Fun with the Family

This week I haven't posted as much because we have been spending family time together.  My husband had a few days off and we were out as a family exploring and having a great time around Utah.  A lot of the time we get in a rut and visit the same places over and over again.  This week we went new places and it was a lot of fun. All of the things we did this week were part of our Summer Fun List and the girls had a good time marking our activities off of the printable.  Just so you know, I don't share pictures of my family on the blog, so these are all pictures from what we did, just without us in them.

We took a trip to the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and had a wonderful time.  I love the building.  How many aquariums have a tail fin?

There was so much to see.  I thought these nautilus were amazing.  How often do you get to see a living animal (mollusk) that has been around for 500 million years?

Our city has a whole week of activities planned, called Fiesta Days.  We went to the Western Heritage Parade earlier this week and loved to see all the cowboys and cowgirls, the rodeo royalty, and of course the beautiful horses.

We also went to the carnival and the food booths.  We missed out on getting our favorite treat, funnel cakes, so we might have to go back.

photo courtesy of the Spanish Fork Facebook Page

We spent part of a day driving up the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway.  It was nice to drive up to where it was a little cooler and see the beautiful trees and wildlife.  We saw a tiny gray squirrel with the biggest fluffy tail and a few deer.

We stopped to take an family hike to The Grotto.  It is definitely a hike that is kid friendly.  You do have an incline to walk up, but it isn't too steep.  You cross over the stream a few times and end up at a beautiful, cool waterfall.  There is a small rock overhang that makes the grotto part.  We wore water shoes, so we were able to go right to the waterfall and feel the spray.

Our big project for the week has been finishing painting my craft room.  My husband is currently cutting the baseboards to finish it off.  Then I can start moving all of my items in there!

We also went to our favorite ice cream place, played "Let's Dance" on the Wii, read more of Harry Potter, decorated our sidewalk with chalk, and supported neighborhood Kool-Aid stands.  Tonight is a minor league baseball game and fireworks.  Our favorite part of baseball games?  Eating the food and dancing to the intro songs.