Field Trip - Temple Square, Salt Lake City, UT

When we took our trip, I got to visit with one of my old roomies. 

Me on the Left, Cassi on the Right

College sometimes seems like so long ago.

It is so nice to have someone that I can still keep in touch with, and still pick up and enjoy just as much as I ever did as a college girl.  It is also a blast that our kids (and hubby's) enjoy each other as well...

...check it out...

What a silly bunch of kids!  (all of the photos used above are Cassi's.  the ones below are mine)

While visiting, we took a side trip to temple square.  I have always wanted to take my kids, but we don't often make the trip to SLC.  (try almost never...I have only been three times in my life time now...)

Here is a brief overview of the things we saw and did while there.

I seem to have some sort of fascination with steeples.  The symbolism of an ever pointing steeple is something I think about often as I try to go in the right direction with my life.

One of the key ingredients on so many of our temples is the angle Moroni.  I was interested to see one up close in the museum.  I was also interested to learn that each one is not the same.  Such interesting things you learn in a museum!

There was a really cool place for the kids in the museum.  We finally convinced our kids to take a turn on the dance floor...

Ever since the Tabernacle was finished it has been my goal to visit.  (see the obligatory steeple photo!)

You can even go inside on a tour.  My oldest is a piano player so this was especially exciting to see in real life for him.  Can you just imagine the feeling you would have as you played such an instrument?!

The artwork displayed throughout was also beautiful.  Mixed in with some of my old favorites were some I had never seen before.  This one was particularly striking to me.  I have imagined the scene in many ways, but this one seems the most true to me.

While on the tour, they take you right up to the very top of the conference center.  The view was fabulous (even from far away from the edge!) and the garden above amazing!

I loved this statue of Joseph Smith.  He is an amazing man.

I love pretty much anything with Christ as the focal point...and what is more focal then a huge statue of Him?!

We took a turn around a few other buildings as well, and the tour guides were such knowledgeable and friendly people.  What a fun and informative exploration of the temple square.

If you have never been, or live close, make the time to take that trip.  It is so worth it!

Cheers

Worth the Trip - House of Mystery, MT

While travelling through MT we found this little hole in the wall place that was amazing.

The Montana Vortex.

There were some amazing things we saw.  Let me tell you about them.

That house above was a really cool "playground" for us.  The vortex causes electrons to move about in a whirlpool type motion.  This causes some effects like distortions in the way you can stand (think twirling around on a merry-go-round), how tall you are, and how the trees grow. (there was also talk of auras and personal energy)

This yellow platform that my son is standing on is level.  He is not.  It is super hard to stand without tipping over.

There was a ladder standing straight up, when you gripped it and let your feet off the ground, it made you fly!

The trees were growing so funky.  Where the lines of the whirlpool were the strongest the trees grew the funkiest.

We had such a blast checking out the energy in the place.  We had never seen or been in a place like this before.  The tour guide was full of energy and information.  The tour was interesting and so much fun. 

For just over $30 it was a tour well worth taking.

Cheers

Field Trip - Enchanting Wings Butterfly Enclosure

A new butterfly house opened up close to us.  We thought we would go and check it out for a field trip last week.

We have been to a couple, one in Victoria, BC and one it Calgary, AB.  We enjoy seeing the beauty that God has created in these little flying creatures.  This one was almost as good as the bigger center ones.

For just over $20, my boys, my mom and I were all able to go in.  The whole thing is filled with beautiful plants and fluttering butterflies.  It is super warm (about 100F) and moist and beautifully filled with nature's beauty.

I was so excited about the butterflies that I didn't even get photos of the turtles and koi that were in the pond in the center of the whole facility.  I also didn't get a photo of the super set up of chrysalis and some hatching butterflies.

Over all, the whole thing was amazing and beautiful.  We spent just over an hour marvelling and taking photos of the beautiful creatures these butterflies were.

(and we got a giggle that some were called "Mormons"!  There were two types of "Mormons" in there...plus us so there were three!)

Cheers

Field Trip: Cross Country Skiing

I guess this is more like a PhysEd outing...or something, but we used it as a nature "walk" / PhysEd / "let's get Mommy out of the crazy house and burn off some energy" sort of thing that I am going to call a field trip!

Our local nature preserve park has snowshoes and cross country skis for rent.  Super cheap ($4 per person per hour)  and fun.  Great workout too!  (my butt was sore for a week!)  So, when we finally got some snow for the winter we took off and enjoyed it.  The weather was nice and warm too so we didn't have to bundle very much.

I haven't been skiing for over 20 years so I was super excited to find out that I could still do it!  (even though I did manage to fall on a hill...)

