In the blossoms

When Spring springs we love taking in all of the blossoms. Around our house we have crocus, hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips. We also love to see the cherry and plum trees burst with buds. 

This past weekend we headed downtown to check out the cherry blossoms. While we walked through the trees, I mentioned to Jess that this day reminded me of the tidal basin cherry blossoms in D.C. 

We took lots of photos as well as time-lapse and slow motion videos. 

The kids rolled down the Capitol Building hills. 

And found bugs on the trail. 

It was a beautiful day. I have lived in this city the majority of my life and never have I been up to see the blossoms. It was a treat to be there with this group. 

Loving creatures

Carrying creatures is Ian’s jam. He loves box elder bugs. He’s been known to catch multiple ants at a time. And holding a spider, that’s nothing. With the rain falling frequently around here, worms are the latest thing.

He’ll gather and play with bunches at a time and hope we can keep them overnight. But we’ve experimented with that and never succeeded, so I’ve been known to release them into the wild after he’s gone to sleep. When mentioning that fact to a friend, she replied, “Do you think they actually live after Ian’s been throwing them around and stuff?” The truth is, probably not. And yes, he throws them into the sky and recaptures them. This kid takes creature appreciation for a two-year-old to a whole new level. 

From North to South

Spring Break was spent exploring the northern and southern parts of the state. 

Our cousin who lives in another country on another continent sent us a Flat Stanley version of herself, so we tried to show her a good time. Look at those mountains!

We visited the BYU MOA with Grandma and saw the Windswept exhibit. The formations are made from tree saplings. Truckloads. It took the artist, Patrick Dougherty, about three weeks, with volunteers, to shape this still, yet motion-filled, piece. 

I want to hire this guy to build us a fence. Haha! How expensive do you think that would be?

We stopped at the Clark Planetarium. This place is a county gem with all kinds of neat things. We were there for 2 hours and the kids weren’t ready to go. 

Then we were off to Southern Utah to enjoy some time with cousins. The kids spent a lot of time in the hot tub, seeing as it was kind of chilly and the pool at the spot we stayed at wasn’t open. We hiked a lot too. 

We found waterfalls in Zion National Park that weren’t there when we visited last fall. Ollie filled his water bottle. 

Ansel pondered the meaning of slick sandstone and the desert oasis. 

Ian drank Gatorade and laughed a lot. 

We hiked and chatted and had lots of fun along the way. 

Oliver and Ansel impressed me with their courage to jump off the ledge and go zip lining. I hesitated a bit when it was my turn. Old habits, or fears, die hard. 

We ended the night with the whole group gathered around the camp fire. We made s’mores and couldn’t believe that the trip was almost over. 

Spring Break was a success!