Phony Beatle-mania

Hot! A single word can sum up how the weather has been in Salt Lake for the past few days. 100 degrees +, is definitely not my kind of weather. Bill and I have been planning an escape route (ie: vacation) to somewhere cooler, but last night we got a heat-wave reprieve. Lisa, (my most amazingly connected sister) offered us tickets to the "Classical Mystery Tour" performance up at Deer Valley. It was a concert featuring the Utah Symphony playing with a Beatles Tribute band. Since William has been working so hard learning Beatles tunes (so far "Here Comes the Sun" and "Let it Be") on the piano, Lisa thought he might enjoy this performance.

The Deer Valley setting could not be more beautiful--lush and green and cool. We settled into the spot that we carved out for ourselves on the grass and were enjoying the cool evening breeze (see photo) when the heavens opened and it began to pour. That is when we realized why it was so lush and green and cool. Like I said before, it was 100 degrees in Salt Lake and it looked like it might never rain again in the valley. None of us even considered the fact it might rain in the mountains, and therefore we were woefully unprepared! No umbrellas, no plastic rain ponchos, no tarp for the blanket, nothing. Apparently we were in the minority, because at the first drop, out popped thousands of umbrellas and all sorts of rain gear. We sat there in the rain with programs over our heads, looking like we needed a boy-scout course in preparedness.

The music was great and even in the rain, the concert was so much fun. Both William and Romney loved hearing the songs they love performed by a "band" that broke up 28 and 32 years (respectively) before they were born. High point: "George" singing Here Comes the Sun with William humming along -- a triple rainbow breaking over the mountains beside us!

Kid Kongs Attack France

Bill had the day off today. No reason really, other than he works his butt off at work and his boss told him to have a free day. We thought we would show him what we do all day (play!).

First we visited France, then we hit up Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Switzerland. After that we headed over to Japan, Vietnam, China, and Korea. As you can imagine, after that we were hot and tired, so we left the International Peace Gardens ;) and headed over to the Kearns/Oquirrh Park Pool.


We have never been to this pool before, but it was a fantastic one for families. It had 3 separate pimped out kiddie pool areas as well as a lap/swim pool and an indoor pool complete with a fun slide. We spent 3 fun-filled hours there, much longer than we normally swim.

We came home and Bill made us a great BBQ dinner. The perfect end to a summer day. Needless to say, Bill thinks my job ROCKS his during the summer, and I respectfully agree. . . although, I don't seem to get days off as easily as he does.

Speedy Gon-summer

Another week of summer has FLOWN by. I am in awe at the speed at which sunny days fly by vs. the speed (or lack of it) at which cold and snowy days creep by. Soon the summer will be a memory and we will be on our way to the only other season I like better, Fall.

Before, I start putting up Halloween decorations...

This week has been a bit slower paced and it has been a nice break. The kids both have swimming lessons in the evenings. Both boys are doing really well and enjoying their time in the water. William, however, has decided he only likes "private" pools not "public" ones. (We got spoiled when our friends with private pool access were in town.) Luckily, he has a good friend in his class with him, which makes having to have "public" pool lessons a little less difficult. I also think having a cute teacher might be easing his discomfort, as well.

Romney loves the water and could care less if we are having lessons at a county pool. He loves going. He loves swimming. He likes his teacher. He loves everything about the whole deal. His friend isn't in his class, he is in another level at the same time. I was worried that Romney would be upset by this turn of events, but it seems to not have dampened his enthusiasm for the lessons.

William had an exciting thing happen to him this week. Leapfrog has FINALLY made a gaming system for older kids that is meant to compete with the likes of Nintendo DS or the PSP. The poor, deprived child is not allowed to have one of those "other" gaming systems, but he did talk us into letting him buy this thing. It isn't even in the stores yet, but his ULTRA cool mother had one shipped from the company and in his grubby little gaming hands within 5 days of ordering it. It is a treat for both of us. It has alleviated (so far) the daily request (whine) for a DS. Hallelujah! Bless you Leapfrog!

Bill being home has done wonders for the household "to do" list. Bill has been pouring concrete all week and has finished "project: front stairs repair". We are ready to move on to "project: rebuild back patio" and "project: run a few new sprinkler lines". With a little luck we will be able to move on to "project: family vacation to Seattle/Canada to cool off". Time and money permitting. That reminds me, we also finished "project: get/renew passports" this week and have already received them in the mail! Miracles do happen!

The end of this week included a REAL Salt Lake soccer game complete with Pioneer Day Fireworks. Bill took the boys as well as a friend and his kids, while his wife and I rented a movie and had a chic night at her house. My idea of the perfect soccer game! Soccer widows hanging out doing something other than watching soccer for 90+ minutes. The only time I hope for lots of stoppage time! On the way home from her house I drove up above the capitol just in time to watch fireworks over the city. I drove up East Capitol Blvd. and sat and enjoyed for several minutes before heading all the way home. (The picture at the top of the blog is not mine, but was found via google here.)

