Our first trip for Labor Day Weekend was up Payson Canyon to The Grotto Trail. A very easy hike to a very fun place. Plus you get to see some of Nebo Loop, and who doesn't love that?
Little H kept saying, "We used to live here. This was our house."
Afterwards we got dinner at a local burger joint-- local burger joints are always a favorite. The food was delicious, but it certainly took time to cook. the boys had fun making superhero photo montages while we waited.
"Does my face look funny?"
We tried to do this one last year, but turned around before we finished because we were worried about daylight disappearing. This time we met the same fate. But we still had fun. Though that bumpy road has gotten quite a bit more bumpy. Baby S thought it was a blast! Oh well, the scenery makes it worth it.
And of course, one of our favorite events that always happens around labor day, Little M's Birthday! His birthday was on actual Labor Day this year.
We never know what to do for a party because everyone is usually out of town on his birthday. So we decided to give him a special day. He spent the morning with Dad, no brother's just him. And in the afternoon he went to The Zoo with Mom, all by himself with no brothers.
The decision was between the aquarium that has penguins-- he really wants to see penguins-- or The Zoo that had a new Safari exhibit-- I'll admit I wanted to see this so I was trying to persuade him in this direction. I was really disappointed when The Zoo didn't have penguins so we could kill two birds with one stone. But The Zoo does have a train, and in the end that is was sold Little M on the idea. We forgot that it wasn't just his birthday, it was also a holiday, so The Zoo was very crowded. He would not be convinced to wait to ride the train, and the line was terribly long. So we waited. This was not to Little M's liking either. Every time the train pulled up he pulled on my arms, cried and insisted we get on. I kept telling him we had to wait our turn, but he though I was just being mean. At least once we got on he was happy.
Of course, asking him for a picture when we got off was terribly offensive and he cried and yelled at me.
There was one issue though. I forgot the camera, and I did not use the good long drive to the zoo to charge my phone. We got barely any pictures before the battery got to low for the camera to work. I thought, "Oh well, we can do without pictures." But than I realized I wanted to capture some more moments for his birthday. I looked at the shops for chargers and disposable camera's-- do those still exist? I asked and they told me they were sold out.
So we just continued fighting the crowds to try and see animals. If an animal was in good view at all there were flocks of people around it, and they were not interested in moving out quickly to let other's have a turn. And I was just so bummed about not having a camera to capture the fun.
I finally decided to head back to the car and charge the phone for 15 minutes. Hopefully that would give us enough juice to capture some photos, and still leave enough time to enjoy our zoo trip. I asked if we could get back in, and the said that was no problem. So we made the long walk back to the upper parking lot, started the van (it only charges when the car is on) and charged the camera. Success! It worked out perfectly! By the time we got back the crowds had faded. We headed back to all the exhibits and we could actually see the animals this time. Yay! Here are the memories we ended up capturing because we charged the phone.
The Rhino was right up next to the window this time. So cool!
He kept asking to go see the gorillas. They were pretty cool, and the view was optimal.
But he said his favorite was the lions, and next was the bears.
Afterwards we met up at Grandma's for a birthday party. Little M said he wanted hot dogs for dinner, so that's what we had. Then my Aunt and Uncle stopped by. They kept appologizing for crashing the party, but I thought it was great. Little M hardly ever gets to have company at his birthdays and so it was so fun to get to celebrate with some more people. I loved it!
Little M wanted a Robin cake. This was the solution I came up with .
Presents from Grandma and Grandpa
Other activities we have been up to:
We have been trying to use our Thanksgiving Point pass as often as we can. Little M loves the farm place. I finally got S to stay on the horses. He wasn't happy about it, but he was calmer than the last time. We're one step closer :).
Baby S won't walk, he likes to be carried. And if you just keep walking he does not follow, but instead runs towards the road, or other places he shouldn't go. One way to get him to walk is to let him walk the dog. This, of course, has it's own set of irritating situations. You can't win them all.
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