My baby just picked it up like walking.  He wasn't super fast, but he was a little trucker.  The loop was about 10km and he did the whole thing in just over an hour!

Our snow has since disappeared, but it sure was fun to take my boys out for a ski while it was here.

Cheers

Field Trip - Metal Detectives

A couple weeks ago we bought a metal detector.  Just a simple one, but one that works well.

We wanted to take it for a walk, and to test it out. It was cold though...

So we walked along seeing if we could find a little bit of metal.

The oldest had read the instructions, so he coached his brothers a bit.

Each little beep was a welcome treasure.

We were in a city park so we didn't dig anything up, but next time we take it out, we are hoping for a little bit of treasure!

How about you?  Do you hunt treasure?  What has been your most exciting find?

Cheers

Field Trip - Cross Iron Mills Mall: Calgary, Alberta

Have you ever been to the new(ish) mall in Calgary?  It is called Cross Iron Mills.  It supposedly has more places to shop than even the West Edmonton Mall - at least that is what they advertise.  For some reason we actually take trips to Calgary just to go to this mall! 

Well, to go to the Bass Pro Shop anyway!

Where else can you see an airplane flying above your heads,

Caribou running along the second floor,

A waterfall flowing with fish in the pond below,

And "Cow Elk Urine" (bahahaha)...

All in the same store?!  How cool is that? 

We go there often because they have THE BEST selection of guns and outdoor supplies around.  It even makes it worth the time we have to travel.

I call it a field trip because my boys get just as much out of it as we do. 

We find new cool things for our schooling (like the metal detector we just picked up for a song), we find wonderful camping supplies, and we pick up much needed survival tools.

Of course if you go all the way there, the mall itself is also full of fun things in the hallways.

This trip we actually went down the movie wing (didn't go down it before because we don't do the movie theater) and found this amazing clock:

Seriously awesome!

We had a wonderful discussion about gears, time keeping and a really neat hands-on view of the way a clock works.  It was just cool to stand and look at as well.  (that is my two youngest standing on the bottom.  We did this for a while!)

Each corridor has a theme to it as well.  There is a main seating area for shoppers and fun things on the roof and on the store fronts. 

Our favorite one (which I didn't take a photo of because I just couldn't do it to all the people sitting there without feeling creepy) has a HUGE bonfire.  It is all just lights suspended from the ceiling, but it is so realistic looking, if bonfires are thirty feet tall!

My middle son loves this wing the best though:

There are "folded" metal origami dinosaurs around, and fossils all along the ceiling.  He loves both of those things so this is by far his favorite place to be.

Mine?  It is just around the corner...

HUGE Chapters/Indigo store!  Seriously?  Who needs any other store when you can have books?! 

Cheers

Field Trip - Ice on the River

Don't forget to enter the Giveaway HERE. It closes on Sunday night. 

As we were driving past the river the other day, we could see something icy looking on a large rocky bar that is usually dry in the middle of the river.

As we were on our way to take a walk down by the river, we stopped at a place we hadn't stopped before.

Maybe I am a bad Mom, but we were thrilled to walk on the HUGE blocks of ice the river had vomited onto the banks.

They were beautiful.  We walked along them for a while, until I decided that maybe a good Mom wouldn't allow her children to walk along some of the thin layers of ice that we could puncture with a stick.

We enjoyed the venture onto a place we had never been before though. 

As we take time to just explore our wondrous world, I think we can only be more appreciative of the beauty that we are surrounded with...even when it is cold.

Cheers

Field Trip - Quilt Exhibit

Last week we went and toured a quilt exhibit.  It was pretty interesting to see. 

There were two artists and a heritage quilt section.  Here are a couple highlights:

In the Heritage section there was this one "crazy quilt" for lack of a better name.  It had all kinds of amazing things on it

There were different fun fabrics and lots of cool hand stitching, and look at these little ribbons:
(this one is from an opening of the "Finley bridge" a bridge that is over 100 years old now)

This one is from the stampede where the prizes were donated to the POW's!

Such a cool glimpse into history.

One lady had made some amazing quilts that were all pictures.  There were so cool to see how she did it all with textile elements.  They looked like watercolors or oils from far away.

There were even neat little things like this on them: (a cow tag and some barbed wire details)

In the next room I was in heaven.  We all know I love buttons.  (if you don't, well, I need to talk more often about them then!)

There were button details on everything...

In the middle of the floor there were these triangle pieces of wood painted in bright colors.  You were welcome to add to the shapes that were already there to make your own addition to the artwork.  We spent quite a while there adding on to them.

Cheers