going through the 'slot canyons'.

We were especially glad that Kent could come since he has been battling a migraine all day.  We wouldn't want him to miss this!

Bball

Today was Sawyer's last basketball game of the season.  It was his first year of playing rec basketball and he has had so much fun.  He was a good little player.  I think their team only lost one game.  He's already asked if he can play again next year.

practicing before the game with his teammate Nathan

He wouldn't hold still during the game long enough for me to get a good picture.  Can you believe that?!

The team with their trophies and Coach Stayner (who was a good coach despite what his shirt says).

Milk

As I was doing my grocery shopping this week, I had a moment of gratitude for the place and moment I am living in right now.

I am glad my milk cost $2.69 instead of the Connecticut $5 gallon of milk.

Smile

Today we took Sawyer to the orthodontist for an evaluation. 

Yes, he'll need braces. 

No, not yet.  Not until he's about 12.

He was glad to get signed up though, because now he's eligible for the prize drawings at the summer party.

Oh, and after that we got his scruffy little hair cut.  Now he can see!

Hang in there

This is how our grocery shopping trips go nowadays...

He likes to hang on and go for a ride.

 

You are welcome Harmon's, for the free floor cleanings.