Red Butte Gardens

(This pic is from their Facebook Page)

Friday night Mike and I went to our second concert this season at Red Butte Gardens.  And we have totally enjoyed the concerts there, so much so, we were pretty excited when one of Mike's co-workers mentioned that they were going to the last concert of the season, Trombone Shorty And The Orleans Avenue, and that there were tickets still available!  The next day we listened to a few of their songs on You Tube, and decided we had to go!!  Anyway, the first concert we went to was Diana Krall, she was amazing.  Then the most recent one was Dead Can Dance...really great too!  Originally for Friday's concert, the plan was for Mike to get a ride to work that morning, and then I would pick him up.  But, his ride fell through the last minute, so he left his car at work, and we decided to go up Saturday to bring the kids to the Gardens, and pick his car up.  We had been planning to take them there this summer anyway, so it really worked out well.  Although, it was pretty hot!!  We would like to go back when it is a little cooler and have a picnic with them.  They have lots of little areas in the shade with tables and chairs to set up a nice picnic.


                  (This pic is from their Facebook Page too)

One of my favorite things there is the duck pond.  The ducks are very friendly, and will even eat out of your hands.  We have been really impressed with Red Butte Gardens...they are very environmentally friendly, and have recycling there at the concerts and throughout the gardens...we plan to stay members for many years to come.   We would even love to take the kids to a concert next year, when they are a little older and can handle a late night.

(Forgot the nice camera, but got these on our phones)

Shame on Pennsylvania

Politics is not something I have ever posted on this blog, but I feel that people really need to see what is going on in our country.  They are passing laws in some states that require people to have voter ID's.  You may think this isn't a big deal, but what it does is make it harder for Seniors and poor people to vote.  A lot of seniors don't drive anymore, so they do not have a valid driver's license.  ID's also cost money and time to obtain which can be difficult for this demographic.

Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Mike Turzai doesn't even try to hide their agenda when he spoke at a meeting of the Republican State Committee in Hershey PA on June 23rd 2012. (video link below)

If you don't want to watch it, this is what he says:

"Voter ID, which is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania-DONE!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuOT1bRYdK8

How in the world is this legal?  How can anyone be OK with suppressing people's votes?!  EVERY U.S. Citizen has the right to vote.  Shame on P.A. for doing this.

Pleasant Grove Farmers Market

Our friend Heather, who is in a band called 'Callanish', posted on her Face Book that they were going to be playing at the Pleasant Grove Farmer's Market tonight.  We decided to take the kids out for a little change in scenery.  We bought a wood carved tic-tac-toe game, and a couple of cute owl purses (below).  The kids mostly enjoyed playing at the playground, and got to stay up an extra hour, so they didn't complain too much about going to bed when we got home.  All in all, it was a good time, and it was nice to be in our old town for an evening.  (P.S. My phone takes lousy pics, but O-well, the last 2 pics are from Mike's phone, his takes much better ones!)

Swimming Lessons

Liam started swimming lessons back in June at the Legacy Center.  The time they offered the group lessons did not work with our schedule, so we decided to try the private lessons.  The private lessons there are a bit on the spendy side, but they do offer you a day pass after your lesson, so that is nice.  The first day that I took him, I had a hard time getting him to leave.  We stayed for an extra 2 hrs. sliding, and going down the lazy river.  I had pre-paid for 3 lessons after that, then an opportunity to sign up for lessons near Grandma's house came up, and we tried it out for a week before the teacher left on vacation for 2 weeks.  He really loved it, and so he is back at it this week, and Rowan also started today.  She really took to it, and Grandma says she loved blowing bubbles, and was really happy the whole time.

Last night, before Rowan's first lesson today, as I was putting the kids to bed, Liam called his sister to his room. When I turned around, they were both laying on the floor, while he was teaching her some swim moves. He is such a sweet big brother....and it was a good laugh, watching him teach her how to kick, and blow bubbles.

Birthday

Thought it was pretty cool when I went to Google today and saw this Happy Birthday picture, just for me!  

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do today.  I got pretty lucky that my birthday landed on a Friday this year.  We thought of maybe going out to a nice restaurant for dinner, just me and Mike, but I came down with a head cold earlier this week, and didn't feel like spending a lot on a dinner I couldn't taste.  So unfortunately, I had already cancelled the babysitter, because I was actually feeling a lot better, and would have enjoyed a night out.  Thankfully, we will enjoy a belated date later this weekend when we go out to brunch and see Wicked!!  Looking forward to that!

Anyway, Mike's Friday off landed on my birthday, so we decided to take the kids to Jungle Jim's in Midvale.  They have all sorts of carnival type rides there, and the kids really had a great time. We started on the bumper cars.  They also had a carousel, Jungle patrol jeep ride, swings, flying jets, roller coaster, spinning tops, slides, and games.  Liam really did great at skee ball too.  We stayed for a couple hours, then went home for lunch and quiet time.  I think we will order Thai later.  Here is a picture of them on the jeeps...check our SM site for video's later!!

Butterflies!

Here is a video of our evening...this is our 4th time raising them from caterpillars, and I am still completely amazed at the whole process!  The kids love it too, and it is so fun seeing their reactions at each stage in their life.

Father's Day Fun!

Since we sold our Audi, and said Audi could NOT make it up to Alta lodge without oil dripping, and causing the engine to smoke, I got the bright idea to celebrate the sale of the car by going to Alta lodge for an all you can eat brunch with the kids.  And it just so happened to land on Fathers day too. (BTW, we were completely honest to the buyers about the smoking issues, they were fine with it because the car was going to be mainly used for around town).  

Anyway, we were missing the mountains, and have not been there for probably 6 yrs. and thought it might be fun to take the kids up there for some delicious food and fun.  The really nice thing about that canyon is it feels like you are so far away from it all, but it really is actually not that far to drive to!  So it makes for a great little mini day vacation.  We got up to Alta Lodge around 10am for our reservations.  Liam wanted to eat inside, which was probably best since it was a bit breezy, but the view was still beautiful out the window.  Rowan actually did much better than Liam, which was a little surprising.  She especially loved the bran muffin they had, but was NOT a fan of the Pate which she thought was hummus, or the cheese cake.  She made the best disgusted faces we've seen!!  Liam did OK, but had a hard time listening and sitting still. 

After brunch we drove down to Snowbird, they had a festival going on, so there were lots of fun activities for the kids.  We took them down the Alpine slide for the first time.  And after that we let them play on the bounce house for almost an hour.  We had to bribe them with ice-cream to get off!  We didn't find any ice-cream, but did find some shaved ice, which they really liked.  Mike did find an ice-cream shop in one of the buildings when he took Liam to the bathroom, so next time we will know!  We were only up there 4 hrs. but we totally wore the kids out, and ourselves.  But we ALL had a really great day!