Rise and Shout, the Cougars are Out...

I discovered something slightly embarrassing about myself last month...I am a BYU nut (a "Zoobie," if you will). When I was a student there (Class of '02, if you're curious), I would often see alumni & their families visiting campus (usually the Wilk), "oohing" and "aahing" and taking pictures of everything and buying up a bunch of souvenirs and pointing out every little thing on campus to their kids...

...and I would scoff at those people. "How sad...clinging to their lost youth," I'd think. "After I graduate, I'm not going to act like such a fangirl over the school I attended! I'm going to show some dignity. After all, it's just a few short years of my life I'm spending here...not much in the grand scheme of things." How cool, calm and collected I thought myself.

Oh, what a difference a few years away makes. I graduate. Nate graduates. We leave Utah. We start our life in AZ. We have kids. We "settle down" and have a happy, if somewhat unexciting life. And when I think back on my time at BYU (living on my own, with so many wonderful opportunities, great friends, wonderful professors, and fun times), I realize that it's okay to wax a little nostalgic about our college years. I was very blessed to attend college; it helped shape me into a better person and a (mostly) capable adult.

So...when it came time to visit the BYU campus with our kids, it only surprised me a little to see myself acting just like all those alumni I used to secretly mock. Growing older is a funny thing...

Now...onward to indoctrinate our kids!!!

One good thing about visiting campus as alumni...we got to park in Visitor Parking, right next to the Museum of Art! Yay...it's nice to get out of your car & walk right onto campus. We took a quick look back at the Bell Tower (I used to live quite close to it, up in the now-demolished Deseret Towers)...

Then it's time to cut through the Museum of Art. The main foyer still has that bizarro sculpture with sandstone on the bottoms and blue plastic "feathers" at the top. Yeah, I know...it's "art"...whatever. I still think it's goofy-looking.

Now here's something that's more relatable...especially given the company!!

After leaving the Museum of Art, we head right into the Harris Fine Arts Building, which was where I had many, many classes (as a journalism major and a music minor, I probably spent 2/3 of my time here). It's a pretty cool building, with a wide-open gallery area (somewhat blocked from view by Celeste's smiling mug...)

Walking south through campus, we run across yet more "art"--this time, it's the famous "Tree of Wisdom," just outside the Kimball Tower. It's been standing on campus (not always at its current location) since before I was born. Unfortunately, it's starting to look its age (just like me!!). The paint on a lot of the columns was peeling pretty badly. I hope someone will give it a facelift soon! Regardless, the girls had lots of fun "hiding" in the Tree of Wisdom's "trunk."

Next stop was close by--the Eyring Science Center. While certainly not a museum, the main entryway of the Science Center does have lots of neat hands-on physics experiments, and some pretty cool items on display...

...such as this giant geode the girls are admiring.

After a little more walking around campus, the girls started getting hungry. Nathan was off visiting one of his old professors, so I took the girls to one of my old haunts for lunch...the Cougareat, of course!

 

In this, however, I had some regret. Since this was an early July visit, we weren't the only people visiting campus. There were also THOUSANDS of youth there for EFY week--ugh! Needless to say, it was VERY crowded & noisy. No way was I ever as obnoxious as these teenagers, right? RIGHT?? Oh, well, we managed to find a table and get a bite to eat...

 

There was even a floor show included with my meal, since Lorelai & Celeste (completely unprompted), got out of their chairs, stood on one leg each, and then favored me with their rendition of "I Am A Child of God." Wow.

Then, of course, it was time for dessert! And what better place to get dessert than the BYU Creamery?

 

As you can see by the picture, someone was a little TOO anxious to get her "licks" in. I had chocolate-peanut-butter swirl, and it was dee-licious. All the flavors were wonderful, though--I should seriously consider mail-ordering a gallon or two of Creamery Ice Cream for my birthday.

Once reunited with Nate, we all headed for the BYU Bookstore, where we exposed ourselves as the starry-eyed alumni we are.

 

We window-shopped for a while, then scoured the souvenir shelves for lots of Cougar-themed mementos to take home.

 

The girls were very happy with their purchases. Celeste got her very own BYU mug...

 

...and Lorelai got a new T-shirt, which she proudly wore as soon as the tag came off...

 

Nate and I thought about buying shirts for ourselves, but refrained...this time! However, we did get some swag for the window of our minivan...

 

Well, now every random passerby will know which school our family supports!

By this time, the girls were getting cranky, so it was time to bid our alma mater farewell...

