Nature Connects

We went to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point to see "Nature Connects," giant LEGO sculptures being shown through the 28th of August. They were amazing. Each sculpture had an informative sign to go with it and we loved learning new things about different parts of nature and how many bricks were used to make each. We took so many pictures but I'll only post some of them here. If you get chance to see them, it's worth it. 

I asked family members what their favorites were.

Nichole said peacock, Jeremy said might have been peacock.

Jr. Jr. said bird bath. It was fun that it had both a squirrel and a bee on it (yes, part of the sculpture).

Neither Jr. nor Lucky could pick a favorite.

 

We didn't even have to ask Jet. His favorite was definitely the ant hill. He was smiling and laughing so much when seeing his family members with their faces sticking out. He had fun with it, too, when it was his turn.

There was plenty to see besides the LEGO sculptures.

It wasn't too busy when we went in the morning in the middle of the week so there was room to feed the fish in the koi pond. There was even a turtle swimming around with the fish.

 

See if you can spot the turtle in this picture.

 

There were also lots of hummingbirds (and not just in LEGO form). Nichole was sketching when a hummingbird decided to hang out with the flowers right in front of her. You can't tell but I got a picture of the hummingbird flying right in front of her. It almost looks like it's a pendant on her necklace.

Of course Jeremy and I had to get a picture of us in the place he proposed to me all those years ago. It's tradition.

It was just really good family time.

The day we went was also Milk Chocolate Day, July 28. Like last year we drank chocolate milk.

Birthday Macaroni

Like me, Nichole wanted to celebrate her birthday with a trip to nature. So for Father Daughter Take a Walk Day on July 7, Nichole and Jeremy got up early and headed up Nebo Loop. They listened for owls (and heard a few, though they didn't see any) and then took a walk/short hike to a spot where there was a water trough that birds like to come visit. 

Jeremy got one lifer and Nichole got two that day, red crossbills and an American three-toed woodpecker. I've still never seen a crossbill (but I want to) but I got to see a three-toed woodpecker when I went on a birding fieldtrip to Mirror Lake when I was pregnant with Jet.

When we were planning for the day, Jr. pointed out how last year for Father Daughter Take a Walk Day, Jeremy and Nichole walked into the music store to get her a new violin.

Jr.: You should do that again this year except get her a cello and then you should give me that cello on my birthday.

Mom: I think cellos cost more than violins.

Jr.: Yes, because they're better.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. That kid.

 

As it was National Macaroni Day, Nichole requested Jeremy make a macaroni and cheese he makes with polish sausages in it. As it was also World Chocolate Day, she requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

And because we were celebrating her Sweet 16, Jeremy and I gave her 16 sweets. She got a kick out of it, when I dumped a bag of 16 candies on her. All the boys wondered if they could have some so we told them when they have their Sweet 16. ;)

Nichole got a drawing book about drawing birds. It was one she had used before and was happy to now own it. Lucky made her a Rito, a bird person from some of The Legend of Zelda games. It was a certain one and Lucky positioned it so it was pointing up like in the game.

We discovered that day that someone else in the family really likes watermelon, which Nichole also requested for her birthday. 

We found him sneaking some that night from the bowl on the table. So cute.

Action Packed Summer Vacation a.k.a. Memorial Day Weekend

School finished on Thursday. UVU Prep began on Tuesday. That meant four days for Jr. to fit in as much family fun as possible.

 

Friday, May 28. This was our list of holidays for that day: Whooping Crane Day. Brisket Day. Cooler Day. Don't Fry Day. Hamburger Day. Road Trip Day.

Hmmm. How to fit all or most of those in?

First of all, Whooping Crane Day.

"Whoop. Whoop."

Do you get it? Do you get it? Look carefully in the background of this picture. We planned celebrating this way for weeks before the holiday.

National Road Trip Day. The kids and I went for a drive to Big Springs and went for a walk and looked at bugs and birds.

While we were driving, we saw cows in a field. It was National Hamburger Day. We went home to grill them (not the same cows) because it was National Don't Fry Day.

National Cooler Day. There wasn't room in the fridge so I put a watermelon in a cooler with freezer packs and took it out of there to cut up to go with our backyard BBQ.

We felt pretty good about getting most of the holidays on our list. The last one, National Brisket Day, we wouldn't be able to until Jr. Jr. asked, "What does brisk mean?" He listened to the definition then got up to run briskly around the yard saying, "I'm going to brisk it." Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

We also had s'mores because c'mon, backyard BBQ.

 

Saturday, May 29. We celebrated my birthday.

The kokanee salmon experience was kind of a letdown last Fall so we went to see June suckers in the Provo River closer to the lake to celebrate my birthday. The fish were bigger than we were expecting (I just thought they were going to be little minnow-like things. I was wrong). 

We went for a little walk and did a little birding while we were there. 

We also looked at flowers and bees. It was so fun to see the bees with the pollen on their legs (remember to click on Nichole's pictures to see them larger).

Later Jeremy made me my birthday dinner (with orange soda, of course) and we had cake and sherbet.

What I asked for for my birthday I got for Mother's Day so what I asked for for Mother's Day I got for my birthday.

We love The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner which I got last year and use it so much, I wanted The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner Again. Yay!

I also wanted to try out a dough hook (or dough whisk) since I've heard good things about those and that you can use them for so many things. I'm still trying to make up my mind about what I think.

Lucky gave me a Lego sculpture. Each time someone does a chore I can take a piece off and when all the pieces are off we can play video games.

Sunday, May 30. Kids made dinner.

There was quite a bit of creativity going on for Creativity Day. For Water a Flower Day, Nichole forgot to water her flower outside but she made bread so she watered flour. Tee Hee. Dad helped Lucky make a flower out of pieces of red bell pepper. Jr. used lemonade and a mint tea bag to make a sort of mint julep (non alcoholic of course) for Mint Julep Day. Jr. Jr. made chocolate chip waffles for us. Thanks for dinner, kids.

Monday, May 31. Memorial Day.

It was Utah Day. The kids and I went hiking in Alpine, Utah, to see poppies. We brought Daddy along.

There were lots of bees interested in the poppies. These bees had different colored pollen on their legs than the bees we saw Saturday.

The kids all wanted to take pictures with the camera so they had to take turns. We also saw different birds and some snakes.

To continue with the Utah Day celebrating, with dinner we had funeral potatoes and lime green jello with carrot shavings (Utah people should get it). We didn't have fry sauce, though. Ha Ha Ha. We also had smiley face pizza for National Smile Day.

So that was Jr.'s action packed Summer vacation before he started UVU Prep again. I hope he enjoyed it.