Grandkids come to play, and play and play......

Every summer for the past 6 summers our four oldest grandkids have come to visit for a week.  We try to do every fun thing possible while they are with us. (mostly because we live in a tiny apartment and the addition of four extremely fun, active kids is to much for the little place), there are lots of cool things to explore in our area.   Well this summer has to be ultimate in fun things to do.  Our city has a neat pass you can buy that lets you get into 13 attractions for a reduced price and...I found a Groupon that had this pass on sale so it was even cheaper so I bought us each one and we had a great time.  Now, just so you know, that week is over and Russell and I are on a vacation from that vacation.  It was such a busy week that we needed a rest.  HA!

Monday morning, this was the first official event we attended, breakfast at our church 24th of July celebration, followed by the Days of 47 parade in downtown Salt Lake City.  Then we got in our swimsuits and swam all afternoon.  Something that you just have to do every day with these four little fish/parade watchers.Tuesday we went bowling and I am happy to say I actually broke 100 in both of our games.  We also helped Brittany and Patrick move into their new apartment.  We got some of Brits stuff out of our storage unit to take there and Patrick was moving from one place to another so we helped them move that stuff.  One great find there was tons of snails, they were excellent entertainment for the kids!!!!!  This picture is of a snail race up the stairs at their apartment.

Wednesday, the first Groupon place we went was to the Lion House Pantry where we got a free lunch.  It is located in downtown Salt Lake and is near temple square.  This is walking distance from our apartment so we go there every chance we can. Temple square is a beautiful spot with lots of  memories for Russell and I.  It is were we were married 32 1/2 years ago. These girls especially like going there because there are usually brides and grooms coming out of the temple after getting sealed to each other as well as getting wedding photos, so they like to see all the beautiful brides in their lovely wedding dresses.

Our next stop that day was the Discovery Center at the Gateway Mall.  This is the second visit we have had there and the kids love it.  They spent lots of time in the little grocery store,  Saria was a checker, Myah was a shopper and checker, Easton was a shopper and Ali  stocked the shelves which meant that after each child bought their groceries, she had to put the stuff back on the shelves.  Also, lots of little boys just like to dump all the groceries on the floor so she spent a good amount of time picking up after them.  Another fun thing at the Discovery Center is a mini new-casting center.  You can sit in front of movie camera and read the news, or stand in front of a green screen and do the weather.  The girls love that!!!!   After the Discovery Center we stopped in at the Family History Center at the Joseph Smith Memorial Center and looked up some genealogy for the kids.  It was cool to look at the census records , and other records for their great great great great great great, ( just kidding) grandparents. 

Thursday  found us at the Clarke Planetarium, also at the Gateway Mall.  We were able to explore all the neat things that place has, read about  space, walk on the moon and Mars, and do science experiments.  We watched a 3D IMAX movie about baby elephants and baby orangutans that was very informative and super cute.  Then we watched a  presentation in the dome about space and the planets.  (I think, because I pretty much slept through that!)

After lunch we went to the This Is The Place Heritage Center , up Emigration Canyon and spent the afternoon.  It is a place that teaches about the beginnings of Salt Lake City and life in a earlier time.  There were  lots of hands on stuff to do here in different old houses and cabins and the kids loved it here.  We rode this train around  to see it all then went to all the different places to check them out.  The favorite thing this afternoon was the gold panning, although Easton was quite put out that the gold wasn't real, just iron pyrite or fools gold.  They each did get some though so that was fun.

Friday morning we went to Hoagle Zoo and did a lot of walking around.  It was a fun place to go.  We saw lots of animals but the favorites were tigers, elephants, giraffes and the animated dinosaurs that were on display there for the summer. This big metal elephant the kids are sitting on would squirt water out it's trunk so that was good for getting cooled off at! (Also there was a couple of the dinosaurs that would squirt you!)

Friday afternoon found us at Thanksgiving Point at the Museum of Ancient History.  It is truly an amazing place.  It is full of dinosaur bones, tiny and HUGE.  Some of the displays were out of this world.  Those dinosaurs were gigantic.  The kids are sitting in front of a huge shark that was alive in the dinosaur age.  It was very large, very real looking and very scary!!! It looked like it could just eat you up.  The kids liked this  place a lot.!

       The Fabulous Four
We sure had a great time with the kids.  It was even better because Russell had the whole week off so he could spend it with us. Thanks Ali, Saria, Myah and Easton for spending part of your summer with us.  
        WE LOVED IT  !!!!!!!!    See ya next year.