Here's Day 2 using our awesome Connect Pass in the Salt Lake area. We definitely got our money worth with the passes. Our first destination that morning was Thanksgiving Point Discovery Gardens in Lehi, not far from my parents' home. The first thing we saw was this neat Noah's Ark water area. The kids waded and Christina accidentally sat down in the water. In the dry Utah climate, her skirt didn't take long to dry. Christina's hair is getting so long. We've been putting it in a ponytail or messy bun on hot days lately. She likes it out for naptimes and bedtimes.
What a beautiful morning for a walk and some exploration along the kid-friendly, windy paths! I even got my lighthouse-fix. This was a darling corner. The flowers were beautiful and blooming in all parts of the garden.
And then we discovered an outdoor painting area. It reminded me the of the Impressionist era in Paris. Christina and Katie both did two paintings, although Daniel preferred looking at the beehive and books inside the discovery center. Christina didn't want to leave and needed some sweet-talking to head to the next area.
These children's gardens had fun areas around every corner. This music spot was fun for the kids, until they started bickering. I pulled out water bottles and a small snack to tide them over. Other fun things here were the hedge maze, the bear cave and crawling tunnels, and the koi ponds.
Then we drove over to the other adult Thanksgiving Point Gardens to explore some more. The Connect Passes were a great way to get us out here. I've always wanted to see the gardens, but at $10/adult, it often felt a bit pricey. Daniel was more excited to spot a lizard than actually looking at flowers. To motivate him to keep walking (which there was a lot of), Katie offered him a piece of gum every half hour. Her motivational strategy worked and we were able to walk through most of the gardens. I was proud of the kids and myself that morning. At the beginning, they offered golf carts for $25 to drive around the gardens. I thought this was the wimpy way to do it!
When the kids saw this huge, grassy hill they decided to roll down it instead of walk around the pathway. The grass in Utah is so beautiful, thick, and green. There was lots of pretty grass that they even allowed us to walk on.
We had the gardens mostly to ourselves, except for Hispanic gardeners deadheading petunias and other blooms. Katie picked this pink petunia up off the ground and wanted me to pose for a photo. I find that I'm often the subject of her photos. Most of the Utahns complained of the heat, but it felt relatively nice to us - compared to the humid weather in Texas. We heard it hit 105 back home that week.
This one is a butterfly garden - look at the shape of its design.
At this overlook with three columns, Katie explained to us about the different types of columns. Their cute posing cracked me up in this photo.
Here are Daniel and Christina checking out the Monet garden. Katie and I didn't think this garden was that well-themed, but overall the gardens were amazingly beautiful and colorful.
After the gardens, we hit a drive-through (Del Taco - again!) for lunch and the kids cooled off in the car while they ate. Then we headed to the nearby Museum of Ancient Life- dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Christina liked this dinosaur play area and I love seeing all the massive dinosaur bones. Few of my photos turned out very good inside the museum.
Last time we toured this museum a few years ago, the kids didn't want to leave this water/sand area, but I think they were getting tired and we breezed through it this year. I don't mind touring this way, especially when you know it's "free" and included in your passes.
One last photo with "Bruce the Shark" - or whatever his name is. We didn't spend long in this museum and needed a snack when we were done. I noticed an Iceberg Drive-In ice cream place as we were exiting and we grabbed twist cones in a cup to cool us off. On our way up to Salt Lake, Christina fell asleep in the car and I quickly went to Plan B - taking the tram ride up the mountain at Snowbird. It was the perfect length of drive, although a windy one up the canyon. I started to wonder if our van would make it since it was hot and steep.
It was cooler in the canyon, which was a nice change. I hadn't been up Little Cottonwood Canyon in years - very pretty in the summer! It was also fun to see the Snowbird Ski Resort without snow. The last time I'd been up there was skiing in my college years.
The kids and I enjoyed our tram ride up the mountain. We even saw several deer resting in snow.
We had about 15 minutes to walk around before the next tram came. We decide to take a potty break, snap some photos, and have a near heart-attack with the kids getting too close to the ledge. This evokes memories of traveling with my family to Dead Horse Point when Mom opted to stay in the van to tidy it up, instead of seeing us all near the edge and looking down. I've officially become the Mom - not living on the edge, I think.
Katie took this photo of me. I actually liked it too! With the mountains and pine trees in the background, it makes me think that I'm still a Utah-girl at heart.
Daniel was mad when I asked him to step away from the edge. With his flip-flops on and his wiggly little personality, it was making me anxious. Don't you love his stomping feet and angry face here?Then we headed to get a shave ice on the way to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. The treats kept us going today as our Connect Pass energy was lagging.
We were getting tired since it was dinnertime and saw nearly everything in this museum within an hour. I actually prefer reading all the info on the museum signs when I go myself, but with kids along, it's the 'sweetened, condensed' version. Okay with me.
This is my favorite photo from the aquarium - love these jellyfish. Christina has become a Little Mermaid and Nemo fan and enjoyed all the fish. During our trip, her most viewed DVDs were Monsters, Inc. and Dumbo, though. Since she's started watching tv, she has become a much better car traveler.
The kids - especially Daniel - liked touching the stingrays in this large touch tank. He played at the tank for about 30 minutes, while the girls looked around in this same area.
We were getting tired since it was dinnertime and saw nearly everything in this museum within an hour. I actually prefer reading all the info on the museum signs when I go myself, but with kids along, it's the 'sweetened, condensed' version. Okay with me.
This is my favorite photo from the aquarium - love these jellyfish. Christina has become a Little Mermaid and Nemo fan and enjoyed all the fish. During our trip, her most viewed DVDs were Monsters, Inc. and Dumbo, though. Since she's started watching tv, she has become a much better car traveler.
The kids - especially Daniel - liked touching the stingrays in this large touch tank. He played at the tank for about 30 minutes, while the girls looked around in this same area.
Totally opposite expressions here. Daniel was tired and sick of photos and Christina was in a cheesy place! That evening we headed to my parents' for dinner leftovers and to put our feet up! All that sightseeing made me so happy. It was fun to see some of these places I've heard so much about and it made me happy knowing we saw it at such a discount. I'm impressed with the family activities Utah has added in the 9 years we've been away. Utah offers such a variety of things to do - lots of outdoor stuff, LDS church history sites, along with some fun museums. There is much I miss about it, although I have learned to love Texas too.
