This is the Place Heritage Park

We took the family to Salt Lake yesterday for a day at the Pioneer Village at This is the Place Heritage Park. It was a really fun time. People in costume "live" there and you can go to all the different buildings and learn what it was like to be a pioneer. The kids wanted to know when we could go back again.

A day in Salt Lake City

We spent the day in Salt Lake City. We took the kids to the Oquirrh Mountain temple Open House. It was just beautiful, and the best was Jon-Jon singing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" all the way through the celestial room. *sigh*

After the temple visit, we went to Target and to Sweet Tomatoes for an early dinner. Sweet Tomatoes is our favorite buffet restaurant and there isn't one in Utah County.

After Sweet Tomatoes, we went to IKEA where we discovered that we were out of diapers and that I had left the baby wipes in the bathroom in Target. Fortunately for us, IKEA keeps free diapers and wipes in the bathrooms. Of course, the diapers are size 3 and Jon-Jon is in size 6, so it was a tight fit, but by golly, it worked.

On our way home, we stopped by Mom and Dad Ferrin's house for a visit. Mom made bread with the kids and convinced Adam that to keep his little rolls rising safely on the trip home, that he would have to be very quiet. Eric and I couldn't help laughing at poor Adam's attempts to keep his brothers and sister quiet so that his "sleeping" bread to make it home to the oven in safety. I think it was the quietest that he's been in months.

Good times.

End of day two

Day two ended in chaos. Emma tried to help me make dinner, but didn't realize that when you set the timer on the microwave you have to push "kitchen timer." The bad news is that there was a small pancake in the microwave left from breakfast. The good news is that I think the microwave still works. The fire in the microwave scared Emma to death and we are still working on getting the smokey smell out of the house. *sigh* To finish the night out, I let the kids watch movies and I finished reading "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell. I enjoyed the book so much that I put in the BBC version DVD and watch the whole miniseries (after putting the kids to bed). Going to bed at 2 AM isn't so bad when the kids don't get up in the middle of the night.

We are half way done. :)

2 days of Single Parenthood

Eric left yesterday morning at 6 am to go to Helaman's camp. He will be home on Saturday. Yesterday, we got a little slower start, Emma had Activity Days and then we went to Wal-Mart to buy groceries and yard stuff. Some day, we will be able to mow the yard. It's has rained every day for the last two weeks. We bought a pizza for lunch. After watching TV and playing Wii, Mom decided that it was time to "unplug" so I went out to the garage and put the new training wheels on Adam's bike. The kids biked to the park (Jon couldn't get his bike figured out yet) and I walked with Jon. We played there until the rain came again. We got home quickly. Adam helped me make spaghetti for dinner, then Braden left for Scouts. The younger children all got baths and then we watched some cartoons until it was time for family prayers and scriptures. At that point, Jon-Jon went into meltdown because he wanted to play the Wii. He screamed himself to sleep in my arms while we finished our family devotional. The other kids took books to bed, and I exercised before my Primary Presidency meeting.

Today, I've declared "Wii-free." The kids got up and did their jobs and we went to the movie theater for the summer movie program at the Provo Towne Theatre. We watched "Hoodwinked," which I don't ever remember seeing previews for. It ended up being a spoof of the "Red Riding Hood" fairy tale, and I found parts amusing. The kids really liked it, especially Granny. It wasn't bad since I only paid $1 a ticket. After the movie, we rushed to the Springville Library to catch the magician. Magic Mont did a "I love reading" show that was cute and the kids enjoyed. So, right now, I'm taking a break, so that I can regroup and re-strengthen my resolve to keep the Wii off. I've kept the TV off so far, but I think Braden and his friend Nate are going to watch a movie this afternoon. I'm going to try and convince them to watch "Condorman," an old Disney movie that I recently bought on DVD.

Eric and I have yet again resolved to get back on our program from last year. When I weighed in this morning, I had lost 4 pounds. That made me feel great. The exercise was so worth it, even though I was mentally struggling last night to do it. :) Wish me luck and if you have any great ideas of things to with children during the rain *sigh* and that are inexpensive I would LOVE to hear them.

Family Night at IKEA

We thought it would be fun to go to IKEA today. We stopped and visited Eric's parents, who had just returned from Hawaii. We then went to IKEA. We had dinner at the restaurant, and then noticed that Monday is family night at IKEA. We got our faces painted and got balloon animals. The face painter was amazing, and the kids were really sad when I made then wash their faces tonight. Adam was so excited about getting a dragon painted on his face, that he sat completely still for 5 minutes during his turn. The pictures don't do justice to how really cool the face painting was.

Computer Identity Crisis

After much discussion, it was decided that we needed a laptop. After even further discussion, we decided on a Macbook Pro. I have never used a mac before, so I am gradually figuring things out. The Macbook has been designated as mine, where as the I-Touch that came for free with our order has been "given" to Eric. I am discovering that I like having a small computer that I can haul all over the place. I can webcam with my Mom while in bed, I can check my email, blog and facebook while my son is playing "Plants Vs. Zombies." I can say I am quickly beginning to wonder how I ever did without it. *grin*

We did get a great deal. The day that we decided to order, Apple had lowered the price and added some extra features. I figured that it was kismet, not to mention the free I-Touch because Eric is an educator. I guess that's why he gets to claim the I-touch.

I'm excited to figure this new toy out. Maybe I will be more inspired to blog.

Have a great weekend!

US Postal Service

Today we received two pieces of mail. Eric wondered what the Post Office was thinking. We got an ad for hearing ads, and a newborn baby diaper sample.

Pretty funny.