It's a Time for Festivals. First the Japanese, Than the Tulip

On the 27th Craig treated us to a trip up to Salt Lake to enjoy The Japanese Festival. The boys were way excited because they got to ride the train-- aka Front Runner. When we got to the station we learned it would be an hour wait. This was not a fun thing to try and explain to the boys. Especially Big H, "I want to get on the Train. I want to get on board."

We ran to the gas station to try and distract them, but still all we heard was, "I want to get on the Train now. What about the train?"

We ran back to the station, and we were finally able to climb on board!

After two stops Big H then decided to say, "I want to go home. Lets go home now."

We survived our trip up to Salt Lake. Front Runner was a very nice way to travel actually, it's just that our kids were having a terrible day, and we weren't completely prepared.

We got to the Japanese Festival. Big H had now changed his tune to, "I want an umbrella. I just want an umbrella." I don't have a picture of it but we bought each boy a little oriental umbrella. We bought them at the tulip festival two years ago. They lasted a while, but eventually got destroyed. The boys must have like them because they remembered them and wanted some more. 

After the umbrella purchases we walked around a bit trying to see if anything caught our eye. We all enjoyed seeing the koi fish. Well, all of us except Craig who finds them to be creepy.

But for the most part everything was shutting down, and the festival turned into kind of a bust. I felt bad that Craig didn't get to enjoy it more.

To top it off the boys were getting awful. Little M kept running off. Then he'd pout and throw  himself down when he got in trouble. Big H had moved onto whining about wanting a bow and arrow now, and Little H was just whining. We decided to maybe try getting them some food. Since we hadn't seen City Creek we headed there.

I have to say I didn't enjoy City Creek all that much either. There was a splash pad which was a relief. I knew the boys would enjoy that and hopefully be in better moods. Well they were only wearing tennis shoes, so I decided we had better take them off first. Apparently that is against the rules. The boys shoes were ruined for the day, and they had to spend the rest of our trip walking around in socks.

Then I put a grumpy Baby S on the splash pad in hopes that he would get some enjoyment.

Which he did, and it felt like maybe this trip could be salvaged. Well, apparently this is against the rules too. Because the splash pad sits on sand a sudden shift could cause the stones to move. This could possibly catch Baby S's bare foot, and another shift could then cause it to get stuck. Of course, all of this could be solved if we had just brought shoes for him to wear on the splash pad. Apparently the security guard has never had to cart 4 children, around Salt Lake, on a hot day, with a stroller that doesn't have enough seats and a baby who needs a nap. Seriously. I just wanted my kids to have a little fun.

Well we had to pull the kids away from the splash pad. Big H then cried all the way to the food court, "My clothes are wet. I just want to take them off. Its cold. I want it off."

We got to the food court. Changed the boys. I went to make Baby S a bottle only to find that the bathrooms were on the opposite end from the children's play area. Little M kept chasing after me when I left causing Craig to have to chase after him until he was assured I saw him. McDonalds was out of Diet Coke and Chocolate Milk and didn't get my full order because it was so loud and they couldn't hear me. Big H continued to whine about stuff. And we realized the trip was nothing short of miserable.

We then rushed back to the train, hoping against all odd that we could catch it-- thankfully we did. And one of our kids finally fell asleep.

Do you like his clothes. He had to use Baby S's change of clothes because we didn't have enough for all the kids.

Big H did ask me to take this picture, so thanks to him there is one of the umbrellas

He's holding his ticket. The twins were so excited about their tickets.

We made it home. Stopped at my parents to try to recuperate a little. The boys took a bath there, but they had seriously gotten past the point of no return when it came to my nerves. I don't know why they had such a hard time on this outing. They usually love to get out and about.

Next was the Tulip Festival.

Craig helped me take my parents this year. We took my mom for Mother's Day and my Dad for his birthday.

This time we decided to make a little purchase. Our last outing, with just the stroller, did not work so well. So my mom took me to Costco and I bought this neat fold up Wagon.

The tulip festival went smoother. The boys had fun running all over the gardens-- Little M sometimes ran a little too far. And all in all we had a good outing. At the end of the day everyone was very worn out.

Here are some of the Gardens.

I can't remember the name of this one. I call it the Greek Garden.

Then there's the Carousel Garden-- I don't think that's the official name for that one.

Big H took this picture-- with a little help from mom.

The boys enjoyed the area with the koi fish. Do to popular demand we had to buy fish food. And when the quarters and fish food ran out, we had to dig up all sorts of fun stuff to feed them-- Cheetos, Animal Cookies, Baby Snacks.

Then we made our way to The Fragrance Garden.

This one is The Secret Garden. It's my favorite, and the boys like it too because of the fun water feature.

Then we headed over too the Italian Garden.

And we enjoyed the scenes along the way

We stopped at the Waterfall Amphitheater to take a little break. The boys ran up and down the hill. They also attempted to roll down it.

Then Little H insisted that we go find the boat, so we walked over to The Children's Garden.

We made our way back to the amphitheater to eat some dinner. The boys enjoyed rolling down the hill some more.

Then everyone was ready to go. On the way out Craig spotted a real Sakura(Japanese Cherry Blossom)tree.

And further on the way out I made the boys line up so I could get a Mother's Day photo.

And that concludes our fun with Festivals!