 

Who knows if our girls will end up in Provo someday? We hope so...but only time will tell. It was great to see campus again...it brought back many happy memories. Of parties on the quad...of friends far & near...of professors who inspired me to be better...of a testimony that really came into its own as I prepared to serve a mission...and more. Thanks BYU for all the great times! Soon after this, we headed back to our life in AZ. Hopefully another trip to Utah will come soon...thanks to all the friends & family we visited there for making our trip such a good one!

Thanksgiving Point: A Few Thoughts

During our trip to Utah, we visited Thanksgiving Point twice...and I was reminded what an interesting beast of a place it is. For those of you not in the know, Thanksgiving Point is a large complex located near the Point of the Mountain in north Utah County. It's a garden/museum/farm/events center/golf course/park amalgam, and consists of a series of loosely affiliated buildings and grounds in a sprawling multicomplex.

Long story short, it's got a little something for everybody, especially if the "everybody" in question is a bunch of kids. My generous sister Jocelyn, who has a membership to Thanksgiving Point, has helped us get in to many of the different exhibits/events on her card. I visited Utah last October, before Aurora was born, and my girls had lots of fun at the Museum of Ancient Life, as seen below...

Lorelai & Celeste rode on a baby dinosaur;

looked at a bunch of wildlife dioramas;

tinkered around with several science experiment stations;

checked out a bunch of dinosaur bones;

and narrowly escaped being eaten by a huge shark, among other things.

Flash-forward now to this summer. We're back in UT, and have some time to kill. The Museum of Ancient Life is a blast, but it's warm outside now, and there are many more activities to do outdoors. As a result, we took not one, but two more trips to Thanksgiving Point, visiting a different location each time.

First, we visited the Children's Discovery Garden, a kid-friendly park adjacent to Thanksgiving Point's sprawling "themed" gardens. There was a lot to do here, too, but due to cranky kids, the experience was something of a mixed bag:

Here's cousin Simon, separated from me by a splash pad (hence the wet sidewalk). Behind him is a small hedge maze, which all the kids loved and solved (maybe a little too easily).

Just beyond the maze area was the Bear Cave--yes that's right, the Bear Cave. It's artificial, of course, but it includes a neat little tunnel that kids can use to get underground to see the bears...

...or, in this case, used by Daddy to get aboveground after visiting the bear statue:

the girls loved to ride on the bear!

There were lots of nice landscapes to explore & climb around on throughout the garden, such as this "rock face." There were also a few climbing sculptures:

Celeste enjoyed this "climbing centipede" a bit too much; she started crying when we pried her out of it, and basically didn't stop crying the whole rest of our stay. SIGH.

There were a few water-based exhibits on display too, including a lily pond (complete with oversized goldfish), and a man-made stream, in which the kids could build their own boats & float them down with the current.

While a nice concept, the stream was very muddy; there was a ton of dirt & sediment in the water, and there were lots of kids all along the stream tracking in more dirt. Jocelyn said that there used to be wood chips piled up alongside the water, to prevent the muddiness...sadly, they were absent that day. Worried that our kids would become a huge muddy mess (and wearied by their crying), we called it a day...but not before cooling off a bit at the large splash pad at the entrance of the garden:

It's a giant metal Noah's Ark surrounded by a shallow pool. Theoretically, the animals & windows are shooting out streams of water. Sadly, the Ark was broken that day too. At least the water was available to splash around in! Oh, well, better luck next time, I hope...

A few days later, we had a few hours free. This time, Jocelyn recommended the Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point, which included a large petting zoo. We were game to try again, so off we went.

Farm Country isn't just a farm--it's a museum too! Just past the admission desk, there's a series of exhibits that help teach kids about where their foods come from...

like this exhibit on milk pasteurization, for instance. Lorelai wanted to watch this mock conveyor belt all day long!

Certain animals were also being offered for sale--mostly fowl, like these baby chicks! We weren't in the market though, so we moved on to the "petting zoo" portion of the farm:

There were cows, donkeys, miniature horses, and sheep in this large barn, all waiting to be petted by happy little kids.

From there, it was on to the pony ride! This type of ride is often made available back home in Sahuarita (pony rides are a common offering at many community events), but hey--this time it's in the shade! Besides, a ride ticket was included in our admission, so it was "off to the races" for our girls.

Here's cousin Simon, winking for the camera--cute!!

The next portion of the farm may have been Celeste's favorite--it was time to feed the animals! Each kid had a handful of corn feed (for a small additional fee--again, thanks, Jocelyn!), and then proceeded to give it to the many hungry farm animals--especially the goats:

It was lots of fun, and boy could those goats eat! The girls also got a special treat, because while we were there, a mama goat actually gave birth to two baby kids. It was neat to see such tiny baby animals, even though they mostly kept close to mama in the safety of their pen:

There were other animals besides goats to see on the farm:

Llamas;

pigs;

ducks; and geese too!

