Trek to St. George

While Curtis and the girls were on trek I decided to take my boys and go to St. George to visit Wendy and her kids for a couple of days. I invited my mom to go along and she said she'd like to. We ended up taking her car because its a bit taller and easier for getting out of. We left on Wednesday, June 24th after I finished cleaning. Wow. St. George is a LONNNNNNNG way away. It's quite a long drive and having 3 monkeys in the back seat didn't make it any shorter. But Mom and I had a nice time visiting and we survived it after all.

the 3 monkeys...

on, no. The crazy is starting to come out….

uh, yeah. This is pretty much how the time in the car went.

The weather was beautiful and we loved how the rays were shining down at this point. The camera just couldn't quite capture the cool effects of the rain and the sun. 

We spent Thursday just hanging out at Wendy's house and letting the kids play. I'm not one who has to always be doing things and being entertained. I like just visiting and being with family in their homes. However, summer in St. George is like winter in Monticello. You just don't go out to play. I used to be used to that, living in Mesa, but I've become soft and the heat really sapped me.

On Friday afternoon we went to the St. George Children's Museum. It was a really fun place for the kids to play and look at things and I loved the hands on nature of it all. They don't charge a fee but accept donations. The boys had a great time, I think. It's in downtown St. George, next to the Tabernacle. Lots of pictures taken here. 

Soren the mechanic, working on a race car..

changing the tires

Capts. James and Charles flying an airliner...

Watch out for those other planes

Soren handled our baggage...

Moved on to being firemen...

Charles and Ane. Hard to believe they are only 5 wks apart in age. Ane is tiny.

One area was set up as a town with shops and businesses for the kids to explore...

this was the grocery store...The kids loved loading up their carts and then checking out at the register.

Load up on those veggies!

This was the government office and the bank...

driving the truck at the dairy...

James wanted to be the 'driver'

Soren 'milking' Maggie' at the dairy
The other boys wouldn't try it.

at the vet's office... looks like he found a friend

working on fixing some animals...

Charles checking his own heartbeat...

The mailmen

Oh, no. They've gone through the windshield.

Downstairs was more of a science exhibit and some sports...

This was a video game that was projected onto the floor from the ceiling. You had to try to stomp on the rats in the holes of the cheese. The boys really got into it! I had to warn them to watch out for the baby that was trying to play with them, so they didn't knock her over.

Was it better to keep moving or wait and watch one hole?

This place was set up to let the kids pretend to be handicapped. They could try to play basketball in wheelchairs and other types of activities. Not so easy. We are blessed to have good health. Measuring Soren here, he's getting tall!

Bubble makers…this one was just a sheet of bubble when you pulled it upward...

This one made a bubble around you as you pulled it up out of the bubble solution.

it didn't work as well as we wished it had but it was a cool idea.

This was fun! The kids loved watching the 'lightening' go to wherever they touched the globe. 

electricity is amazing!

James always waited and did things after the bigger kids moved on.

Ane and James in a treehouse…cute little faces.

This was a desert environment room. Here the boys are moving mining buckets across the room on pulleys. 

There were bridges and tunnels and panels with info about desert animals.
 The 'water' was a padded play place for little ones.

Charlie peeking out of a tunnel…

After we finished in the museum we headed back out to the splash pad and 'creek' that run through the block. The city has created a water 'park' for anyone to enjoy free of charge. The kids wore their swimsuits so they could just get in and enjoy. Mom, Wendy and I sat in hot metal chairs and baked while they played. Even in the shade, it was oven-like. I was feeling like a "toasted cheese!" (from Sandlot :) ) We enjoyed some breadsticks and sodas and finally said, 'Enough!" and headed back to Wendy's for supper.

laying in the tepid water of the 'creek'

all the kiddos. I had to get one good picture of them all!
Soren, Ethan, Ane, Charles and James in front
Tilly and Laila in the back

just a closer shot

Almost a funny shot
Ane, of course, was all over it! Not a shy bone in her body.

There, that's a funny-face shot!

After dinner, we hit up a donut truck in town that sells mini gourmet donuts. The donut part is exactly like the ones my mom used to make and sell when she had a little donut machine. Then they cover them with yummies. We had Oreo, German Chocolate?, and Sprinkles….

They were yummy….

Looks like James liked the sprinkled ones...

Soren, too.

Charlie snarfing down an oreo one.
I liked them all but I think the Oreo ones were my favorite.

On Saturday we headed home to see our worn out pioneer dad and sisters. On the way we stopped at the Chow Hound in Green River. We used to always stop and eat there when I was a kid and we were traveling. It brought back lots of memories. This was a really fun trip and I'm glad that I got a chance to go with my boys and my mom. Hope the boys have good memories of their travels as kids!

Soren enjoying his meal. Yum, Fry Sauce!

Charlie wouldn't look at me.
But I love the cute smile on his sweet face so I kept this photo anyway. 

Not sure how my camera gets two slightly different pictures at the same time…
But they're both cute because of the subject.

James had had it by then, and this was the only angle I could get of him.
He was mad about his food for some reason and he refused to look at me.

I miss my sister and her family. They've been gone from Monticello for 2 years and its just not the same without them. But we are thankful we can still visit them occasionally and it is fun to explore a new part of the state. We probably ought to pick a less hot time to go next time! Whew! It was so nice to come back to a cool, lovely Monticello summer.