Screen Free Week 2026

Last week was Screen Free Week. Let's talk about highlights from the week.

Monday through Friday, I went for daily walks to Bridal Veil Falls, including on a day when it was raining. I just took an umbrella.

 

I listened through several audiobooks.

One day I walked beyond Bridal Veil Falls and walked along the Provo River Parkway for a bit. I kept having to dodge little inchworms hanging from their silken threads. I tried to get some pictures using my hand as a backdrop (without touching them) but I couldn't get it to focus on the creatures.

Finally I gave up and started walking back. After a bit I looked down at my sleeve and saw a little inchworm sitting there. I was able to get pictures and a video of it (because my sleeve was a good backdrop) before I picked up a stick to encourage it off of me.

I found another one that I also got off. When I got back to the van, I took off my vest and brushed myself off but I didn't have any more of those little caterpillars on me. That was fun. 

 

May the Fourth, I took a couple kids to the library with me. We said Hi to Libby the Librantula (twice) and picked up some books.

There was a display in the children's section for Star Wars Day, so I picked up a book to read with Jet later.

We ate "sand"wich people at home. 

I wished my friend a Happy Star Wars Day and she let me know they were watching one of the movies.

We didn't watch a movie because it was Screen Free Week but we played a card game that night for Family Home Evening.

May the Sixth was No Diet Day so I told everyone to "Fend For Yourself" for dinner. 

 

May the Seventh was National Tourism Day so we ate Greek Pitas.

I wore my slug shirt I wore on our Pacific Northwest trip a couple years ago. Jet carried around Timothy, the banana slug we got from Mount Rainier on that trip. Jet and I both wore brown shirts and black pants that day.

May the Eighth was No Sock Day. I wore my socks some of the time but took them off other times.

It was also Fintastic Friday. We had Sharkleberry Fin Koolaid and Jeremy brought us home gummy sharks.

That night, I introduced another person to the movie, Seeking Persephone. It's a monthly tradition. This person, however, has read a lot of books by Sarah M. Eden so she is very familiar with the book this movie is based on as well as the series (and a related series).

I know it was Screen Free Week, but this movie watching was postponed from when we were going to watch it in April (I got to watch it with my in-laws). The kids were okay with it because they got to watch a movie during Screen Free Week and eat cucumber sandwiches and drink herbal tea.  

 

Other things from Screen Free Week:

Snuggles

Jet  showing that he learned "Skidamarink A Dink A Dink" at school

Jr. Jr. letting Jet play with the train he built at school (how cool is that)

 

Jeremy finally getting a haircut

Roses blooming 

I'll blog about Saturday and Sunday later. Those days were big deals. 

Jet's Flaming Gorge Pics

We're not often able to save Jet's pictures from his camera before he erases them. We were able to get pictures he took on our Flaming Gorge trip. Here are some of my favorites.

That last picture is fun. I was watching Jet watching robins hopping around that tree. I got a picture of him with his camera where he was taking pictures. If you look carefully at his picture you can see a robin to the left of the tree.

We Went Somewhere New

Road Trip! 

We tried something new. We got up really early in the morning (well, that part's not new) and drove to Northeastern Utah to a place we've never been- Flaming Gorge. It was gorgeous (pun intended).

On the way, as we drove past Strawberry Reservoir, Jeremy commented how it would be cool to see the moon's reflection on the water. Then guess what we saw. 

 

We went to a few places in Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, including Red Canyon Lodge,

West Greens Lake Nature Trail,

 

and Red Canyon visitor's center area with a walk around the canyon rim for pictures and juggling (it's been a while since I've juggled in scenic places).

Apparently, in order to get a selfie with the whole family, I will be in focus and the rest of the family will be blurry. Sigh.

We crossed Cart Creek Bridge 

and visited Flaming Gorge Dam 

 

then headed out and South to a completely different area- Ouray National Wildlife Refuge and then Pelican Lake for some more birding. 

We stopped at a few more places on our way home including Strawberry Riverwalk in Duchesne 

(see previous note about family selfies)

 

and Pinion Ridge Rest Area where we went on another little walk around the trails there.

It was a long day but I think we all did pretty well. It was not hard to fall asleep when we got home.  

It was a great way to celebrate Play Outside Day on May 2.

I love family trips.