Dinosaur Park

How it escaped me that there is a cool dinosaur park in Ogden is beyond me. Clair filled me in during our stay, and we planned to meet up there with the kiddies one afternoon.

Ogden's Eccles Dinosaur Park is located near the mouth of Ogden Canyon and features over a 100 full-sized dinosaur sculptures, which all looked very realistic. Also featured at the park is the Stewart Museum which houses some dinosaur skeletons and a couple of robotic dinosaurs among other cool stuff.

The boys were super excited at the start of our walk through the park, and then mid day meltdowns started. Despite the ups and downs in moods, we had a good time hanging out with Clair, Hope and Sarah at the park.

A Farewell & Mother's Day

Our last day with my parents was Mother's Day which was also the day of their joint farewell with my oldest niece, LaLaina. My parents were originally called to the Lansing Michigan Mission, but after some last minute changes they were reassigned to the Detroit Mission instead. LaLaina is headed to a warmer climate here in Florida to the Tallahassee Mission.

There are usually a handful of occasions which bring most of our extended family together - funerals, weddings, and in this case a farewell. Not only was there a big Canfield turnout, but an equally large Strate turnout in support of LaLaina. That's a whole lot of people under one roof!

We account for close to half of the turnout in this photo!

Joy and I were at the house while everyone was attending the church service, so we helped out with prepping stuff for the lunch to follow. As we were chopping up veggies, I mentioned to Joy how nice it would be if our cousin, Chris, showed up. As soon as people started to fill up the house, I look up and there's Chris!

I spent a good part of a year staying at my aunt and uncle's home at the same time as Chris was there. We really got along well with each other and had fun hanging out and doing all sorts of stuff. I think the last time I saw Chris was probably close to 9 years ago....way too long! It was great to see him again and catch up.

Chris and his brother, Lance, are in business together and make some sick mountain bikes.

After a lot of family cleared out, I got in a good Pinochle game with Mom (for one brief Shoot the Moon hand) and then partnered with Clair against Joy and Eric. It was a very long and frustrating game with lots of chips going forward and back, but mostly back! It's rare that our family gets together without a Pinochle game being played at some point.

It was a good day to spend with a lot of family and a lot of mothers. And speaking of mothers, my boys don't have any idea of the significance of the day, and my very thoughtful nephew, Brenton, took it upon himself to outline a little card with Mother's Day wishes to me from Ben and Zach and did his best to encourage the boys to color it for me. So sweet!

The past four years have taught me a lot about motherhood, and I'm still at a very entry-level position. It's hard and I struggle, and sometimes I wonder what my boys will think of me as a mom as they get older. I'm starting to realize that despite how I match up with other moms, I can't worry about how I measure up with with the rest of them. All I can do is try my very best to raise my kids with a lot of love, encouragement, patience, and support. If I can bring out their very best and learn to be accepting of who they are, I'll be able to take some comfort that I've done more right than wrong.

I have a lot of respect, love, and appreciation for my mother as well as all the other mothers out there that are family and friends. I'm fortunate to have so many examples of what it takes to be a great mom. Thanks to all the moms out there!

Dirty Water

My parents were busy the last week before their mission with packing, visiting family, moving my sister into a condo, and using up gift certificates and Groupons. After a morning of helping peel wallpaper and scraping off sticky backing in a bedroom at the condo, the boys and I joined my parents and Joy to help them fill a soak for six Groupon at the Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville, UT.

I can't recall that I've ever sat in a hot spring before. Typically the idea of sitting in any hot body of water doesn't appeal to me unless I'm either very pregnant, sore, or sick with the chills. Upon checking in at the front desk, a very enthusiastic man explained how awesome this particular hot spring was in comparison to all the others across the country and maybe even the whole world....my oh my!

I'm sure there are some proven benefits to sitting in water packed with all kinds of minerals, but at first glance of the pool in which I'd be soaking in, I can't say that I cared much for any such benefits. I get that mineral packed water isn't going to be crystal clear, but I still wasn't expecting a pool which looked like muddy-elephant bath water. I got in regardless and enjoyed the soak as much as one could.

After a nice rinse with regular old water, we headed down to Brigham City for a quick visit with Grandma Ruth and a bite to eat at Call's Drive-In before heading home.

Every time we leave Grandma's house she stands at the back door or leans out the window and waves goodbye to us until we're out of sight. I love, love, love that she does this!

