Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend. Jared, Jodie, Cameron & Brett came down from Boise for a weekend of non-stop fun. Jared & Jodie planned all the activities, Jesse and I just tagged along with them. Grandma & Grandpa Howe also came with us.

Our first stop was the Living Planet Aquarium. It was much better than the first time we took Russton. We actually felt like we got our moneys worth. We loved the fish, the octopus, the alligators, the jelly fish, the sting rays (which you can touch), and most of all the penguins!!

After all the excitement of the aquarium, everyone needed a little rest. However, Russton had napped in the car and I didn't want him to take another nap for fear of him never falling asleep that night. So he and I went on our own adventure to the Church History Museum and Temple Square. Our hotel was just around the corner from both, so we took a little walk. The Church history museum has an 'I am a child of God' exhibit. It was fun. Russton had a ball doing all the activities there. They also have an exhibit about the Tabernacle on Temple Square, I recommend seeing this one (not that being my father's daughter makes me bias or anything :) ). There are lots of interesting things to learn about the Tabernacle there. After seeing all there was to see (or all that Russton cared to see) in the museum we crossed the street to Temple Square. I absolutely love that place. I always feel the Spirit so strongly when I walk through the gates. The flowers and trees were SO beautiful, I was enormously glad that we had decided to go. The gates were open to get on the temple grounds so we walked all around the temple. As we came around the corner of the temple, a bride & groom were just coming out. Russton saw them and shouted, "A Princess!" I wish the bride had heard.

Our next stop was Discovery Gateway. This is a fantastic children's museum! We played and explored for quite a while. This is a must for families with children. If you've never been to Discovery gateway, you won't be disappointed. There are so many things to do there!! We stayed all afternoon and didn't do everything. They even have a real helicopter that kids can climb in. Russton didn't love that, but Brett and Cameron did.
Even big kids love Discovery Gateway. The grown-up guys spent lots of time engineering and creating this masterpiece.
At that point the all little guys were pretty worn out. So Grandma & I stayed with them at the hotel while the others went to a laser show at the planetarium.

The next day was packed with fun also. The little guys loved the rides & mini-golf at Hollywood Connection. I was really surprised that Russton enjoyed them too. I thought for sure he would get scared, but he loved it. He asked to go again and again! Look out Lagoon here we come!


The whole point of this weekend was to go see Thomas the Tank Engine in Heber City. I've never been on a real train before (I've done light rail, and the train at Lagoon but those pale in comparison), it was massive and so amazing. I think we're going to try to get up to Heber City for another train ride this year. Besides the train ride, the boys got Thomas stickers, played with some Thomas toys, did some mini-golf, saw Sir Topham Hatt, explored the gift shop (with everything Thomas you could ever want) and got their pictures by Thomas. The little boys really enjoyed themselves and I'm really glad we went!

After we saw Thomas we went to the Utah Olympic Park. This was really fun. We got to watch some aerial skiers practicing. They have a ski museum, a HUGE zip-line and the Alpine Slide. Jodie & Cameron did the Alpine Slide. It looked like fun, I should've done it. Maybe next time.

And if you are brave enough you can take a ride on the bobsled track. Yes, the one that was used in the 2002 Olympic games for bobsled, luge and skeleton. Brave civilians can pay $$ to ride in a summer practice bobsled with a trained bobsled driver. The track has 15 turns and descends 400 feet from beginning to end. During the ride the sled can go up to 70 mph creating 4- to 5-G forces around the turns. Some people even call it 'the minute of terror.' You'd have to be crazy to try it!! This is a few pictures of said crazy people trying it out.