Mini Vacation, Day 2

We continue with last Tuesday which began with This is the Place Heritage Park.

Once again, I had never been there and was really excited to see it. 

We wanted to take advantage of the coolest weather, so we were there when it opened.  Well, at least when the website said it opened.  At 9:00 sharp we were at the gate with no employee in sight.

After a few minutes of impatience we were greeted and headed right in.  For quite a while we were nearly the only ones there. 

We got fun little stories and house tours from early

pioneer perspectives

So much of it was "hands-on" learning

I knew the kids should be learning how to do laundry this summer

And they better be excited to work in the garden more now, too

Princess prepared wool for spinning

This woman is using a traditional drop spindle,

more portable than a spinning wheel

I have never really seen a spinning wheel in action.  Pretty awesome.

We rode the big and mini trains, and each time our family was the only one on it!

This is the view from the train ride

You can see the mountains all the way out by home

The boys liked the teepees

And making things with arrowheads

We made a stop at the old fashioned candy store

Here we are in front of Brigham Young's Farmhouse. 

We spent 4 hours there and enjoyed it very much. 

We estimate we only saw about 1/4 of it though.  I guess we need another stop on a date night!

Everyone was hot and tired so it was a perfect time to stop for the lunch included in the pass, the Lion House.  We could break, recharge, etc before the planetarium.

Jedi was feeling a little under the weather, and the baby was exhausted.  We parked in the parking garage downtown and Jedi felt feverish so I gave him some Tylenol.  Rosebud was out cold, so Strider decided to carry her and allow her to sleep (hopefully).  We made our way out and through the Joseph Smith building and into the restaurant. 

I didn't know it was a cafeteria-style line to get your food.  Imagine 7 of us, one sick, and the other adult with no available hands (holding the sleeping baby).  Nice.  Let's just say there were moments of sheer panic, lots of frustration, looks of i'm-glad-that's-not-my-child annoyance, tantrums (once the baby WAS awake), spilled drinks, yadda yadda.  What a nightmare.  I bet they'll be happy if we never come back.

So, with Jedi ill and literally sprawled out over the table we decided the day was over.  We might try to squeeze in the planetarium the next day...