I guess I should have explained to the boys about how the minerals in the hot springs were meant to be soaked in and not ingested because within a mile of my parent's place, Ben started to complain that his belly hurt which was promptly followed by the return of his dinner. I guess he swallowed a little too much mineral-packed water at the hot springs which made him sick. Poor little guy kept saying how sorry he was. He was more worried about the mess he made all over the van, carseat, and his clothes than about his sick belly.

A somewhat good time, but I think I'll pass on the hot springs from here on out.

Friends Interrupted

Our visits to Utah over the past few years have been sporadic and are usually last minute. Surprisingly enough, we manage to get around and see most of my family, but the last couple of visits I have struck out with friend visits. It's no surprise really given short notice and busy schedules, so I was really excited that I was able to make plans with Brandi and her son, Jonas, while we were in Salt Lake.

I was prepared to take the Trax again to meet up with Brandi, but Carrie insisted on giving us a ride downtown. She dropped us off at one of Brandi's new favorite downtown spots, City Creek. I can see now why Brandi enjoys this place so much. I'm not a big fan of shopping centers, but this one definitely doesn't have the feel of one.

The first thing I noticed about City Creek was that it was open, but Brandi informed me that it is actually equipped with a retractable roof, which definitely makes more sense when it comes to the winter months. Another cool feature is the creek that winds through the center of the  main walkway on the lower level. There's even fish in it! Big ones! And of course no respectable shopping center is complete without fountains and City Creek has some really unique ones. Another fun fact Brandi shared with me was that the fountains were designed by the same people responsible for the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. The fountains were definitely a big hit with the boys.

We spent some time over lunch catching up while the boys played in the Dino Children's Play Area in the food court. Our conversations are familiar in the way they are constantly interrupted by the needs of our kids, phone calls, potty breaks, etc. They're kind of all over the place, but we just seem to pick up where we left off last. It's so easy to be around Brandi, and with her home full of men and mine, it's nice to be able to relate and compare notes!

After leaving City Creek we rode with Brandi and Jonas to pick up Ian from school and then after dropping him at home, we made our way to the Natural History Museum of Utah. I was immediately impressed by the exterior of the building and how it blends into its beautiful surroundings. The interior of the building is equally as stunning. We barely had time to really explore all that it had to offer, so this museum will definitely be on my list of places to return to on our next visit.

We pretty much let the boys' interests dictate our path through the museum, so it was no surprise that we spent most of our time exploring the Paleontology Collection. On display there are over 30 skeletal reconstructions and a great spot where the boys could "dig" for bones. The boys also spent a good bit of time playing in a couple of the museum's Learning Labs, one of which was a dinosaur themed room and the other a backyard theme. It's so nice that Jonas is the same age as Ben and Zach. Aside from Zach being a little territorial with toys, the boys seem to get along really well!

Our visit was over far too soon as they usually are, but I'm always very grateful for whatever time I have with Brandi, especially when she met us when she and Jonas weren't feeling well. That's a really good friend! As usual, I was already looking forward to our next visit as soon as we parted ways. 

Carrie & Bobby's

We were lucky to be visiting at the end of Carrie's semester at the U. She's decided to become a PA and is working hard at tackling all the courses she needs to complete in order to apply to the program, while still holding down full time hours at work. She had a week off before her next semester started, and I felt pretty fortunate she was up for our company for a couple of days.

The boys and I left Ogden on the FrontRunner and continued on Trax into West Valley. I have really enjoyed the improvements to public transportation that have been made in Utah over the past few years. The boys love trains, and they're still young enough to travel for free, so it made more sense to save the money on gas and use public transit.

Carrie picked us up at the Trax station and we headed back to her house for a few minutes and then out again for lunch at Cafe Rio...yum. In the parking lot on the way in, Ben pointed to a car and asked what it was. I was a little confused at first until he ran up to the license plate and pointed at the Delicate Arch on it. I thought it was pretty awesome that the arch left an impression on him.

The boys and I enjoyed the rest of the day and the following day relaxing, playing outside with Skoog, a walk to Winder Dairy for ice cream, squirt gun fights, and playtime with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Carrie. It's nice just to be able to hang out at their home and enjoy their company.

Carrie is one of the few people I feel I'm really able to open up to completely, and our visits are always therapeutic. It's hard to leave her when our time is up. With everything she has on her plate right now, I wish I was around more to offer support and hugs.

Love you Carrie & Bobby! Thanks for your time and the great visit!