Natural History Museum

Wednesday after the kids did a lot of schoolwork in the morning with Mr. Richards, the cutest fake-glasses-wearing substitute (he was so funny), and I did a lot of my writing for my work, I took the kids to the Natural History Museum. 

We were pretty much the only ones there, but the museum still wanted face masks. James and Andrew spent a long time at this puzzle, putting bones together.

Success!

The museum has several floors but the dinosaur bones are the favorite.

J-Dino is one of James's nicknames. He loved the predators especially.

This area let you simulate an earthquake.

Millie wanted her picture everywhere.

Working in an archeological dig.



Stuffed elk

At the end, we went to Macey's for Kong Cones. 

I have some other passes from the library that are good for this year, and I think we will definitely go again.

Surviving remote school

In the last month, I went from thinking things were super dire, to having optimism again as I advocate for normalcy for my children.

Mid-January cases were rising and rumors were flying about schools closing. The rumors and fears felt like we were back in March 2020. A lot of Max and Ben's friends were testing positive for Covid. We had a cold for a day or two run through some people in our house, but we didn't even think to go wait in line for hours for a test, it seemed like nothing. So who knows!

Max's high school had reached the case threshold where they were supposed to, under state law, do a "test-to-stay" event, but the state had run out of tests and said a school could just close for four days instead (state law last year said districts needed at least four days in-person. It's the way they helped our district — the only one that was closed — to be open again). Other school districts were deciding to go remote because they couldn't test, either.

Friday night, Jan. 14, our school board voted to close the whole district. They said there were staffing shortages and it was just too hard to stay open. Max's high school was closed all week. Our other kids were off Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day, then went in Tuesday and brought home packets and a couple of laptops. They were home for remote school Wed-Fri. 

I am incredibly grateful for JB's good attitude. And I listened to some promptings to "be still," and not spiral. I could have really dived into the the panic of having to coordinate five children's zooms and doing all those packets. But we decided to do our best and not worry about the rest. We decided to make the most of it.

Here I am helping Millie with her work one of the days.

Andrew doing some work online.

We had a soda taste test one day because the Church youth activities were canceled.

L-R we had Fanta Strawberry, Barq's Cream Soda Strawberry, Ginger Ale Raspberry, Sprite Peach and Sprite Strawberry. Ben was five for five! 

We had mild weather, and Andrew and James learned how to ride the penny board and long board.

I caught JB looking like a teenager riding down the street.

We were also really blessed that just a couple days before all of this, Max won a community exploration card from the library for the month of January.  We had free passes for multiple museums and we used them each day! I'll post about those next.  

The next Friday, Jan. 21, the state legislature overturned the mask mandates for our city and county. I am grateful they saw the need for parents to be able to choose, now that vaccines are so widely available and that this new variant is more mild. Data also shows kids need to see faces all day at school, and masking is harming their development. 

The legislature also has HB 183, which puts in place more protections and more of a process if a school district tries to close. I've lived in fear that our school board will just close every school again. Now they will have to prove the need, and provide a clear plan. The data is clear that remote school makes children fall far behind.

We are grateful to be healthy and moving away from the fear of the past two years that has gripped our city especially. Crossing fingers this optimism lasts!

Rose Bowl trip

 JB and his dad took Max and Ben to California for the Rose Bowl to see the University of Utah play on New Year's Day. The end of the game was not what they had hoped, but overall they had a really great weekend and a great time together watching the parade and watching the game.

On the way, they stopped at Raising Canes in Las Vegas for some chicken. The drive Friday morning was slow going because of the weather.

Saturday morning they had a great parking spot to catch the Rose Parade. It took almost an hour to reach where they were, because it is such a long route.

Then they headed over to the stadium

Their seats

Their view

From what I've heard and seen on social media, almost all of the fans were Utah fans. I know so many people who went. 

The guys got an early start back on Sunday morning, but still got caught in a slowdown in Mesquite. When Pauline and the other kids and I stopped in Fillmore around 2pm, there were U of U fans everywhere also stopping for gas and food. JB and the boys got home about an hour or so after we did. We were happy to be reunited.

New Year's Eve at the cabin

Thursday, Dec. 30 we drove down to JB's parents' cabin in Escalante. Friday morning, JB, Max, Ben and Papa left to drive to Pasadena, California for the Rose Bowl. The three little kids and I spent the weekend with Nona, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kim and cousins Carver and Conrad.

Big rocks and sticks are the best play areas for kids.

Legos and Nerf guns and puzzles are also a lot of fun.

I am forever grateful to Kim for getting all the party supplies. I did not think ahead at all. There were noise makers, hats, necklaces, 2022 glasses, and sparklers to play with! And all the delicious Mars candy.

Uncle Jeff took the kids in the side-by-side for a ride up into the snow for sledding.

We always eat so well at the cabin, too. Homemade pizza, root beer floats and banana bread were just some of the highlights. 

Many thanks to Pauline for driving the minivan with us back to SLC. She is a pro at that drive by now.

Christmas 2021

We had pizza and opened new pajamas at Nona and Papa's house the week before Christmas. 

The rat pack

The four oldest cousins

 Millie Grace and Millie Mae eating Uncle Bart's ice cream roll

JB holding baby Louisa. He is so attractive when he holds babies.

On Christmas Eve, we went to see Sing 2 in the theater. This was our first time as a family in the theater in two years. Millie had her own seat, but chose my lap or the area in between me and JB.

It was a good movie, I liked the soundtrack. The boys were surprised to hear me singing the songs on the way to the car — "Was that a real song? Do you know that song?" (Yes, U2 has been around for a long time and your mom is kind of cool, ok?!)

On Christmas morning, I heard the kids up around 6 AM but we held them off til 7 AM. Here they were in the doorway to the kitchen, waiting to go to the tree.

Millie was thrilled to have a new Belle princess doll.  Her old one is somewhere in the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park because it came with us on a hike and was never seen again.

She also got clip-on Rapunzel hair (or Isabelle hair from Encanto) and she has worn it non-stop

Ben gave Max a Bass Pro Shops hat.

JB's angle of Max opening a new Office t-shirt

And from my angle of Max wearing that new shirt and opening new shoes 

James gave me a hug after I was so happy to hope his chocolate he gave me

James was very thrilled with his Pokemon cards from Ben, and this new remote-controlled Dino

Ben got new clothes and shoes and was thrilled

Andrew got his biggest Lego set to date. He loves Star Wars!

We frosted sugar cookies and played with toys that afternoon.

The next day, Sunday, we had a easy-going afternoon after Church. Millie sat on my back as I read her books and JB caught a picture.

And one of our kids caught this photo of JB taking a well-deserved nap. Somehow he ended up snuggling with baby Yoda. 

We drove to see the lights and read the Christmas story that week. We also read our favorite Christmas books again (Christmas Day in the Morning, The Christmas Train, etc). We watched lots of Christmas movies and sporting events, and we ate really well with JB's barbecue and roasts and pizza and pasta. Neighbor treats and ice cream rolls and cookies filled in the gaps nicely. It was a really nice Christmas season!