Liberty Park

After we had looked at all the birds in the aviary, we headed over the Liberty Park. For those who don't know, its all in the same block. There is a pond for boat rides, a couple of carnival rides, a small consession area, a small replica of the canyons in northern Utah, a playground and what they call a splash pool. We started out at the canyons. The designer made a scale model of the canyons in the area complete with rivers. The girls wore their swimsuits so they could splash in the water. The girls had so much fun! After a while, we packed up the picnic and went to the splash area which is really close to the playgound. My children preferred the playground to the splash pool. It was getting late so we finally decided to go home. The children ended up having a picnic in the car on the way home. Before we arrived home, at least one had had enough excitement for the day and fell asleep. Aww. I usually try not to post pictures of other people's children, but I could not get a clear shot of my children in the canyon ponds and I really wanted to show how cool the canyon area is.

Dinosaurs At the Zoo? And they move?

On Thursday, I took my son, youngest daughter and my nephew to the zoo. We looked around for a while, compared hands to the ape hand, and height to the ape height. It was very cool to see the wolves. They have such a large area to roam (compared to some of the other animals) and are very shy so it was a real treat. We happened to be there just before the bird show so we stopped in to see that. It was awesome! There were birds flying right over our heads! I wondered why they ask that you don't stand up and now I know. You or the birds could get seriously hurt! Those birds were literally inches away from the top of our heads. There was one bird that was the heaviest eagle in the world. Although the trainer mentioned the name, I can't remember it. It was fun to watch it walk. Wish I'd gotten a video of that one. They had a little pool for it to take a bath in. He was having a good ole' time in the pool and wasn't going to come out! The trainer put a treat on the grass but he wasn't going to be fooled. The trainer had to put a treat on the edge of the pool and quickly put one in the grass before the bird decided he was going back to bathing.

Cute little white birds ran from one side of the stage to the other behind the presenter. Back and forth at different points in the show. They also had a rooster running back and forth and near the end he danced for us. Funny. It's beena long time since I've been to a bird show at the zoo. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised to hear my little girl laugh so much. It really is a family show. Everyone enjoyed it. At the end, they have a small time to take donatation for the zoo. You hold the dollar up and the bird takes it and puts it in the donation box. My daughter really wanted to do it so I gave her a dollar. She was thrilled.

Okay, about the dinosaurs. They are not statues, they are anamatronic (is that the right spelling?) or robots. They move and growl and a couple (mom and baby) actually spit water! There was a triceratops and baby, kentasaurus, allosaurus, parasoralophus, a couple I can't remember the names to and of course, the king of all dinosaurs, the T-Rex. Even its eyes moved. If I didn't know it wasn't real, I would have thought he was sizing me up for dinner. They boys loved it. I was glad to find out my nephew had a good time. I wanted to show you more pictures of the dinosaurs but apparently I didn't download them so I'll have to post some more later.

Tracy Aviary

On July 21, while the boys were off to scout camp, us three girls went with my sister and my neice and step grandneice an newphew to the Tracy Aviary and then off to play in the water at Liberty Park. I had a picnic planned but the girls were more interested in the water than the food. Haha. At the aviary, the birds were amazing and they've made some awesome improvements since the last time I was there. Because I have a pass to the zoo, I received a discount at the Aviary which was cool. I like discounts! I think the favorite part for my girls was were they were able to purchase food and feed it to the water fowl. My favorite part were the signets (a.k.a. ugly ducklings or baby swans). Even being so small they were so graceful. They have the owls in what they call the Owl Forest. There is even a little sound system that if you push the buttons you can hear the sounds different owls make. They don't all hoot, and now my children know it too. The size ranges of these owls are amazing. We happened to run into a volunteer who was very knowledgeable. He had a bit of owl scat that he offered to let the children touch. I'm glad mine didn't want to touch it.

Bingham Copper Mines

Bingham Copper Mine was giving free tours. Usually its $5.00 per carload but for about 2 weeks at the beginning of July, it was free. I didn't know until July 16 and it ended July 17. So we went out to see the biggest open pit mine in the world (I think it was world, but maybe it was just country). It was amazing how big it actually was. Way Cool though! First we parked the car then waited and waited for the shuttle bus. Some of the children thought that was very cool. It was the kind of bus you'd take to Wendover or for an extended tour. Very fancy. When we finally arrived at our destination, we peered over the side of the railing and way, way down to the bottom of the very large pit. The workers looked extremely small. I've included a picture of the tires they use on their very big machines so you could get an idea of how big they actually were. We were able to see what some old mining equipment looked like. Some of it was really cool to see. The museum also had exhibits on what the mining industry might look like in a few years and where they were planning on taking this business. I'm sad to see the mountain become inverted. I understand the need for copper however. Unfortunately, our families recycling efforts just can't satiate the need for copper. If you are ever in Utah, you should take the drive to the copper mine. All proceeds go to a local charity.

Back to School?

My oldest daughter started year round school last Tuesday. Of course the sales didn't start until now. Oh, well. She only needed a backpack so I suppose I can't complain too much. My youngest started kindergarten yesterday. So weird not to have her voice echoing through the house. Of course, she's only in for a half day. Maybe that's to ease us parents into it. Thank goodness my son isn't in school yet, it was weird enough. My daughter is so excited to be going to school like the rest of her siblings. I only hope this enthusiasm for school and learning lasts. She had a little questionaire of sorts to fill out before school. The one question that stumped me is "One thing that others would never guess about me is . . ." What would you have said?