One Full Day

Monday was a teacher work day or whatever they call them, where the kids have the day off. Since we don't get a lot of opportunities to spend time together these days, we thought we better make the most of it. Chris took 1/2 the day off and we headed up to Draper to go to the open house at the Temple. We wanted the kids to be able to experience that while they could and while one was so close to us. It was really nice and the kids were all uncharacteristically well-behaved. They all seemed to enjoy being able to see the inside. When we came out, quite a snowstorm was starting.
After the open house we drove up to Sandy to visit the Living Planet Aquarium. We've followed the aquarium from it's humble beginnings on the North side of the Gateway down to Sandy which is still not its final home. The aquarium, in my humble opinion, has never been worth the price of admission. However, the kids love it and so we go. Last year we bought season passes because they were only a few more dollars than the cost to get in that time. They are about to expire and we thought this might be our last opportunity to get up there and they had a new exhibit that just opened. That was my favorite part...that alone makes it closer to being worth the price. Journey to South America. I was excited to see an Anaconda up close. I had visions of it being large and in an open cage or something. I had in my mind that it would be very similar to the movie, Anaconda ...you know the one with Jennifer Lopez and Jon Voight from 1997. Perhaps they didn't want him eating patrons, because he was behind glass...but he wasn't that big. I was disappointed, but the kids weren't and that's all that matters.

The Anaconda

Here the kids are taking their canoe ride down the Amazon...trying to look frightened.

I really did enjoy this exhibit. They had some beautiful animals. Cute blue frogs that I wanted to take home, beautiful fish and these cuties. Four-eyed fish.

Two eyes above the water...

...two eyes below the water.

These are the pretty blue fish...which are better in real life, the camera just doesn't do them justice. But, look at that little stud!! Is he not the cutest little man EVER?!! Yes, he is.

So when we first got to the aquarium and got to the Utah Water's exhibit, McKenna runs up to this spot and says "this little hose squirting out water is my favorite part of the whole aquarium"! Can you see by her expression how excited she is? Guess I got my money's worth out of those passes.
Brooklynn, shortly after that, points to this tank and says "look at the funny fish". You can't see it from the picture, but she is pointing to a black, plastic, accordian-like tube probably related to the filter. Easy to please these girls.


Really, this right here could keep my kids happy all day. Trying to catch the Sting Rays. They love playing in this tank. They were so mad that I implemented an "elbow" rule. No water above the elbow since we were in nice clothes. Usually, they are soaked!

Lauren playing peek-a-boo

Petting the sea animals at the touch and learn station.

After the aquarium we headed back to Orem to get dinner. We have wanted to try Bajio for a while and haven't. If you like Bajio, I'm sorry, you must tell me what there is to like. If you don't like it, I'm sure it's for a good reason, and WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME??? The kids didn't really care, food is food to them, but Chris and I HATED it. I like spice and I like flavor. We tried 4 different meals, all of them sucked.

Next we were off to the Utah Flash game with tickets the kids earned from the read-a-thon I was in charge of. We sat by some friends of ours, the Tuckers, from school/ward/neighborhood which was the way to go. We had a whole row and both McKenna and Lauren are friends with two of their girls. They had about 100 pounds of popcorn between them and it kept them busy most of the night. Tyler sat with us for half the game and then went and sat with some friends of his. I like these games because they are never crowded, they throw out tons of prizes, not that we won any, the kids can run around with friends and be rowdy and you don't feel like you are bothering anyone, and it is just relaxed...and free...since we only ever go when we have read-a-thon tickets. I hate going to these games because WE ALWAYS LOSE! We blew a nearly 20 point lead!

McKenna, her friend Morgan, Lauren, her friend McKenzie and the rest of the Tuckers. I never did get a picture of the rest of us. The lady behind our row in the green shirt is McKenna's kindergarten teacher who she LOVES.

McKenna waving to the love of her life, the Flash Fox. I think it's the only reason she wants to come. She seriously thinks he's the coolest thing ever.

So it was a full and busy day. With no major meltdowns, I deem it a total success.