Check This Out

Temple Square

Two great things about Temple Square:
1. It's free
2. There is A/C in the buildings (ours is out at home and we've been dying)

We usually visit Temple Square in December to look at the Christmas lights and rarely spend our time in the Visitor's Centers. We started our visit in the North Visitor's Center.
The kids loved taking the escalators down to the basement. There are great models, displays and videos that explain about the scriptures. It included prophets from the old testament, new testament, Book of Mormon and latter-day prophets. There is also an amazing display about the Church humanitarian efforts around the world. My kids loved pushing the buttons to watch the videos and looking at the manequins that were all dressed up.

On the main floor is a very neat model of Jerusalem. When you push buttons, it highlights places on the model and shows you where things are such as the Garden of Gethsemane and the Hill of Calvary. There are also beautiful paintings of the Savior's life.

The upstairs was definitely a favorite. It's where the Christus statue is. It doesn't matter how old I get, I still marvel at this beautiful statue with the stars and planets around it.

We went inside the Tabernacle. The kids were amazed at the architecture and the sister missionaries were very informative about the building.
We also loved the exhibit about the building of the Salt Lake Temple in the South Visitor's Center. They have tools and blueprints, yolk and wagons, and hand-carved furniture from the temple.

We enjoyed the reflecting pool in front of the temple and the beautiful flowers by the Church Office Building. There is a lot of construction going on this summer- both inside and outside of temple square. They are busy working on the City Creek project across the road and inside, they have torn up a lot of sidewalks. But it didn't take away from the incredible beauty and awesome peace that is always found at Temple Square!

First Adventure of the Summer!!

On May 29, the Pony Express PTA will once again be sponsoring an outdoor movie.

Hotel for Dogs
Friday, JUNE 5
Silverlake Amphitheater
Eagle Mountain, Utah
movie starts at dark

Bring your whole family, blankets, pillows, jackets, etc.
Concessions will be available.
This is always a really fun time!!

DON'T MISS OUT ON THE FUN!

Cache Valley Pumpkin Walk

Peanuts

Click Clack Moo

5 Little Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed

When I lived in Cache Valley, one of my favorite things to do was attend the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan. I'm afraid I might miss it this year, but if you can make it, I highly recommend it. Each year they have a theme. This year's theme is "Calling All Heroes." Groups of people carve and decorate pumpkins and stage them in booths according to the theme. Every year, people become more creative. They add animation, costumes and music. You can go any time of day from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. If you go in the daytime, you can see lots of details and cool things, but if you go at night, it is all lit up. Expect to be patient in the evening as the lines can get very long. This is an incredible tradition that is worth the trip!!!

Admission is FREE!!! Click here for more information and directions.

Utah Illistrators at Springville Art Museum

13 September - 28 December 2008

A collection of children’s books illustrations, this exhibition showcases the work of 27 illustrators that have their roots in Utah. Appealing to both adults and children alike, the show will also display works that explore the process of creating illustrations for books. Each artist has their own unique style, but all add tremendously to the joy of reading! In fact, some illustrators will be at the museum during the opening and throughout the duration of the exhibition to do live readings of their books. Every Saturday at 11:00 the Museum will host Storytimes with the illustrators represented in the exhibit!

There are some amazing artists represented in this exhibit including James Christensen, Guy Francis (Mrs. McBloom Clean Up Your Classroom) and Mark Buehner (Snowmen at Night, Fanny's Dream).

Fumi Kosaka will be reading at 11:00 on Oct. 11.
Guy Francis will be reading his books at 11:00 on Oct. 18. Both will be signing books afterward.
Check out their blog: http://unboundsma.blogspot.com/

Pumpkin Patch

We took our kids to the Pumpkin Patch in Springville to pick out their Halloween pumpkins. It was really fun to wander the patch and find just the right pumpkin. My 11 year old son wanted a huge one. They were $10 and he had to have it! It is really big, though. We found a cute pumpkin for our 3 year old. I cut the stem and handed it to her, but it was too heavy. She decided she wanted a little one because she is little! So, mommy has a pumpkin, too. The pumpkins from the main patch are only $3 each regardless of size. It was a lot of fun for the kids to find the right pumpkin for their Jack-O-Lanterns.

It is located just east of the Springville Walmart.

M & M Miniature Golf

My sister suggested a fun idea a while ago and we decided to use it for today's Friday Adventure, kind of. She actually told me about M & M Bowling and we decided to go miniature golfing instead. It works like this: Every time you start at a hole, each person draws one M & M out of the bag. They have to hit the ball according to color of the M & M. We used the following:
Brown= regular
Green= opposite hand swing
Yellow= one handed swing
Blue= close your eyes
Red= swing between your legs
Orange= sit down on the floor (I was very happy I didn't draw an orange)

But you can make up whatever kind of swing you want.

We went to Trafalga in Orem. I found a coupon on the ValPak website. It was $5.49 for people over 12 and $2.99 for ages 4-11. Kids under 3 are free. If you haven't been to Trafalga for a while, they remodeled their indoor course and it is all 'glow-in-the-dark'. It was so much fun. We had such a great time. Afterwards, we went to Artic Circle for shakes.

Trafalga Website
ValPak Coupon (good until 7/25/08)

Other Miniature Golf places:
Cascade Putting Courses, Orem
Boondocks Fun Center, Draper
Mulligans, South Jordan
NEW!! Liberty Fun Center, Lehi
Water Gardens, Pleasant Grove