Mini Vacation Part 1

Aug 18th - Our summer came and went and we didn't really do any big or exciting trips or anything. I found a pass one day on Groupon that was a Salt Lake City pass that included tons of attractions and we decided to buy them and make a trip out of it. We had been planning to take the kids to the zoo anyway, so this was a good excuse to make one last fun little summer adventure and go to some fun places for a good deal. So, we loaded the kids into the car when Daddy got home from work one Thursday and started driving. They didn't know what we were doing or where we were going, but they were excited! As soon as we took the exit, Logan guessed where we were going (after a few tries...) because we had gone there about a year or so before - First, we had to stop and pick up our passes and then we started our fun little getaway weekend at the Discovery Children's museum at Gateway and the kids had a great time! We got kind of a late start, so we didn't have a lot of time, but it was enough to try everything.
As soon as you walk into this museum, there is a huge thing they called the Beehive that has all sorts of pipes that you put balls into and it transports them all around. The kids love playing there and could stay there for hours putting the balls in the different pipes and watching what happens to them. I love Avery's face in this picture!
Rylee at the beehive
Logan peeking into one of the pipes
Avery
Another favorite was the big water works table
I think the girls could have spent all day in the little pretend grocery store. They loved filling up their carts and putting it all back again and doing lots of shopping! She wanted to eat the pretend food.... Kind of gross when you think of how many kids have touched that!
Avery chilling in this truck with the apple she "bought" at the grocery store. I thought she looked so funny sitting up there.
Oops.... She is eating this one, too.
The girls also took a ride on this horse. Avery is really into horses right now for some reason. While the girls were busy doing that, Logan took a turn on the climbing wall. He was quite proud of himself that he could make it all the way to the top by himself. Of course, it was only about 6 feet tall, but he still thought it was pretty cool.
Rylee found this garden with all the vegetables for the store. She loaded up the cart over and over and took some to the store and then replanted them again. She loved this part! There was a little toddler playland and Avery really liked the little treehouse they had. Especially the little furniture.
She also liked the playhouse and did some ironing.
Logan spent a lot of his time working on the construction site. They could haul these "boulders" around and build things with them. Logan got quite bossy here! He wanted everyone to build it just the way he wanted and he was really into it. Rylee lifting a HUGE boulder! She had fun building, too. I love their cute hard hats and vests.
Avery cruising in this police car
Rylee working on a creation with Magnetix
Logan loved trying out the newscaster desk. He did a pretty good job hosting his own news show for us. He actually could have quite a future in this if paleontology doesn't work out. He seems to have a talent for it and loves doing it. Or a sports announcer. He practices a lot!
Running to the helicoptor on the roof. They thought this part was pretty cool...
Driving a REAL helicoptor
Some pretty cute passengers
Some more of the cockpit - They loved using the controls.
Logan is really into it!
Cute girls in the back
Avery finally got a turn!
We had to drag her out of here to let someone else have a turn. She really didn't want to go.
These were giant foosball figures. Kind of random but the girls thought they looked cool in them.
Rylee checking herself out in the mirror
At the end of seeing everything, Logan disappeared for a minute. He had gone down the stairs and back to the ball beehive. We spent a little more time there and there weren't as many kids since it was almost closing time, so Avery got to play a little more and try some different things. She thought it was so funny when the ball got sucked up the pipe. She put them in over and over again and was laughing and having a great time!
All done at the Children's Museum for the day! We stayed until they closed and then it was off for some more fun

Next, we walked over to the Planetarium. Our passes included an Imax movie there, but there wasn't anything the kids would like that was playing soon, so instead we just checked out some of the displays and Logan loved all the Harry Potter stuff they had in the gift shop. We even ended up getting Uncle Kyle a Gryffindor beanie for his birthday. Rylee thought this steam was cool. They didn't want to cooperate for a picture. Can you tell??? Rylee looking into the telescope. Love her face!
They had these landscapes that were supposed to look like Mars and the moon. It was one of Logan's favorites. He even got to see a REAL moon rock!
My cute little Martians
Just to prove I was there....Me and the kids on the moonAnd Daddy and the kids on Mars

Our passes also included dinner at the Lion House Pantry. We had never been there before but it was YUMMY!!! On the way to the restaurant, Avery saw one of those carriages and horses. She loved waving to the horses and was so excited to see them! Not sure about this face....
Not sure what this face is about - she really liked her dinner! We all ate a lot because it was so good!
Logan having some of his dessert
Our delicious dinner! Next, we decided to walk around Temple Square since we were right there. All the flowers were so pretty. I love that Rylee asks me to take her picture with the flowers (and just about everywhere else!) At least she puts up with all my picture taking pretty well and I don't have to torture her as much as the others!
So pretty! I wish I really knew what I was doing with my camera so I could have captured this. The lighting looked amazing when we came out of dinner with the sun setting behind the temple.
Logan with the flowers... He isn't as patient!
Experimenting with my cameraAvery thought this statue was so funny for some reason. She stood there and talked to it and pointed to it for awhile. By the time she left, she was calling it "Smif" because it was Joseph Smith.
Rylee being her sassy selfAvery with the flowers
I really wanted a picture of the kids in front of the temple. The lighting wasn't very good because it was starting to get dark, but we made an effort anyway.
Logan...with only one shoe...
AveryRylee
Just sitting by the reflection pond
I think she would have gone right in if we would have let her. Especially when she saw the money!
Our family at the temple
I had someone take this for us. This is the cropped in version. They took mainly a picture of the sidewalk. I guess I should have specified that I would like the temple in the background.
Just some playing around with the camera...
The temple was really cool looking at the time we were there with the sun setting and the pink from the clouds. I couldn't stop snapping pictures and these are only a few of the MANY i took.
Walking around the TempleOne of the sister missionaries told us that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was in the Conference Center rehearsing and that we could go and listen so we went over there for a little bit. Our kids had never been inside the Conference Center and they thought it was cool to be where we watch General Conference. The choir sounded amazing! This isn't a very good picture. They were recording so we weren't allowed to use a flash.
The back side of water was really entertaining, too.
What a fun day! By the time we finished up all our stuff, it was past NINE o'clock! We drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a sleepover, which the kids always love, and to rest up for another day of fun!