Looking through the Zion Curtain

In an attempt to entertain myself (I mean "the kids") this summer, we are having mini-adventures. Today's adventure took us to Utah County (we made it through the "Zion Curtain" at the point of the mountain). We first hit the Springville Art Museum. I had been there as a kid, maybe in college once. It is an anomaly in the middle of this tiny-hick town. It was fabulous. It is in an old building that is just as cool as the art inside. We saw an exhibit by Wayne Theibaud, who was previously unknown to me. After seeing some of his pieces, I am now a fan.



Nothing says culture like a room full of dead animals right? Does this photo creep anyone else out? I actually decided to go to the Monte L. Bean museum of Life Science ("Life", but everything is dead in there:) after I saw some photos taken there at an Art Stroll. The photographer had made the animals appear even FREAKIER than they are in real life, all stuffed and perfectly still. I wanted to try some similar things to see if I could use that technique in other ways. The boys loved it. They thought it was bizarre instead of repugnant, and "bizarre" is cool in boy world.



To top off our visit to random Utah Valley destinations, we stopped at Porter's Place in Lehi for milkshakes. The kids loved stepping into the "old west" and couldn't wait to plant their little bums in the bar stools made from tractor seats. Romney exclaimed with joy when he saw his shake "It's as big as my head!"

And with that I was entertained!

Discovery

Another summer day, another adventure. William had a piano lesson bright and early at 9:30 this morning. Since we were already pointed south for the lesson, we went to Gardner Village and discovered a yummy candy store and a toy store going out of business. After Gardner Village we went to Barnes and Noble and discovered a $65 special edition Harry Potter #7 book %75 off. The children discovered the joy of shopping clearance and store closing sales.




Next we all discovered that the DISCOVERY GATEWAY children's museum is more tolerable when not crowded. In fact, we discovered if you take some friends along, it is almost enjoyable. (Almost!)





I also re-discovered how different my children are. I had William on one hand, asking me to keep my eyes on him (literally-- he would not step foot on the wall until I had my eyes on him) so he could climb up a rock wall that had a sign posted "Adult Supervision Required". I had Romney on the other hand turning employees into the enemy when they unknowingly joined his imagining game. He was playing he was a robber stealing all the food from the farm. The worker made the mistake of playing along by "stealing" it back (ie: cleaning it up for him) The poor employee was rewarded by Romney jumping on her trying to bring her down to the floor. He thought she wanted to play along. One with his feet firmly in the "literal", one with his feet firmly in the imagined. My own personal version of the Yin and the Yang.

Weirdo

May I introduce my son Romney, who is weird. He comes by it honestly,for if you must know, I also am a bit of a weirdo. Last night he spent half an hour spinning and giggling-- shirtless with a neck full of plastic beads he received a month ago at a pirate party. It was part of his take-home pirate booty.






In case that behavior wasn't weird enough, he came out of his room a few minutes later, laughing maniacally and said "I am wearing my shirt on my legs and my pants on my head!" Proud and weird!

Soccer Stars

This is what our family is doing this week. SOCCER. The kids both have soccer camps this week. If you need me between the hours of 9 am until 1 pm, Monday-Friday of this week, I can be found on the soccer field. Watching soccer. Again. I am just thankful not to be a baseball or a basketball mom. I really couldn't stand to watch those two. Did I mention there are also 2 Real Soccer games this week that the boys are going to. Really, not enough, yet?

Onto news that makes me happy: Bill finished his semester last night and we now get to enjoy about 6 weeks of uninterrupted family time! That is a very big deal around our house. I have my husband back (for a few weeks anyhow.)

One of Those Days

Some days I have to say I really love my job. Today was one of those days. We were busy from noon until night (literally) in the best possible ways. We tried out a new indoor kid place called "Kangaroo Zoo". It is an air-conditioned (or heated, pick your season) room full of giant bounce structures. They have some set aside for little kids or some seriously scary ones for the bigger, more adventurous kids. Not only were all 8 of the kids we came with entertained for 2 1/2 hours, not only did they get great exercise and are currently sleeping soundly, not only did they get quality play time with their buddies-- but (wait for it) they provide the parents with a comfortable and quiet lounge area complete with wireless access and a computer to use as well. GENIUS! This place is practically perfect. Did I mention that they also offer a date night special? You can drop off the kids and have them babysat while parents enjoy alone time (what is that?) I think I am in love! Did I mention it was air-conditioned? Ahhhh...

After the fun that is Kangaroo Zoo, we headed over to visit some friends who have been out of town for 3 weeks. We normally see them every day, so we were going through withdrawal. We broke for dinner and then picked them up again to go to a fun science presentation at the library tonight about the science of bugs. We ran into the same friends we had seen earlier at Kangaroo Zoo as well as others from the ol' neighborhood. We rolled home around 8:30 and put the boys to bed.

There are days I really love my job, and wouldn't trade it for a desk job! Today was one of those days.