Downtown

So, I had a list as long as my arm of things I wanted to go do in Utah.  My plan was to go on at least one, if not two outings everyday.  I had about 20 people I wanted to see.  I had the whole  thing planned out.  Then 2 days into our vacation my children rebelled.  They did not want to go anywhere.  They just wanted to hang out at grandma's house with their cousins.  They didn't want to be in the car.  They didn't want to meet friends at outings.  They wanted to just be with me - or with their cousins.  I was crushed, heart broken, and devastated.  Seriously.  It sounds extreme - but I was looking forward to this vacation all year too.  There were things I REALLY wanted to do.  But they didn't.  After a day of trying to convince them I acquiesced.  We spent the next 7 days doing exactly what they wanted to do... nothing.  Well, nothing to me, but it was everything to them.  We played with cousins, took bike rides, went on short outings (less than 10 minutes in the car) and they got my full attention.  While it was fun, I felt our fun summer I had planned slipping away.  After the week of "nothing" I knew we HAD to go to temple square.  I (and they) would regret it when we got home if we didn't. 

 

They agreed.  And since we were going downtown they also agreed to go to Discovery Gateway (after all, I had gone out of my way to buy a pass to the Denver museum and get a Colorado drivers license so we could go to all of our favorite places for free - and we hadn't used it once).

 

 

So we spent one morning down town.  We left my mom's early.  We parked on the street above the conference center (because it is free) - walked down to the trax station, rode trax to Discovery Gateway, and then rode trax back to temple square, walked around temple square, and then walked back up the hill to the car.  We had done this trip several times when we lived in Utah, but this was the first time we did it with out a stroller.  I was a little nervous because it was A LOT of walking and A LOT of crossing busy intersections - but I felt we could do it.  They did awesome - no complaining, no running, always held hands through intersections, very obedient.  It was a glimpse into the next phase of my life - having all kids and no toddlers - it is a world I think I will like.

 

Discovery Gateway was as fun as always.

 

They had a new Bob the Builder exhibit.  Noah would have been in heaven 2 years ago.  It is sad when you realize your child has grown out of interests.  But... he still looks pretty happy.

Every time we have been to DG my kids have wanted to go in the hurricane machine.  But of course I have never been willing to pay the $2.00.  Well, some parents had paid for their 3 year old to do it and she started screaming, they took her out and told my kids they could go in and finish.  They were THRILLED and loved every minute of it.

 

Waiting for the train.  This is where I felt the most anxiety.  Noah likes to push every line - both literally and figuratively and that yellow line was more than he could bear.  In times past I have the girls buckled into the stroller and only have to worry about the boys.  We missed the train so we had to sit there for 15 minutes.  It was torture for all of us - Noah was going to have a mental break down if he had to stare at that line on more minute without crossing it.  It was like it was mocking him, just begging him to cross it.

As you can see he often had to at LEAST put his hand across.  He inevitably ended up in time-out in the middle of the island divider (thank heavens).

 

On the train.

 

Temple Square - my heaven on earth.  I remember going as a teenager and watching parents bring their children - I knew, even at 16, I wanted to bring my kids here a lot.  I am glad they love it as much as I do. 

All I wanted was a cute picture of the 5 of us.  It was more than they were able to give.  They are so selfish sometimes :)

 

I am glad out of all the things I wanted to go do this is the one we actually did.  I never did get to see most for my friends - I ended up having to choose and I guess it is never a bad thing to choose your kids.