Two Little Monkeys at the Zoo Again

One other bonus of the cooler weather (beyond what I've already mentioned loving about fall!) was another trip to the zoo. We are such regulars I'm considering getting us a membership for next year.

This was also our first experience with the new carousel. I wasn't aware that a supervising parent rode for free, so I purchased two tickets, which meant I had one extra ride to hold over Mason as a good-behavior reward. Or to lord over him as an incentive to be good, take your pick. The first time, he rode on a non-moving giraffe and I don't think he enjoyed that so much. But the second ride, on a tiger that went up and down, was a big hit. I'll post the video of him saying "Weee!" when I have a chance to make sure it won't make someone ill from all the motion.

It was a whole different experience being there in the afternoon. The crowd cleared out around 1500 hrs (3:00 pm for those of you who have not been overrun by a 24 hour clock), and the animals were more active for the most part (especially the adorable baby Spider monkey who hopped around like a kangaroo.) This guy, on the other hand, was all about the afternoon doze.

I also got in a most excellent workout lugging the wagon around again. This time, I put it on the scale designed to see if I was pulling two kids or a baby elephant. You can't read the numbers as well as I hoped, but I swear it's telling you I pulled 93 lbs. uphill and downhill and all through the town.

We got right on the carousel and the train without a wait, and as a reward for their wonderful manners, we let the kids each pick an overpriced toy out from the gift shop. Mason picked a semi-truck (I know, I was genuinely surprised too) that has given me the joy of re-hooking the trailer and cab back together at least a hundred times already in the last two days. Ashlyn picked a purple skunk that has overruled her life and her mom's life. I feel, by purchasing it for her, I have secured my place as her honorary aunt who gets to buy annoying toys. I think she wants a saxophone for Christmas.

Gee, you don't say!

-Mom: Mason, why are you awake so early?
Mason: I was done sleeping.


-Mason: I wake up one more time, then I go to school.


-Mason: Damn it! You don't say those words.
Dad: Does mama say them?
Mason: No, daddy does.


-Mason: What that train's name is?


-Mason (enroute to the zoo): We can't go camping. Camping is too far away.


-Mason: I can, but I don't want to.


-Mason: I hear a crick! (cricket)

-Mason: Chairs go in the dumpster, not boys.

The Body Worlds 3 Exhibit

Just in case you didn't know, this is now at The Leonardo (the former SLC Public Library). I'm sure no one who knows Alan is surprised that he thinks this is really interesting. He's been wanting to go to the one in Las Vegas for a couple of years now and was pretty thrilled when he found out this one was coming right to us. I think I'm probably more likely to have the same look on my face as the visitors in the picture do!

I've been reading up a bit on the process used, and it sounds pretty innovative. The Trib also said it takes approximately 1500 hours of work per specimen to plastinate them. It definitely puts a whole new spin on donating your body to science when you die. It's also supposed to educate you about the dangers of doing unhealthy things to your body, which is probably something I could benefit from considering my lack of exercise and healthy eating.

So we're going, and hoping to make kind of a date of the experience. Has anyone else been yet or is anyone else planning to go? I would love to hear reviews. If you need tickets, there is a coupon available on the website for $2 off. There are also audio guides you can purchase to listen to as you walk through.

National Child Passenger Safety Week

I'm beginning to think they have a week or a day for just about everything, seriously. But when it comes to your kids' safety, can you ever be too careful? I've heard statistics that say a surprising number of carseats are not properly installed or because the kids aren't properly buckled in.

I think our carseat is okay. Alan put it in and I typically have to use some sort of a tool to get it undone. He literally presses his knee into the seat while he tightens the straps. In spite of this, I plan on stopping by one of the places below in the next few days just to be sure. It would just kill me if anything happened to Mason because of something so preventable. I'm sure I'm not the only parent out there who feels this way!

I found a listing of upcoming checkpoints in case anyone else is interested:

Saturday, September 20
*Babies R Us at 1122 East Fort Union Blvd (7200 South) from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
*Wheeler Historic Farm 6351 South 900 East from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
(spanish speaking assistance will be available here)
*Sunset City parking lot at 85 West 1800 North in Sunset from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
*Utah Valley Regional Medical Center at 1034 North 500 West in Provo
from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
*Tooele County Health Dept. at 151 North Main in Tooele from 10 a.m.-noon

Tuesday, September 23
*Babies R Us at 106 East University Pkwy in Orem from 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

Wednesday, September 24
*Jorgensen Ford at 1000 South Cove View Road in Richfield from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
*Syracuse Fire Department 1751 South 2000 West in Syracuse from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.

Fore more information, see Safe Kids Utah or the Salt Lake Tribune article.

Out to sea

We took off last Thursday with my parents for one last camping trip of the year. We traded then tent for the back of the Chevy (more on that later), the four-wheelers for a boat, and the tree canopy for tarps.

