Fun At Thanksgiving Point

After our first weekend in UT, we sat down and planned out several more outings throughout the week. Sometimes Nathan and I dislike having every moment of vacation planned out. But this time, it turned out okay, because we got a lot of fun squeezed into five little days. And even after our "planning session," we still managed to sneak in a fair amount of reading time and naps throughout the week. However, I realize reading time and naps aren't why you read this blog (plus they're really boring to photograph). So, on with the vacation photos!

Possibly my favorite thing about our trip to UT this year was seeing how much fun my girls had with their cousins. My siblings and I all started our families a few years apart, so our kids' ages don't match up perfectly, but I am happy that it hasn't been a huge obstacle to their becoming friends. Lorelai in particular (who is seven going on eight years old) developed a close bond with Elaine (ten years old going on eleven); for long stretches of the week the two were inseperable, giggling and retreating to have some "girl time" alone. It was kind of heartwarming to see my girl acting so "big" and have so much fun.

Which isn't to say my younger daughters had a bad time...they loved every minute! For one thing, Aurora was happy to chase after the Carlin's dog, Zorro, for most of every day (it was less clear whether Zorro fully reciprocated the affection). And Celeste had fun alternately with her younger cousin Caroline, and also with Simon and Elaine who are several years older. Nice to see I have such accommodating, generous nieces...and such outgoing, friendly daughters!

Monday (after playing in the water all afternoon, as seen above), the family rounded up a lot of food and headed over to a large park in Lehi for a very laid back family reunion. My parents had invited all our extended family in the area to come join us for dinner in the park. We all thought it would be a good way to see a lot of the family without taking the entire week to commute from place to place and spend most of our time on the road.

We certainly brought enough food to feed a small army!

As was expected, not everybody made the dinner, but we still got to see several beloved faces that night. Uncle Mark & Aunt Betta Nash came from Tooele; Uncle Bud & Aunt Vicki Strong came from Salt Lake City. Two of the Strong's daughters stopped by as well: Anna, with her husband and daughter; and Larissa (probably my closest cousin growing up; we were pen pals for many years). Larissa just got married in February, and it was great to meet her new husband; he was an awesome guy and it was great to catch up with all of them.

It was a nice evening with good food, lots of playgrounds to keep the kids busy, and some good visiting time with our family. I had such a great time, in fact, that I forgot to photograph our family all together. Agh! Oh well, you'll have to take my word for it that it happened. I will treasure the pictures in my mind, whereas all my readers have naught but my simple word to go on. Oh well.

Aurora, keepin' cool.

The next day (Tuesday), we were hard at play again...this time, we chose to spend most of the day at Thanksgiving Point, a sprawling entertainment center with a little something for everybody. We spent the morning at the famed Thanksgiving Point Gardens. You may say, "'It's just a big garden. Not all that unique, right?'" But I was definitely impressed; there is obviously a lot of care and love that goes into these gardens, and it's nice to have something so beautiful for the community to enjoy. Not to mention--it's a huge garden, with a lot of cool stuff to look at.

Here are some of the highlights:

Nathan rolling down a huge hill. Of course that's a highlight.

Did I mention it was a really big hill?

Feeding the ravenous swarming giant goldfish

Look at those gaping mouths and iridescent scales...I honestly don't know if this is beautiful, creepy, or a little of both

Poor Uncle Ray got stuck inside the goldfish pond to retrieve a shoe Charlotte threw in...and five minutes later, just after the shoe had been retrieved, Charlotte threw in her sippy cup as well. Ray was in that pond for a while...

He had to pass the time swatting fish who were trying to nibble his toes! Here's the brave warrior with his little stick.

Aurora, Laura, Celeste, & Caroline goofing off together

Top view of a lovely terraced French-styled garden

Ray and Charlotte standing next to the pools in the terraced garden (they look a bit like bathtubs from this angle)

Bottom view of the French garden--lovely!

Archway in the aptly named Secret Garden (you have to enter it through a small door hidden in a wall)

Leaving the Secret Garden

This is what it looks like walking out of the Secret Garden

Large amphitheater in the Garden, backed by an artificial waterfall. It's used for concerts most of the year.

Walking along the top of the waterfall

 

 After grabbing a quick lunch at a nearby fast food restaurant, we headed back for Round Two of Thanksgiving Point...albeit a different part of Thanksgiving Point. We ventured indoors, escaping the hot afternoon sun by checking out the dinosaurs in the Museum of Ancient Life. Good times were had.

This was a large series of gears that measured the passage of time in different increments

Watching an actual paleontologist at work! We played our girls the They Might Be Giants song "I Am A Paleontologist" at this point, to complete the moment.

Walking through "space," aka, a dark tunnel with starry pinpoints of light throughout

See the stars??

A small tunnel that just about everyone climbed through at some point...

...including Uncle Ray...

...and Simon and Caroline, too!

 

You could assemble your own dinosaurs from the bones on this huge magnet board. Nathan and my dad (Grandpa Nash) both had a huge manic episode at this board, and stayed behind to assemble the dinosaurs for an extra half-hour, long after the grandkids had tired of the activity and moved on. Below are the proud results of their OCD-fueled work:

A mock stream-bed, where visitors can "mold" the earth/sand, and study how water flows...

...and, of course, bury dinosaurs in the sand.

A rare shot of Aurora & Caroline together...the two were usually off doing their own thing and rarely collaborated.

Nate getting eaten by a shark

Ha! Loved this diorama, with the mammoth stepping on and crushing this yelling human skeleton

The final room of the museum...essentially a huge sand pit where kids can "dig" for "dinosaur bones"

Most of our kids just had fun goofing off in the sand!

By the end of this trip, the younger kids were getting pretty tired out. Our kids still had enough energy left to horse around on the front lawn...

...but before too long, their exhausted bodies clamored for sleep, and they were snoring up a storm in our basement guest room.

The adults spent several evenings of this week playing board games together, laughing, and chatting. We're glad we had so much fun with the kids throughout the day, but it was also a nice relief to have some "grown-up" time too. More to come!