When I was a kid, our "Fall Break" was called "UEA" and it basically meant two days of being bored at home. With Luke in Kindergarten, this is our first year to really experience school holidays but Luke still came home on Wednesday excited and wanting to know our plans for the break. We hadn't really planned anything, but it turned out the perfect time to have a staycation and experience all of the fun Fall activities in our area.
During the Spring, we love the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point, but this is the first year we have taken advantage of the Scarecrow Festival. Tim and the kids spent the afternoon exploring so many different scarecrows and had the best time even though it was quite busy with everyone else in the area on break.
Princess Poppy is always a favorite.
Jack Skellington is Luke's newest obsession.
In addition to the scarecrows, they had other fun activities for the kids. Luke and Ruby absolutely loved the big leaf pit where they spent plenty of time jumping and having leaf fights.
And of course, the bounce houses were amazing!
Friday afternoon Tim and the big kids headed out to Moab so the babies and I were left to find our own fun. The weather was sunny and warm so we decided to go to the zoo - we have been trying to get there all summer and it just hadn't happened. When we left our house it was sunny and 70 degrees but by the time we got to the Point of the Mountain, a crazy storm had rolled in, the temperature dropped to 50 degrees and the wind was so bad that I worried we might get blown off of the road. So, we made a quick Plan B and decided to go to the Aquarium. When we pulled into the parking lot I worried because it seemed like all of Utah County had the same idea, but once we got inside, it felt surprisingly uncrowded and we had an amazing time. As we looked at the various exhibits, I was quite surprised at all of the facts and information that Luke knew. I think we better keep letting him watch the Octonauts.
We loved the sharks
Luke was a little nervous to cross the rope bridge, especially because there was a big (fake) spider about half way across. I was impressed though because he toughed it out and even did it twice.
Success
The kids and I had been working to get better from sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc., and by Saturday morning I was feeling pretty exhausted and mostly wanted to spend the day in bed. I did sleep in and took a long time to get moving, but by the afternoon, we all decided that we were ready to get out of the house on another adventure. McCoards Garden Center is about two miles down the road and has our favorite pumpkin patch. Luke and Ruby loved another chance to play in the corn box, conquer the castle, and find a few more favorite pumpkins.
Most kids went back to school on Monday but Luke and Ruby had another two bonus days and were free until Wednesday. When we got an invite to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Whitesides in Park City, Tim and the kids headed up to one of our favorite getaways at the Marriott Mountainside. Luke and Ruby headed straight to the pool and hot tubs and spent most of their time in the water. Pure heaven for these little ones.
Another favorite was a stop to see Sunny, the canary. He is part of the kids' area that is called The Mine and the kids are fascinated by him. They routinely ask me about Sunny and how I think he is doing. They were happy to have a chance to check on him and made sure Tim called to let me know that they had seen Sunny and that he was eating lettuce and seeds and was very happy.
Luke looks like he is crying, but I think it was just too much time in the pool.
They finally go the kids out of the water and headed to ride the bus downtown for more adventures. The kids love to ride the city bus and the trolley and now have some favorite places to stop.
Ruby found some sisters for her unicorn.
Last time we were there, they were too scared to get close to this bear so I was pretty surprised to see them so close. When I asked, Ruby said it wasn't scary at all this time.
Franz the Bear
Time to rise and shine...
They had the pool to themselves and spent the morning again swimming.
