Museum of Natural Curiosity

My cousin, Stephanie, asked if we wanted to go to the Curiosity museum this past Friday. Without knowing anything about it, I said, "Of course!" As I looked more into it, I saw that it didn't officially open until May 15th. Uhhh.... I let my cousin know and she just said that she was special and we would definitely get in. Turns out, when you have a year pass to Thanksgiving Point like Stephanie, then you got a free preview day at the museum! Awesome!

And I'm not even going to apologize for the picture overload because this place was amazing.

It was a really rainy, windy day so I was glad it was indoors!

Okay, let me explain the inside: there are four levels and each level is HUGE. Each area within the level has only one entrance and exit, so parents can just hang out at the entrance and let the kids run free without worrying about the kids escaping out another side. The bottom level has a great toddler area as well as tons of climbing stuff. There was also a large, fast (according to one dad that braved it) slide that Kaden couldn't get enough of. We didn't get to go to each area on each level, and we were still there for three hours.

On the main/second level is a whole bunch of applied learning. This is a touch tunnel where, once the kids are inside, everything is pitch black and they have to feel their way out. There's nothing slimy in there, but there are some obstacles to get through and around.

Kaden going in...

Camera for parents to keep an eye on their kids in the darkness.

 Also on the main level was a huge room and half of it was filled with hard foam building blocks and the other side held five (or 6?) giant wind tunnel fans. The kids can make their own devices to see what makes the items fly the highest.

Kaden building his flying contraption.

Ready, set, GO!

His went really high, but after I told him to put a coffee filter on it, it hit the ceiling!

 In another part of the main level is a water area. We didn't get to do everything here, either, but the kids loved the parts we did get to.

Stephanie's oldest daughter, Sophie.

 This area is great for toddlers with the goal being that they don't get wet. Steph still stripped her baby just in case because splashing.

Cute Abigail!

This taught the kids about dams and waterfalls.

The water would shoot out of the holes at the bottom and the kids could build paths with PVC pipe and tubing.

Ari's shoes were getting wet, so we grabbed some oversized boots for her, too.

A wind tunnel where the wind gets up to 85 mph.

Love my cute kiddos

 After the water place, the girls wanted to check out the flying contraption place.

Ari just loved putting anything up the tunnel.

Lexi made one with some help from Kaden.

Shane and Steph's baby daddy, Chris, had more fun with the blocks than the kids did.

Timber!

The next level was a ropes course and it. was. HARD. Steph had warned us to wear tennis shoes if we wanted to do it, and I'm glad she did. Although if I'd worn flip-flops I would have gotten out of it. The kids had no problem with it, but oh my gosh it was crazy. The level above that is another more difficult ropes course where you're actually wearing a harness and everything. I really wanted to do it, but by this time the kids were showing signs of not having had naps. Next time, though.

There was a good sized playground outside that the kids were thrilled to play on since the rain had finally stopped.

Sophie!

Zip line

Since the rain had stopped, Steph suggested we go to the farm part at Thanksgiving Point since the kids would get unlimited pony rides. Score! When we got there a few minutes later, we were literally the only ones there due to the previous rain. The kids rode the ponies for half an hour, taking only a couple of minutes in between rides to switch ponies.

I have no idea how Ari ended up on the biggest horse, but I thought it was hilarious.

Kaden was really nervous at first.

No hands!

One handed!

Kaden started to loosen up after getting on the big horse (Odis).

 A couple more people got there, so we let them take a turn with the ponies while we explored the other parts.

Can we leave them there?

Posin'

This cow was scheduled to be milked at 5:00, so we killed an hour because I've never seen that in real life.

While we were playing in the jail area, a worker came up and asked if the kids would want to go on a wagon ride. Um, yes.

Sophie and Lexi

Kaden

Ari was so excited for the ride

Pulled by a tractor

It was COLD with the wind blowing so the girls snuggled.

The hay bales they use for Halloween mazes.

 Steph and her family left after that, but we still had half an hour to kill before the milking of the cow. What should we do....pony rides again!

Kaden finally getting brave enough to ride without hands.

Ari loved all the ponies and named them things like Cupcake and Princess.

Ari really, really wanted to ride this one (it was the smallest), but she was pregnant!

This one was Lexi's favorite.

Ready to be milked

Lexi's turn

Kaden's turn

Ari didn't want to milk it, so she just pet the side. And for the first time in my life, I milked a cow! Shane was going to take a picture, but he was helping the kids wash their hands. It was a lot different than I thought it would be, although it shouldn't have been anything new to me. ;)

After that, we invited ourselves over to my friend, Emily's, house where she was gracious enough to provide pizza for dinner. The kids played while the grown ups chatted and we ended up heading home past the kids' bedtime. Ari was asleep before we hit the freeway and Lexi followed shortly after. It was a really, really great day.

