This is the Place/ Welfare Square

On our second day in Salt Lake City, we went to This is the Place State Park and Welfare Square.  This is the Place is a state park in which they have moved or rebuilt a lot of homes from the pioneer settlements or homes around the state of Utah.  They have volunteers and workers that are dressed up like pioneers that talk to you about the different buildings and tell you about what life was like for the pioneers.  The kids got to see what laundry was like.

They panned for gold. 

 They rode a tiny train.

 

 

They went to a lesson at school where they learned about the lessons they would learn and discipline at school and how they would have to stand and hold their hands just so to answer any question.  I asked the kids if they would rather go to school now or back then, and they said now, but just barely. 

 

 They also got ice cream, of course.

 They learned about printing back then.

 There was an indian dance, that was very well done.

 They also got to ride ponies- and we went in a blacksmith shop and a chair makers.

We saw this donkey that had 5 legs!

 That same day, we went to Welfare Square.  I had heard about it, but never been there before.

We saw the bakery, the cheese factory, and where they process nutritional powders.

 At the end, we had yummy chocolate milk and cheese samples.

Temple Square

Sometime in the past year, the kids asked me if someday they could go visit Salt Lake and see Temple Square.  The cabin is only 3-4 hours away, so I told them we would go this summer.  We took a couple of days and drove up to Salt Lake so the kids could see what it was like.  Our first stop was Temple Square.

 We saw the old conference center and then went on a tour of the new conference center.  The last time I was there, they were building it.

 As we were walking away, I told the kids to go sit on the side of this fountain so I could take a picture.  I turned around and was telling my mom about the time I was at Market Street meeting a friend for lunch and Nate fell into the fountain.  I turned around just to see Nate peeking his head up from falling in the fountain.  Apparently, he accidentally fell in, assisted by Michael.

He wasn't too happy about that.

 Luckily, we had a change of clothes in the car, so he could get dry clothes.  We saw an angel Moroni statue in the church history museum, and the kids liked that.

We really enjoyed all the displays and sights!

Old Friends

While we were visiting Utah, the Dibbs stopped by the cabin to visit us.  It was great talking to them, and not nearly long enough.  It was also fun to see their kids.

 Another day, I got to visit with my old BYU roommate, Stephanie.  It was great to catch up with her- she has recently moved to Dallas, so we aren't so far from each other now.

We ran into another couple of friends while we were there, its funny how small the world is, especially in Utah.

Swimming in Panguitch Lake

 One day at the lake, after fishing, we were all super hot.  Everyone decided to throw their swim suits on and take a quick dip in the lake.  It turned out not to be as cold as it has been in the past and it was fun for them to swim.

 

 I opted to just wade into the water.

 The kids and Joe were having holding your breath contests.  Nate said he could hold his breath for 30 sec.  We asked him to prove it....so he did this:

4-wheeling

One of our favorite pastimes at the cabin is 4-wheeling.  This year, Adam and Michael were old enough, and strong enough to drive the 4-wheeler by themselves, so I didn't always go with them when they went.  It was nice, I could work on a couple of projects with my mom while they were gone.

 One day, we drove down to Panquitch and went on a long ride through a canyon.  It was fun going over all the large rocks and seeing if we could get through the tight spots. 

 

 Another day, we got to the top of the mountain.  As soon as I said I wanted a picture, Adam decided to hop in and do his thing...

 This is the view of Panguitch Lake.  My parent's cabin is on the mountain on the far right side of the lake that you can see half of at the top of the picture.

Of course, everyone's favorite part of the ride is eating ice cream at the end of it at the general store.