The Big Screen

We've seen some good movies lately - mostly because we have a dollar theater close by that also does $.50 Mondays, which is perfect for Family Home Evening! Horton Hears a Who was pretty cute - Nathan doesn't usually love animated movies, but he laughed several times during this one. Nathan and I saw the long-anticipated Indiana Jones movie last Saturday with some people from the ward. I loved it! Harrison Ford has still got it at 65! Two thumbs up! We saw Ironman a few weeks ago, and I was surprised at how much I liked it (for a comic book movie). Robert Downey, Jr. was awesome! A must see! Everyone, keep your eyes open for Be Kind, Rewind coming out soon. We tried to see this at the Sundance Film Festival in January, but couldn't get in. It stars Jack Black (one of our family's personal favorites), and is supposed to be really funny.

How to Eat Worms...Not Fried

Oh, my gosh! While we were sitting by the creek, Samantha found a slug in the dirt and showed it to Nathan. He bet her $10 that she wouldn't eat it. She DID! Nathan and I couldn't believe that she actually did it! Then Elliot walked up with a worm in his hand. He asked Nathan how much he would get if he ate it. Nathan told him $5 and, down the hatch! No hesitation! Next, Henry swallowed a worm so fast, I barely had time to snap a picture! After he took a quick drink, he raised his hands and exclaimed, "Six bucks!" Gillian didn't want to be the only one that didn't eat anything slimy, so she found herself a nice black slug (we had to make sure it wasn't a leech). Gillian showed the most hesitation - it took her a while to muster up the guts! She didn't like to idea of the slug being alive when it went down, so she tried gnawing on it a couple of times to kill it, which totally grossed me out! After making numerous faces, she eventually got it down. Nathan and I were out $25, but we had a good laugh. It was worth it! Our kids are so gross! After a while, Samantha said that her stomach felt kind of weird. It think she was cringing at the thought of what she just did!

Worth it!

Millcreek Canyon

Last Saturday, we drove to Millcreek Canyon, which is full of trailheads and picnic areas. We found a spot next to the creek to relax. The water was around 40 degrees, so we didn't really get in the water. The creek was also running a little fast, which is dangerous. This is the time of year when all of the snow is melting quickly, and the creek levels are high. Instead, we enjoyed some snacks, nice weather and beautiful scenery. Again, I'm amazed at how close these gorgeous canyons are to where we live!

Beehive House

It was the last day of school break and we needed something to do. Samantha has been wanting to tour the Beehive House ever since she did a report on the state of Utah. We also planned on seeing the movie playing at the Joseph Smith Memorial. We got to Temple Square too late to see the movie, but we still got to see the Beehive House. Of course, I had to also get a few snapshots of the kids in front of the amazing flowers on Temple Square. Last, we went to pick up Dad from work and see his new office.

Toothless!

Elliot lost his first tooth last week. It's been loose for a while, but he wasn't interested in wiggling it. When we saw the permanent tooth about halfway grown in behind the baby tooth, we told him it had to come out. After a lot of prying and kind of alot of blood, Nathan got it out! Elliot was surprised at how much it didn't hurt. He lost a second tooth one week later. I love his new smile!

Nostalgia

I decided to see if I could find Kathy and K.C.'s old house in Sandy. I actually drove right to it - it was weird! The front of the house is completely obstructed by trees. I went to the front door to see if the owner was home. As I stood on the front porch looking up at the door, I recalled how it felt when we arrived after a long drive from AZ, excited for Allesha to open the front door and have the fun start! The owner opened the door, and after I told her who I was, she invited me right in. The house looks nothing like I remember it. And it shouldn't - not after $100,000 in upgrades and renovations! All of the floors and walls are now light and neutral. Boring! The kitchen has been turned around and expanded. The family room where the player piano was felt the most familiar because the walls were still dark wood with molding. When I walked down the basement stairs, a wave of nostalgia finally hit me. I had some fun times in that basement, and I never imagined that I would be walking down those stairs again! The basement has been completely remodeled into an office with a full kitchen. The wall that used to divide the pool table from the TV area has been knocked out. Jan, the owner of the house was interested to hear how the house used to look and how the rooms had been used. The biggest change is in the backyard. The tennis court has been removed and a horse arena has taken its place. It's a little sad to see how much has changed - I have such fond memories of visits to Aunt Kathy's house. But, I'm glad that I stopped by for a final goodbye!





I didn't take any pics of the inside of the house, because I thought it would be rude. I wish now I would have anyway!

Living Planet Aquarium

The kids are still out of school, so we needed to get out of the house. We went to an aquarium that's right down the street from us. It's actually a preview exhibit for a huge Living Planet Aquarium that's being built, so it was small with not a ton of things to do or see. What we did see was pretty cool, though. The kids liked that sharks the best, but I enjoyed the seahorses. We also got to touch some starfish, sea cucumbers and urchins. When Henry was washing his hands after touching the stingrays, he found a nasty roach crawling inside the sink. The aquarium guy grabbed it and fed it to one of the starfish. Gross!