Imagine our surprise when, last week just before departure, the weather forecast turned from sunny skies and smooth sailing to cooler temperatures and thunderstorms. We already had the trip planned, the food purchased and all but loaded into our vehicles, and the boat all set. Also, the prospect of bumping it for another weekend was not promising. So what did we do? We went anyway, of course!

It was a little dicey when we stopped in Evanston,WY for gas. The temperature was so cold there that our sweatshirts weren't quite sufficient and it was super windy. As we continued toward Lucerne Valley, the clouds came in closer and lower and the rain started to fall. Mason didn't notice. He had every creature comfort we could possibly give a truck-bound baby for a three hour drive and he made full use of them.


By the time we got to our campground, the rain was coming down and the temperatures were cold. Alan and I did a mad dash to get our tent up without getting it totally soaked. I'm proud to say we succeeded. We also set a personal record by getting it set up in five minutes or so. We kept it dry enough that only a little towel action was needed before we could get the bed all set up. At this point, Alan realized he hadn't packed the air mattress pump as we thought. He took one for the team and blew it up with nothing but lung power and a couple of breaks to help Mason throw big rocks into puddles. Mason also wanted to wear his "Thomas hat", and I guess he's got a little gangsta style because he put it on sideways while he walked the "train tracks" (concrete parking barriers) all around the camp.

The rain did clear out (too late to get the boat onto the water), but it was still really cold so we decided to move our bedding into the back of my truck so we could use a heater if need be. We had survived a pretty cold night the last time we went to Whitney Reservoir, but it was not very pleasant and we didn't want to repeat the experience if we didn't need to. As luck would have it, the back of my truck is queen sized. It was snuggly, but we made it work. We were so glad we had stayed in the truck when it started raining over night.

My dad made a leisurely breakfast for us (I don't think it was so leisurely for him!), and we took our time cleaning up. By the time we were finished, we had warmer temperatures and clearer skies so we got out on the boat. Mason was excited to wear his new lifejacket (it has a turtle on it, don't you know. Even if it's an evil-looking turtle, we'll take it!), so we had no problem getting him on the boat and outfitted properly.

The water was beautiful, just like glass in most places, and we stopped just shy of the Wyoming state line so the boys could fish. My dad bought Mason a Scooby Doo fishing pole. I don't know if I'm ashamed to admit it or not, but Mason doesn't know who Scooby Doo is (not much TV around our house), and asking Dad "Who's that dog?" was the primary focus of the first afternoon.

Fishing, as it turns out, is not a wholly enjoyable activity for a 2 1/2 year old, what with the lack of action and mellow pace of it. After a few exciting moments where Dad thought he had a fish and the bugger ate most of the worm without actually getting caught, Mason was bored with the fishing and learned a whole new activity: feeding seagulls. We had several of them around, and the next day when we went out to the same spot, I swear they were like "Hey, I know that boat! They fed us Doritos!" because there was some suspicious hovering going on.

The third day we were there was absolutely beautiful, and we were so sad we had to leave by mid-afternoon to get home. But we agreed, in the end, things had probably worked out. We've set ourselves up to have a boat-lover on our hands. He got a taste of it, but didn't get bored, which will hopefully keep him coming back for more next summer.

Haven't You Always Wanted A Monkey?

Not that I typically pay much attention to the news, but I have seen the recent story of the woman from Utah who won $1 million on Deal or No Deal. And naturally, it got me thinking about what I would do if I won/found/earned that much money. And, knowing me, it won't surprise most anyone reading this that I immediately thought of this song. (It should be noted that a disturbing number of songs recall time I spent with Amber. I know Amber has always wanted a monkey. She told me so.)

So Alan and I had a hypothetical discussion about what we would do with a million dollars. I was almost bored with our choices, because it appears we would be unyieldingly practical. First of all, you have to consider that most of it would be taken in taxes in most situations where we would win/get the money. So we would only have $600k to play with. What would we do from there?

-Take 10% off the top to just blow on nothing. "Nothing" to us constitutes the possibility of building a deck, finishing our basement, maybe some new carpet, some clothes and video games, maybe a new television. If we felt brave, we might do some of the investing with Alan's parents they have been doing, because his dad is really smart about it.

-Pay off my truck, any outstanding credit card debt (read: not that much), pay off the little commuter car we bought.

-Use a chunk to refinance our house so that our house payment is only $500/month or so. See, we both love our jobs and would keep those so making that small of a house payment would be no big deal and we could double it up to pay it off sooner.

-Put the rest in savings for a few different things, like Mason's education. I already know, regardless of what we have saved, we will be the naughty parents who lie to our child. I'm going to tell him he has to work hard and earn college if that's his desire, but I would really like to be able to surprise him with it and help him out.

I would like to say we would take a fun vacation or two, and that's a real possibilty. There are a few traveling things we would like to do, but I'm not sure anything like that would take priority. If we could use the money to make our monthly expenses lower, we could save up for the trips. I would never expect a million dollars to mean we're set for life the way I once thought it would. Is that a sign I've grown up? I don't know.

So what would you and your family do with a million dollars? It's at least fun to dream about.