There was also a random set of miniature "frontier" buildings; it looked an awful lot like Tiny Town, in fact. Luckily for the kids, there was a jailhouse among the small village, so they could play in the pokey:

The last stop on our farm tour was another indoor exhibit called "Soil to Market," which details every step of the planting & harvesting process. The whole thing was very detailed, but also VERY interactive and very accessible for kids. I was impressed...and so was Lorelai...

...especially when she got to learn about bugs in this interactive display. She also got to create her own "harvest," by planting food of her choice on the artificial trees and shrubs throughout the room.

Here she is, picking her "pears." All in all, it was a fun day--the farm was both a lot more informative and a lot more fun than the Discovery Garden. However, as a whole, I think Thanksgiving Point is a great place to visit on a trip to Utah; there are lots of visiting options available, and lots to keep your youngsters busy. I'm slightly envious of my sister's membership there, but grateful she was able to share the experience with us. We'll be back!

Enjoying the View(s) at Temple Square

Although we have many family members & friends we like to visit when in Utah, one of our favorite activities has always been to visit Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and partake of the peace and unique spirituality that is present there. We realized this year that we had never taken our children on a Temple Square tour...well, it was time to change that!

Our first stop was the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (formerly the Hotel Utah), located just east of Temple Square. It's now a multipurpose building owned by the LDS Church, and they keep it in beautiful shape. We were impressed, as always, by the lovely decor inside, particularly the main foyer, shown above.

Lorelai & Celeste got "acquainted" with Joseph Smith while on the main floor.

The top floors of the JSMB include two restaurants, some offices, and lovely scenic overlooks of Temple Square and downtown Salt Lake City:

As you can see by the crane here, Salt Lake City is undergoing a lot of construction at the moment--it's part of the multi-billion-dollar renovation City Creek project.

Driving through downtown was a crazy mess, but you could see the shape of things to come, and it looks like downtown Salt Lake will be even nicer when this is all said & done. Being in Utah, and seeing all the construction everywhere, has made both Nathan and myself forget there's a recession on; the Beehive State (on its surface at least) seems to be doing just fine!

This was our favorite view from atop the JSMB...

Afterwards, Celeste turned to me and said, "Mommy, in the temple we'll be a family FOREVER!" Well, coming from my sweet little 2-year-old...I admit I teared up. Kudos to her Primary teachers!

Our next stop was the Church Office Building, where it was fun to examine the directory in the lobby, and wonder what it must feel like to get called into the offices of "47E"...

After a short tour, we took another elevator ride to the top of the building, and got a very nice view of much of Salt Lake City, including the Capitol Building.

From here, it was on to the Conference Center, a truly remarkable (and beautiful) feat of engineering & design. I've attended one General Conference session here, and hope to be able to return someday.

The girls were duly impressed. What amazes me the most is that there are no seats with obstructed views in the whole room (which seats 21,000!).

A view of the temple from the Conference Center's Hall of Prophets, which contains a bust of each prophet in the current dispensation (the late great President Hinckley's bust is on the far left, looking out over the Conference Center that was built on his watch).

A view of the chandeliers & skylights in the Conference Center

One of my favorite bits of LDS art, "Ascent," by David Linn. Sorry about the flash! :( All the artwork hanging in the Conference Center is original artwork, including a whole wing with the complete set of Arnold Freiberg's famous Book of Mormon paintings (we saw this gallery just days after the artist's death--what a memorial!)

We finished our Conference Center tour up on the center's roof, which is a lovely garden with stone walkways--it's a bit incongruous. You feel like you're in a city park, then peer over the side of the building down to the street several stories below!

So, you may ask...did we ever make it to Temple Square itself? The good news--yes. The bad news--the kids were all pooped out by now, so we only managed a cursory walk through the square.

Lorelai is looking a little annoyed that I'm still snapping pictures... :)

When we visited the South Visitor's Center, we were able to catch a glimpse of a fascinating new exhibit...it's a large, scale model of the Salt Lake Temple, with full-replica interiors! It's a fascinating tool for temple-goers and casual visitors alike; it gives new insight to just how meticulously crafted the Salt Lake Temple is...

Unfortunately, this marked the limit of our kids' attention span. No Tabernacle visit, and only a short drop-by of each Visitor's Center (we also looked at the Christus statue in the North Visitors' Center). Oh well--when our family's a little older, we'll do our best to return and show them everything. We still really enjoyed ourselves; Salt Lake City is a beautiful city, and Temple Square is a big reason why. We are always grateful for the opportunity to visit.