Blogs are Better With Kittens

Mornings with Horses and Dogs

This is the time of year when I have the urge to read The Secret Garden. This is the time of year when I am so happy that I live in Utah and we are able to enjoy a real springtime. Some days, we turn on the air conditioning, and some days, we wear snow boots and puffy coats.

Most mornings, after I drop off the boys, I head to the "Horse Park" with Charlie and Jack. When we pull in, the dogs freak out. I leave my phone in the car (I know. Right?) and look forward to a long walk with the furry boys.

The horses come say hello to me, but I think what they're really wondering is why haven't I brought them any food? I would be happy to fill my pockets with snacks for them, but the sign on the fence clearly states that I am not to feed the horses.

Do you think I would get in trouble if I just gave them an apple?

Craziness at the Children's Museum

Our family loves the Children's Museum here in Salt Lake City. We really do. Even Ro, who is 13, still has a pretty good time there! So when Nate's class requested for help from the parents for the second graders' field trip, I was more than happy to volunteer. I, unfortunately, did not know what I was in for.

Our group was comprised of about 80 kids, and we were the largest group there. The kids all got little blue vests so we could tell who was with our school. If I could accurately describe the noise level of all those kids jammed into the giant elevator, I would, but it is not possible and I am still suffering from tinnitus.

In addition to our group, several other schools decided that the Children's Museum is an awesome field trip location, and the place became packed quickly. I felt the greatest form of sympathy for the parents who were not with a field trip, who were trying to keep track of their preschoolers amidst the madness.

Nate, however, did not seem to mind the chaos. He quickly found a place to make and fly paper airplanes, and when the door to the outside deck was locked, he informed an employee, and she opened it for him so he could hit his favorite spot: the helicopter.

This may be my last field trip with Nate's class for a while, but if you ask him, it was awesome.

Ski with Me

You know how it is when you haven't done something in a long long long time and you're not sure you can still do it and you want to try just to see if you can? That's how I felt about skiing. I hadn't been skiing since before I had kids, and did you know that was over 13 years ago? I know. Right?

I wasn't quite brave enough to go on my own, so I recruited my lovely sister Nancy. She did have one condition: that we go to a ski resort where she could snowboard, so we selected Brighton. I rounded up a bunch of warm clothes, rented skis, boots, and (to my sister's dismay), a helmet.

I will tell you this now: when you stand on skis for the first time after that many years, you might be a little bit scared. When you are riding on the ski lift thinking about getting off and you think that you might fall and/or crash into someone (including your sister), that is also a little bit scary. And when you start going down your first big hill, you might almost have a panic attack.

But guess what? I didn't fall. I didn't crash. I even helped another person stand up who was stuck in the snow. I decided that I'm pretty out of shape for skiing, but you know the cure for that? More skiing! I definitely think that we will be going more often, and even though my kids aren't thrilled about the idea, they are definitely attending ski school next year. Isn't that supposed to be one of the greatest things about living in Utah? Julie told me so, and I believe her.

I need to extend a big thank you to my Dad. He was very, very concerned that Nancy or I would crash into a tree. We were very careful, Dad, and there were no trees injured the day of our outing.

Trotting the Globe

If you were a little kid, like maybe 7 or 13, wouldn't you jump at the chance to see the Harlem Globetrotters? Let's pretend that you weren't all that excited about it for a minute. Wouldn't you at least pretend to be excited about it? Well. My boys were not thrilled about the idea that I, their fantastic mother, had. I wanted to go see the Globetrotters because: a) Flight Time & Big Easy were on Amazing Race, but also b) I knew my boys would enjoy it.

To really make it a full, rich, and rewarding experience (as my Papa would say), we decided to take Trax downtown. This, I thought, would be cheaper than parking. That was an incorrect assumption, as it was $12.00 for our family of three to travel round-trip. It was also very crowded, but I think the kids liked that part of the experience. Ro pretended not to be excited about riding light rail, but he was. Nate has been begging for ages. Even though kids were upchucking (thanks, Papa) on the way home, they still liked it.

I will have you know that I am a firm believer in treats at movies and events (sorry, Jenn), so my boys enjoyed popcorn (Nate), pizza (Chris), and cotton candy (both). I had a few Milk Duds, but then I got a tummy ache.

I will have you know now that the boys really enjoyed the event. They hustled back from the halftime bathroom break so they wouldn't miss a thing, and they laughed the whole way through. Do you think that now they will believe me when I say they will enjoy a new experience if they just give it a try?

You're right. Probably not.