Zoo Day!

Since the weather was supposed to be absolutely beautiful, we went to The Hogle Zoo this past Sunday. Having always gone to The Milwaukee Zoo since I was my kids' ages, I was worried that it was not going to match up. It was surprisingly comparable, though. There were no polar bears and their other bear exhibit is under construction, but aside from that it was very similar. We did the train ride and carousel and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

All of us waiting in line for Nature's Nightmares:
The kids with a life-sized gorilla statue:
Lauren and some camels:
Carousel rides:Baby Zuri:Looking at the penguins:My favorites, the giraffes:The kids showing me the tortoises:Such a fun and beautiful day!

Temple Square and SLC Capitol Building

We took Heather and Vivi to downtown Salt Lake City, today. The weather was gorgeous and the flowers were blooming, so it was an absolutely beautiful day.

The first stop was Temple Square which is to the Mormons what the Vatican is to Catholics. The grounds and buildings are absolutely beautiful and meticulously maintained. We counted at least 8 brides/grooms getting photos taken on the grounds in front of the main temple and fountains. Absolutely picturesque.

From the middle of the Square to one end:

Todd, I and the kids in front of one of the fountains with the Temple in the background:

One more shot of the landscaping::

Next stop...Utah State Capitol (By the way, my kids stink at taking pictures. Either they are not all looking at the camera or someone has their eyes closed, so, I am totally disregarding how they look and putting in ones where I look halfway decent because if I waited for a good shot of all of us there would be no pictures. Grrr):

Todd and the kids in the original State Room (I totally broke the rules and stepped over a velvet rope to get this shot. Go me!):

Me, Heather and the kids on the stairs in front of the House of Reps' Chambers (Notice neither Viv or LC are looking at the camera?):

Heather and I with Brigham Young::

After we were done downtown, we then took them on a driving tour of Hill AFB, some elk burgers at The Burger Bar and then headed home. Such a fun, full day. Can't wait to do it again when Uncle JJ gets here.:)

Birthday/Mother's Day weekend

On Friday, my birthday, Heather and Olivia came for a visit for the next few weeks. It has been so much fun showing them around and hanging out, talking ...and drinking.LOL

Here we are walking the Ogden River Trail:

Heather, with a buffalo (the lady in the truck behind her was screaming at us to "GET BACK IN YOUR CAR!" What. Everr):

Lauren and Vivi, having a tea party:

Mother's Day Brunch at Snowbird Resort:

Happy 5th Birthday, LC!

My baby is 5. She is no longer at an age where she is considered a toddler or even a preschooler. She is starting Kindergarten in the Fall, which she is so excited about. She can not wait to be in the same school as her brothers and keeps asking them to show her where her room is going to be. I don't even want to think about how I will be on her first day of school. I was hardly even able to make it through her Kindergarten Round-Up.

Where did my baby girl go?



Lauren got a baby doll that laughs, cries, slurps a bottle, and burps after she's fed. Her name is Sally and Lauren loves her:

Even Wyatt was interested in this "girl toy":

Such a good mommy, carrying her baby around:

Pretty, Pretty Princess

LC played dress up yesterday with her princess costume gear and her new make-up she got for Christmas.

It is obvious the girl will need some make-up application lessons. But lordy was she proud of herself.LOL

Zion National Park

Over the kids Spring Break holiday we went camping at Zion Nat'l Park in Southern UT. We left Thursday morning and got back Sunday afternoon, so it was 3 full days of outdoor fun filled with hiking, waterfalls, s'mores, campfires and gorgeous scenery.

Our campsite:

Todd and the kids around the fire:

Stopping for a rest on the Temple of Sinawava trail:

Skipping rocks on the Virgin River that runs through Zion. You can see parts of a waterfall on the back wall:

This is the end of the Temple of Sinawava trail which leads to another one that is called The Narrows. This trail is literally under the water and is one you have to wade through to see the whole thing. It's one we will attempt in a few years when the kids get older and taller, as the water can have a strong current.:

The next day we went to a site called Weeping Rock. It is a huge wall that water literally falls off of year round. The kids were so excited to see a waterfall up close and personal.

Us at Weeping rock:

You can see the waterfall and how wet the walls and floor are from the constant water:



Wyatt sharing a bite of his protein bar with LC on the hike back:

The next day, we went on a hike to a place called Emerald Pools. There are three pools--lower, middle, and upper. We went to the lower pool as the hike gets consistently more difficult the higher you go. Our kids are just not stable enough on their feet for us to do anything more than the easy-moderate hikes. The pools are absolutely beautiful. Huge waterfalls falling into pools at the bottom of the canyon. They are also very wet and get the trails very slick with wet clay.

Waterfall:

You can see the pool at the bottom of this pic and the rail for the trail to the side:

Me and the kids, behind the waterfall. You can see how wet the trail was. Yes, my OCD kicked in:

On the way back from the pools, we encountered this little area that was so cool. It was full of little holes and "caves" in the wall and the kids wanted to climb up to it and check it out:



On the way back from the pools, we stopped at some rocks that had some petroglyphs on it:


On our last day there, we drove to "the other side of Zion" which we had been hearing about the entire time we were there. There is a 1.1mile tunnel to go through to see the Checkerboard Mesa. On the way you see a major arch in the wall:

A mini tunnel after the long one:

Checkerboard Mesa:

The road back to the campground:


We also saw some longhorn sheep running along the rock walls on the way back home, but unfortunately didn't get pics of it. A wild Turkey also appeared at the side of the road on the second day and deer visited our campsite the first night. The kids were very excited to see these new animals. Since we've moved here, we've seen bison, antelope, moose and long-horn sheep. Now all we need to see is the elusive cougar, although I think Todd is happy NOT seeing one.LOL

It was a fun trip. Camping isn't my favorite thing to do, but the kids absolutely love it and we are making some wonderful memories doing it and THAT makes it all worth it.:)

Early Easter

We are leaving on a Camping trip to Zion National Park, today, for the kids' Spring/Easter break so the Easter Bunny came early to surprise the kids with their baskets.




Hope everyone has a happy Easter!