Safe Kid's Day

On May 3rd Davis County put on a Safe Kid's Day at the Farmington Fairgrounds. I had never heard of it before this year, but everything was free and it sounded like fun. We missed the first hour because of soccer, but we rushed over right afterwards. Ended up having to park forever away, but it was worth it.

Ari's face....hahahaha

Out of all the choices, Ari asked for the purple swirls on her arm. (I thought she'd choose the face butterfly.)

Lexi was going to do a face butterfly until she saw how cool Ari's arm looked.

And, in no surprise to anyone, Kaden chose to be Spiderman.

Best friends

Such a daddy's girl

 It was so. much. fun! I couldn't believe how many booths there were! The kids each got loaded up with candy, tons of coloring books, toys, cookies, and a balloon. We're going to go back every year that they do this. There were also raffle prizes that they gave away every 15 minutes, and it wasn't lame stuff, it was stuff like a full day pass to Lagoon or Boondocks or tickets to a ReAL game. Seriously awesome.

We got home and I watched my sister's kids while they went to a play. Right after Suzanna left to have kid-less fun, the neighbors came over and said that they had the sprinklers going under their tramp. So we changed all the kids (yay for spare swimming suits!) and the kids jumped and played to their hearts' delight. It was a great day with early bedtimes for some very tired kiddos.

Parks, Parks, Everywhere!

We found (another) new park that the kids LOVE. It has sand, so it's not my favorite, but that's part of the appeal for the kids.

Happy Easter!

We've had a great holiday today! 

We started the weekend out by dying eggs on Friday night:

(Shane was working on the car like I've been bugging him to for the last couple of months, so he was excused this time.)

All ready!

Patiently waiting...

I helped them put the eggs in the cups without breaking them, but the kids decided which color and how long to leave it in for, and then they put the stickers on all by themselves. It's so nice having them old enough to do things on their own!

 Late Saturday night the Easter bunny came!

They each got a toy, bubbles, and candy.

It's blurry, but Kaden was SO excited to play with his new Skylander's thing that he wouldn't hold still.

Lexi had just rolled out of bed. haha She loves her new Ariel toy.

Ari's face cracks me up in this one. She had just rolled out of bed, too, and she LOVES her Rapunzel toy.

Muffins for breakfast!

New Easter clothes!

The girls picked out their dresses last month and Kaden picked his shirt and tie, but honestly they had all forgotten about it. It was great. :)

After church, lunch, and "naps" (no one fell asleep, but they stayed in their rooms for a good 15 minutes *eye roll*), we headed to McKay Dee to see my grandpa (more on that in another post tomorrow), then went to Shane's parent's house for dinner and another egg hunt.

I had to zoom in on this one because he just had the best smile! (The girls were all blinking...)

Ryley, Lexi, Kaden, and Ari (Damon, the 7 month old cousin, wasn't there)

 After dinner, we headed to the basement for the egg hunt.

These pictures don't quite capture exactly how the hunt went. There was SO. MUCH. CANDY. Those buckets that the kids brought were each filled to the top and then some. And Shane's mom had gotten each grandchild sand toys and filled the sand bucket with more candy, toys, and a book for each. Grandma Porter sure knows how to spoil her grandkids! They left very happy little kids. :)

 

We saw about six deer on our way out. This was the only picture I got - they didn't hang around too long. Ari is now requesting we have a pet reindeer that she can ride (we saw the deer jump-running and Ari LOVED that). It was a really fun day and next year I'm not getting the kids any candy - just toys.

Kaden's Bee Book

As I've said before, I so, so love Kaden's charter school. For the last month, his class has been learning all about bees. I'm not joking in the slightest when I say that he knows more about bees than I do now. They had some real beekeepers come talk to them and let them taste bee bread (not bread with honey on it - it is something that the worker bees eat in the hive. Kaden said it was yummy), then last week they went on a field trip to the Ogden Nature Center to see a live bee hive in action (through clear glass). They are wrapping up the bee subject now, so for their last project, they got to write a short story about a bee. The only requirements were that there were at least five details and five illustrations.

I only helped a little. For real. A very, very little with some spelling problems.

Here, for your entertainment, is Kaden's bee book:

The Lion Chasing the Bee by Kaden Porter

"Once there was a bee sitting on a flower. He was reading a book about pollen. He saw a page that honey bees can't fly."

 

That's the bee's surprised face upon finding out that honey bees can't fly. hahaha

"Then a big lion came! The lion wanted to eat the bee. So, he chased the bee. The bee ran away."

"While the bee was running, he tried to fly. Then the bee got trapped in a pet cage."

 "But the trap was not for bees. It was for a frog because there was a pond. He called to the other worker bees."

 

"The Queen told the worker bees to go help. Then they brought the bee back to the hive and fed him bee bread. Everyone was happy except the lion and the frog."

 

Check out that bee hive

"The End"

He was so proud of his book! He worked really hard on it for a long time. He gets to read it to his class this next week (everyone gets to read their books) and he can't wait. :)